Speranza
La Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo
Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It
premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on
Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a
melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's
control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains
depictions of torture, murder and suicide, yet also includes some of Puccini's
best-known lyrical arias, and has inspired memorable performances from many of
opera's leading singers.
Puccini saw Sardou's play when it was touring Italy
in 1889 and, after some vacillation, obtained the rights to turn the work into
an opera in 1895. Turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera
took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his
librettists and publisher. Tosca premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its
first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances. Despite
indifferent reviews from the critics, the opera was an immediate success with
the public.
Musically, Tosca is structured as a through-composed work, with
arias, recitative, choruses and other elements musically woven into a seamless
whole. Puccini used Wagnerian leitmotifs (short musical statements) to identify
characters, objects and ideas. While critics have frequently dismissed the opera
as a facile melodrama with confusions of plot—musicologist Joseph Kerman
famously called it a "shabby little shocker"—the power of its score and the
inventiveness of its orchestration have been widely acknowledged. The dramatic
force of Tosca and its characters continues to fascinate both performers and
audiences, and the work remains one of the most frequently performed operas.
Many recordings of the work have been issued, both of studio and live
performances.
The French playwright Victorien
Sardou wrote more than 70 plays, almost all of them successful, and none of them
performed today.[1] In the early 1880s Sardou began a collaboration with the
immensely popular actress Sarah Bernhardt, whom he provided with a series of
historical melodramas.[2] He reached his greatest glory with the third Bernhardt
play, La Tosca, which premiered in Paris on 24 November 1887, and in which she
starred throughout Europe.[3] The play was an outstanding success, with more
than 3,000 performances in France alone.[4]
Puccini had seen La Tosca at
least twice, in Milan and Turin. On 7 May 1889 he wrote to his publisher, Giulio
Ricordi, begging him to get Sardou's permission for the work to be made into an
opera: "I see in this Tosca the opera I need, with no overblown proportions, no
elaborate spectacle, nor will it call for the usual excessive amount of
music."[5] Ricordi sent his agent in Paris, Emanuele Muzio, to negotiate with
Sardou, who preferred that his play be adapted by a French composer. He
complained about the reception La Tosca had received in Italy, particularly in
Milan, and also warned that other composers were interested in the piece.[6]
Nonetheless, Ricordi reached terms with Sardou, and assigned the librettist
Luigi Illica to write a scenario for an adaptation.[7] In 1891, however, Illica
advised Puccini against the project, most likely because he felt the play could
not be successfully adapted to a musical form.[8] When Sardou expressed his
unease at entrusting his most successful work to a relatively new composer whose
music he did not like, Puccini took offence. He withdrew from the agreement,[9]
which Ricordi then assigned to Alberto Franchetti.[7]
Illica wrote a libretto
for Franchetti who, however, was never at ease with the assignment. There are
several versions of how Ricordi got Franchetti to surrender the rights so he
could recommission Puccini, who had again become interested.[10] By some
accounts, Ricordi convinced Franchetti that the work was too violent to be
successfully staged. Franchetti family tradition holds that Franchetti gave the
work back as a grand gesture, saying, "He has more talent than I do."[7]
American scholar Deborah Burton contends that Franchetti gave it up simply
because he saw little merit in it and could not feel the music in the play.[7]
Franchetti surrendered the rights in May 1895, and in August Puccini signed a
contract to resume control of the project.[10]
Roles[edit]
RoleVoice
typePremiere cast, 14 January 1900[11]
(Conductor: Leopoldo
Mugnone)[12]
Floria Tosca, a celebrated singersopranoHariclea
Darclée
Mario Cavaradossi, a paintertenorEmilio De Marchi
Baron Scarpia,
chief of policebaritoneEugenio Giraldoni
Cesare Angelotti, former Consul of
the Roman RepublicbassRuggero Galli
A SacristanbaritoneEttore
Borelli
Spoletta, a police agenttenorEnrico Giordano
Sciarrone, a
gendarmebassGiuseppe Gironi
A JailerbassAristide Parassani
A Shepherd
boyaltoAngelo Righi
Soldiers, police agents, altar boys, noblemen and women,
townsfolk, artisans
According to the libretto, the action of Tosca occurs
in Rome in June 1800.[13] Sardou, in his play, dates it more precisely; La Tosca
takes place in the afternoon, evening, and early morning of 17 and 18 June
1800.[14]
Italy had long been divided into a number of small states, with the
Pope in Rome ruling the Papal States in central Italy. Following the French
Revolution, a French army under Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, entering Rome
almost unopposed on 11 February 1798 and establishing a republic there.[15] This
republic was ruled by seven consuls; in the opera this is the former office of
Angelotti, whose character may be based on the real-life consul Libero
Angelucci.[16] In September 1799 the French, who had protected the republic,
withdrew from Rome.[17] As they left, troops of the Kingdom of Naples occupied
the city.[18]
In May 1800 Napoleon, by then the unquestioned leader of
France, brought his troops across the Alps to Italy once again. On 14 June his
army met the Austrian forces at the Battle of Marengo (near Alessandria).
