An Afternoon at the Opera: "Tosca"

Opera: Tosca

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Premiere: Costanzi Theatre, Rome, Italy, January 1900 

First U.S. & First New York City Metropolitan Opera Performance: February 4, 1901

Performance Date of Recording: January 27, 2018

Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume

Run Time: 2 hours and 21 minutes

Synopsis

Tosca is a three-act tragic opera by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).  Tosca contains depictions of torture, treachery, murder and suicide as well as some of Puccini’s best-known lyrical arias. 

The plot revolves around three principal characters … a passionate and jealous opera singer, her painter lover and an evil chief of police. The staging are a church, a palace and a castle.

Turning a wordy French play written in 1887, Puccini set the play for Rome in June 1800, when the kingdom of Naples control of Rome was threatened by Napolean’s invasion of Italy.

Puccini composed twelve operas, including La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, and along with Giuseppe Verdi considered the greatest Italian composer.

This Production

This production, which aired on February 17, 2018, was in the series of High Definition (HD) transmissions to remote locations by the New York Metropolitan Opera. The Conductor is Emmanuel Villaume, the French Orchestra leader and currently the Music Director of The Dallas Opera and chief conductor of the Prague Philharmonica. Sonya Yoncheva sings the lead role of Floria Tosca. The Production Designer was Sir David McVicar.

It is interesting to note that the New York Metropolitan Opera has had nearly a thousand performances of this opera since its first appearance in 1901 and has had only six different productions. It truly is a treasured classic.