Austrian troops were initially successful; by mid-morning they were in control
of the field of battle. Their commander, Michael von Melas, sent this news south
towards Rome. However, fresh French troops arrived in late afternoon, and
Napoleon attacked the tired Austrians. As Melas retreated in disarray with the
remains of his army, he sent a second courier south with the revised
message.[19] The Neapolitans abandoned Rome,[20] and the city spent the next
fourteen years under French domination.[21]
Cesare Angelotti, former consul of the
Roman Republic and now an escaped political prisoner, runs into the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle and
hides in the Attavanti private chapel – his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, has
left a key to the chapel hidden at the feet of the statue of the Madonna.
The
elderly Sacristan enters and begins cleaning.
The Sacristan kneels in prayer as
the Angelus sounds.
The painter Mario Cavaradossi arrives to continue work on
his picture of Mary Magdalene.
The Sacristan identifies a likeness between the
portrait and a blonde-haired woman who has been visiting the church recently
(unknown to him, it is Angelotti's sister the Marchesa).
Cavaradossi describes
the "hidden harmony" ("Recondita armonia") in the contrast between the blonde
beauty of his painting and his dark-haired lover, the singer Floria Tosca.
The
Sacristan mumbles his disapproval before leaving.
Angelotti emerges and tells
Cavaradossi, an old friend who has republican sympathies, that he is being
pursued by the Chief of the Pope's Police, Baron Scarpia.
Cavaradossi promises to assist
him after nightfall.
Tosca's voice is heard, calling to Cavaradossi.
Cavaradossi
gives Angelotti his basket of food and Angelotti hurriedly returns to his hiding
place.
Tosca enters and suspiciously asks Cavaradossi what he has been doing –
she thinks that he has been talking to another woman.
Cavaradossi reassures her
and Tosca tries to persuade him to take her to his villa that evening: "Non la
sospiri, la nostra casetta" ("Do you not long for our little villa").
She then
expresses jealousy over the woman in the painting, whom she recognises as the
Marchesa Attavanti. Cavaradossi explains the likeness; he has merely observed
the Marchesa at prayer in the church. He reassures Tosca of his fidelity and
asks her what eyes could be more beautiful than her own: "Qual'occhio al mondo"
("What eyes in the world"). After Tosca has gone, Angelotti reappears and
discusses with the painter his plan to flee disguised as a woman, using clothes
left in the chapel by his sister. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti a key to his
villa, suggesting that he hide in a disused well in the garden.
The sound of
a cannon signals that Angelotti's escape has been discovered. As he and
Cavaradossi rapidly leave the church the Sacristan re-enters with choristers,
celebrating the news that Napoleon has apparently been defeated at Marengo. The
celebrations cease abruptly with the entry of Scarpia, his henchman Spoletta and
several police agents, who are searching for Angelotti. They have heard that he
has sought refuge in the church. A search is ordered, and the empty food basket
and a fan bearing the Attavanti coat of arms are found in the chapel. Scarpia
questions the Sacristan, and his suspicions are aroused further when he learns
that Cavaradossi has been in the church; Scarpia mistrusts the painter, and
believes him complicit in Angelotti's escape. When Tosca arrives looking for her
lover, Scarpia artfully arouses her jealous instincts by implying a relationship
between the painter and the Marchesa Attavanti. He draws Tosca's attention to
the fan and suggests that someone must have surprised the lovers in the chapel.
Tosca falls for his deceit; enraged, she rushes off to confront Cavaradossi.
Scarpia orders Spoletta and his agents to follow her, assuming she will lead
them to Cavaradossi and Angelotti. He privately gloats as he reveals his
intentions to possess Tosca and execute Cavaradossi. A procession enters the
church singing the Te Deum; exclaiming 'Tosca, you make me forget even God!',
Scarpia joins the chorus in the prayer.
Act 2[edit]
Tosca
reverently lays a crucifix on Scarpia's body. Photograph of a pre-1914
production at the old Metropolitan Opera House, New York.
Scarpia's apartment
in the Palazzo Farnese, that evening
Scarpia, at supper, sends a note to
Tosca asking her to come to his apartment. He has been unable to find Angelotti,
but has arrested Cavaradossi. As Cavaradossi is brought in and questioned, the
voice of Tosca, singing a celebratory cantata in another room in the Palace, can
be heard. Cavaradossi denies knowing anything about the escape of Angelotti.
Tosca arrives, just in time to see her lover taken to an antechamber to be
tortured. He is able to speak briefly with her, telling her to say nothing.
Tosca is told by Scarpia that she can save her lover from indescribable pain if
she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. She resists, but hearing Cavaradossi's
cries of pain, eventually tells Scarpia that Angelotti is in the well in the
garden of Cavaradossi's villa.
Scarpia orders the torture of Cavaradossi to
cease and the wounded painter is brought back in. He recovers consciousness and,
learning of Tosca's betrayal, is furious with her. Sciarrone, a police agent,
enters with news of Napoleon's victory at Marengo; Cavaradossi gloats, telling
Scarpia that his rule of terror will soon be at an end, before being dragged
away by Scarpia's men. Scarpia, left with Tosca, proposes a bargain: if she
gives herself to him, Cavaradossi will be freed. She is revolted, and repeatedly
rejects his advances. Outside she hears the drums that announce an execution; as
Scarpia awaits her decision, she prays to God for help, asking why He has
abandoned her: "Vissi d'arte" ("I lived for art"). Scarpia remains adamant
despite her pleas. When Spoletta brings news that Angelotti has killed himself,
and that everything is in place for Cavaradossi's execution, Tosca, in despair,
agrees to submit to Scarpia in return for Cavaradossi's freedom. Scarpia tells
his deputy Spoletta to arrange a mock execution, both recalling that it will be
"as we did with Count Palmieri".
Following Spoletta's departure, Tosca
imposes the further condition that Scarpia provide a safe-conduct out of Rome
for herself and her lover. While he is signing the document, Tosca quietly takes
a knife from the supper table. As Scarpia triumphantly embraces her, she stabs
him, crying "this is Tosca's kiss!". As Scarpia falls dead, she declares that
she now forgives him. She removes the safe-conduct from his pocket, lights
candles in a gesture of piety and places a crucifix on the body before
leaving.
Act 3[edit]
The upper parts of the Castel Sant'Angelo, early the
following morning
The Castel Sant'Angelo, (right), scene of the
Tosca denouement, as painted in the 18th century
A shepherd boy sings (in
Romanesco dialect) "Io de' sospiri" ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound
for matins. Cavaradossi is led in by guards and informed that he has one hour to
live. He refuses to see a priest, but asks permission to write a letter to
Tosca. He begins to write, but is soon overwhelmed by memories: "E lucevan le
stelle" ("And the stars shone"). Tosca enters and shows him the safe-conduct.
She tells him that she has killed Scarpia and that the imminent execution is a
sham: Cavaradossi must feign death, but afterwards they can leave Rome together,
before Scarpia's body is discovered. Cavaradossi is amazed at the courage shown
by one so gentle and tender: "O dolci mani" ("Oh sweet hands"). The pair
ecstatically plan the life they will live away from Rome. Tosca then anxiously
instructs Cavaradossi on how to play his part in the mock execution
convincingly. She tells him that he will be shot with blanks by the firing squad
and instructs him to fall down as if dead. He agrees to act "like Tosca in the
theatre".
Cavaradossi is led away, and Tosca watches with increasing
impatience as the execution is prepared. The men fire, Cavaradossi falls, and
Tosca exclaims "Ecco un artista!" ("What an actor!"). When the soldiers have all
left, she hurries towards Cavaradossi, only to find that he is dead; Scarpia has
betrayed her. Heartbroken, she clasps his lifeless body and weeps. The voices of
Spoletta, Sciarrone and soldiers are heard, indicating that Scarpia's body has
been found, and that Tosca is known to have killed him. As Spoletta, Sciarrone
and the soldiers rush in, Tosca rises, evades their clutches, and runs to the
parapet. Crying "O Scarpia, Avanti a Dio!" ("O Scarpia, we meet before God!"),
she hurls herself over the edge to her death.
Adaptation and
writing[edit]
Sardou's five-act play La Tosca contains a large amount of
dialogue and exposition. While the broad details of the play are present in the
opera's plot, the original work contains many more characters and much detail
not present in the opera. In the play the lovers are portrayed as though they
were French: the character Floria Tosca is closely modelled on Bernhardt's
personality, while her lover Cavaradossi, of Roman descent, is born in Paris.
Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, the playwright who joined the project to polish the
verses, needed not only to cut back the play drastically, but to make the
characters' motivations and actions suitable for Italian opera.[22] Giacosa and
Puccini repeatedly clashed over the condensation, with Giacosa feeling that
Puccini did not really want to complete the project.[23]
Front cover
of the original 1899 libretto
The first draft libretto that Illica produced
for Puccini resurfaced in 2000 after being lost for many years. It contains
considerable differences from the final libretto, relatively minor in the first
two acts but much more appreciable in the third, where the description of the
Roman dawn that opens the third act is much longer, and Cavaradossi's tragic
aria, the eventual "E lucevan le stelle", has different words. The 1896 libretto
also offers a different ending, in which Tosca does not die but instead goes
mad. In the final scene, she cradles her lover's head in her lap and
hallucinates that she and her Mario are on a gondola, and that she is asking the
gondolier for silence.[24] Sardou refused to consider this change, insisting
that as in the play, Tosca must throw herself from the parapet to her death.[25]
Puccini agreed with Sardou, telling him that the mad scene would have the
audiences anticipate the ending and start moving towards the cloakrooms. Puccini
pressed his librettists hard, and Giacosa issued a series of melodramatic
threats to abandon the work.[26] The two librettists were finally able to give
Puccini what they hoped was a final version of the libretto in
1898.[27]
Little work was done on the score during 1897, which Puccini
devoted mostly to performances of La bohème.[27] The opening page of the
autograph Tosca score, containing the motif that would be associated with
Scarpia, is dated January 1898.[28] At Puccini's request, Giacosa irritably
provided new lyrics for the act 1 love duet. In August, Puccini removed several
numbers from the opera, according to his biographer, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz,
"cut[ting] Tosca to the bone, leaving three strong characters trapped in an
airless, violent, tightly wound melodrama that had little room for
lyricism".[29] At the end of the year, Puccini wrote that he was "busting his
balls" on the opera.[29]
Puccini asked clerical friends for words for the
congregation to mutter at the start of the act 1 Te Deum; when nothing they
provided satisfied him, he supplied the words himself.[29] For the Te Deum
music, he investigated the melodies to which the hymn was set in Roman churches,
and sought to reproduce the cardinal's procession authentically, even to the
uniforms of the Swiss Guards.[26] He adapted the music to the exact pitch of the
great bell of St. Peter's Basilica,[30] and was equally diligent when writing
the music that opens act 3, in which Rome awakens to the sounds of church
bells.[30] He journeyed to Rome and went to the Castel Sant'Angelo to measure
the sound of matins bells there, as they would be heard from its ramparts.[26]
Puccini had bells for the Roman dawn cast to order by four different
foundries.[31] This apparently did not have its desired effect, as Illica wrote
to Ricordi on the day after the premiere, "the great fuss and the large amount
of money for the bells have constituted an additional folly, because it passes
completely unnoticed".[32] Nevertheless, the bells provide a source of trouble
and expense to opera companies performing Tosca to this day.[25]
In act 2,
when Tosca sings offstage the cantata that celebrates the supposed defeat of
Napoleon, Puccini was tempted to follow the text of Sardou's play and use the
music of Giovanni Paisiello, before finally writing his own imitation of
Paisello's style.[33] It was not until 29 September 1899 that Puccini was able
to mark the final page of the score as completed. Despite the notation, there
was additional work to be done,[34] such as the shepherd boy's song at the start
of act 3. Puccini, who always sought to put local colour in his works, wanted
that song to be in Roman dialect. The composer asked a friend to have a "good
romanesco poet" write some words; eventually the well-known poet and folklorist,
Luigi "Giggi" Zanazzo wrote the verse which, after slight modification, was
placed in the opera.[34]
In October 1899, Ricordi realized that some of the
music for Cavaradossi's act 3 aria, "O dolci mani" was borrowed from music
Puccini had cut from his early opera, Edgar and demanded changes. Puccini
defended his music as expressive of what Cavaradossi must be feeling at that
point, and offered to come to Milan to play and sing act 3 for the
publisher.[35] Ricordi was overwhelmed by the completed act 3 prelude, which he
received in early November, and softened his views, though he was still not
completely happy with the music for "O dolci mani".[36] In any event time was
too short before the scheduled January 1900 premiere to make any further
changes.[37]
Reception and performance
history[edit]
Premiere[edit]
Caruso as Cavaradossi. Passed over
for the role at the premiere, he sang it many times subsequently.
By December
1899, Tosca was in rehearsal at the Teatro Costanzi.[38] Because of the Roman
setting, Ricordi arranged a Roman premiere for the opera,[26] even though this
meant that Arturo Toscanini could not conduct it as Puccini had hoped—Toscanini
was fully engaged at La Scala in Milan. Leopoldo Mugnone was appointed to
conduct. The accomplished (but temperamental) soprano Hariclea Darclée was
selected for the title role; Eugenio Giraldoni, whose father had originated
multiple Verdi roles, became the first Scarpia. The young Enrico Caruso had
hoped to create Cavaradossi, but was passed over in favour of the more
experienced Emilio De Marchi.[38] The performance was to be directed by Nino
Vignuzzi, with stage designs by Adolfo Hohenstein.[39]
At the time of the
premiere, Italy had experienced political and social unrest for several years.
The start of the Holy Year in December 1899 attracted the religious to the city,
but also brought threats from anarchists and other anticlericals. Police
received warnings of an anarchist bombing of the theatre, and instructed Mugnone
(who had survived a theatre bombing in Barcelona),[40] that in an emergency he
was to strike up the royal march.[41] The unrest caused the premiere to be
postponed by one day, to 14 January.[42]
By 1900, the premiere of a Puccini
opera was a national event.[41] Many Roman dignitaries attended, as did Queen
Margherita, though she arrived late, after the first act.[40] The Prime Minister
of Italy, Luigi Pelloux was present, with several members of his cabinet.[42] A
number of Puccini's operatic rivals were there, including Franchetti, Pietro
Mascagni, Francesco Cilea and Ildebrando Pizzetti. Shortly after the curtain was
raised there was a disturbance in the back of the theatre, caused by latecomers
attempting to enter the auditorium, and a shout of "Bring down the curtain!", at
which Mugnone stopped the orchestra.[40] A few moments later the opera began
again, and proceeded without further disturbance.[40]
The performance, while
not quite the triumph that Puccini had hoped for, was generally successful, with
numerous encores.[40] Much of the critical and press reaction was lukewarm,
often blaming Illica's libretto. In response, Illica condemned Puccini for
treating his librettists "like stagehands" and reducing the text to a shadow of
its original form.[43] Nevertheless, any public doubts about Tosca soon
vanished; the premiere was followed by twenty performances, all given to packed
houses.[44]
Subsequent productions[edit]
Antonio Scotti, an early
exponent of the role of Scarpia
The Milan premiere at La Scala took place
under Toscanini on 17 March 1900. Darclée and Giraldoni reprised their roles;
the prominent tenor Giuseppe Borgatti replaced De Marchi as Cavaradossi. The
opera was a great success at La Scala, and played to full houses.[45] Puccini
travelled to London for the British premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent
Garden, on 11 July, with Milka Ternina and Fernando De Lucia as the doomed
lovers and Antonio Scotti as Scarpia. Puccini wrote that Tosca was "[a] complete
triumph", and Ricordi's London representative quickly signed a contract to take
Tosca to New York. The premiere at the Metropolitan Opera (the "Met") was on 4
February 1901, with De Lucia's replacement by Giuseppe Cremonini the only change
from the London cast.[46] For its French premiere at the Opéra-Comique on 13
October 1903, the 72-year-old Sardou took charge of all the action on the stage.
Puccini was delighted with the public's reception of the work in Paris, despite
adverse comments from critics. The opera was subsequently premiered at venues
throughout Europe, the Americas, Australia and the Far East;[47] by the outbreak
of war in 1914 it had been performed in more than 50 cities
worldwide.[11]
Among the prominent early Toscas was Emmy Destinn, who sang
the role regularly in a long-standing partnership with the tenor Enrico
Caruso.[48] Maria Jeritza, over many years at the Met and in Vienna, brought her
own distinctive style to the role, and was said to be Puccini's ideal Tosca.[49]
Jeritza was the first to deliver "Vissi d'arte" from a prone position, having
fallen to the stage while eluding the grasp of Scarpia. This was a great
success, and Jeritza sang the aria lying down thereafter.[50] Of her successors,
opera enthusiasts tend to consider Maria Callas as the supreme interpreter of
the role, largely on the basis of her performances at the Royal Opera House in
1964, with Tito Gobbi as Scarpia.[49] This production, by Franco Zeffirelli,
remained in continuous use at Covent Garden for more than 40 years until
replaced in 2006 by a new staging, which premiered with Angela Gheorghiu. Callas
had first sung Tosca at age 18 in a performance given in Greek, in Athens on 27
August 1942.[51] Tosca was also her last on-stage operatic role, in a special
charity performance at the Royal Opera House on 7 May 1965.[52]
Among
non-traditional productions, in 1996 at La Scala Luca Ronconi used distorted and
fractured scenery to represent the twists of fate reflected in the plot.[49]
Jonathan Miller, in a 1986 production for the 49th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
transferred the action to Nazi-occupied Rome in 1944, with Scarpia as head of
the fascist police.[53] In Philipp Himmelmann's production on the Lake Stage at
the Bregenz Festival in 2007 the act 1 set, designed by Johannes Leiacker, was
dominated by a huge Orwellian "Big Brother" eye. The iris opens and closes to
reveal surreal scenes beyond the action. This production updates the story to a
modern Mafia scenario, with special effects "worthy of a Bond film".[54]
In
1992 a television version of the opera was filmed at the locations prescribed by
Puccini, at the times of day at which each act takes place. Featuring Catherine
Malfitano, Plácido Domingo and Ruggero Raimondi, the performance was broadcast
live throughout Europe.[55] Luciano Pavarotti, who sang Cavaradossi from the
late 1970s, appeared in a special performance in Rome on 14 January 2000, to
celebrate the opera's centenary with Domingo as conductor. Pavarotti's last
stage performance was as Cavaradossi at the Met, on 13 March 2004.[56]
Early
Cavaradossis played the part as if the painter believed that he was reprieved,
and would survive the "mock" execution. Beniamino Gigli, who performed the role
many times in his forty-year operatic career, was one of the first to assume
that the painter knows, or strongly suspects, that he will be shot. Gigli wrote
in his autobiography: "he is certain that these are their last moments together
on earth, and that he is about to die".[57] Domingo, the dominant Cavaradossi of
the 1970s and 1980s, concurred, stating in a 1985 interview that he had long
played the part that way.[57] Gobbi, who in his later years often directed the
opera, commented, "Unlike Floria, Cavaradossi knows that Scarpia never yields,
though he pretends to believe in order to delay the pain for
Tosca."[57]
Critical reception[edit]
The enduring popularity of Tosca has
not been matched by consistent critical enthusiasm. After the premiere, Ippolito
Valetta of Nueva antologia wrote, "[Puccini] finds in his palette all colours,
all shades; in his hands, the instrumental texture becomes completely supple,
the gradations of sonority are innumerable, the blend unfailingly grateful to
the ear."[44] However, one critic described act 2 as overly long and wordy;
another echoed Illica and Giacosa in stating that the rush of action did not
permit enough lyricism, to the great detriment of the music. A third called the
opera "three hours of noise".[58]
The critics gave the work a generally
kinder reception in London, where The Times called Puccini "a master in the art
of poignant expression", and praised the "wonderful skill and sustained power"
of the music.[59] In The Musical Times, Puccini's score was admired for its
sincerity and "strength of utterance."[60] However, after the 1903 Paris
opening, the composer Paul Dukas thought the work lacked cohesion and style,
while Gabriel Fauré was offended by "disconcerting vulgarities".[61] More
recently the musicologist Joseph Kerman described Tosca as a "shabby little
shocker",[62] while the composer Benjamin Britten declared that he was "sickened
by the cheapness and emptiness" of Puccini's music.[63] Veteran critic Ernest
Newman, while acknowledging the "enormously difficult business of boiling
[Sardou's] play down for operatic purposes,"[64] writes that the subtleties of
Sardou's original plot are handled "very lamely", so that "much of what happens,
and why, is unintelligible to the spectator".[65] Overall, however, Newman
delivers a more positive judgement: "[Puccini's] operas are to some extent a
mere bundle of tricks, but no one else has performed the same tricks nearly as
well".[66] Opera scholar Julian Budden remarks on Puccini's "inept handling of
the political element", but still hails the work as "a triumph of pure
theatre".[67] Music critic Charles Osborne ascribes Tosca's immense popularity
with audiences to the taut effectiveness of its melodramatic plot, the
opportunities given to its three leading characters to shine vocally and
dramatically, and the presence of two great arias in "Vissi d'arte" and "E
lucevan le stelle".[63] The work remains popular today; it was the second-most
performed opera in North America in 2008/2009, surpassed only by Puccini's La
bohème.[68]
Music[edit]
General style[edit]
Original poster,
depicting the death of Scarpia, and Tosca's dismissive "E avanti a lui tremava
tutta Roma!" (act 2)
By the end of the 19th century the classic form of opera
structure, in which arias, duets and other set-piece vocal numbers are
interspersed with passages of recitative or dialogue, had been largely
abandoned, even in Italy. Operas were "through-composed", with a continuous
stream of music which in some cases eliminated all identifiable set-pieces. In
what critic Edward Greenfield calls the "Grand Tune" concept, Puccini retains a
limited number of set-pieces, distinguished from their musical surroundings by
their memorable melodies. Even in the passages linking these "Grand Tunes",
Puccini maintains a strong degree of lyricism and only rarely resorts to
recitative.[69]
Budden describes Tosca as the most Wagnerian of Puccini's
scores, in its use of musical leitmotifs. Unlike Wagner, Puccini does not
develop or modify his motifs, nor weave them into the music symphonically, but
uses them to refer to characters, objects and ideas, and as reminders within the
narrative.[70] The most potent of these motifs is the sequence of three very
loud and strident chords which open the opera and which represent the evil
character of Scarpia—or perhaps, Charles Osborne proposes, the violent
atmosphere that pervades the entire opera.[71] Budden has suggested that
Scarpia's tyranny, lechery and lust form "the dynamic engine that ignites the
drama".[72] Other motifs identify Tosca herself, the love of Tosca and
Cavaradossi, the fugitive Angelotti, the semi-comical character of the sacristan
in act 1 and the theme of torture in act 2.[72][73]
Act 1[edit]
The opera
begins without any prelude; the opening chords of the Scarpia motif lead
immediately to the agitated appearance of Angelotti and the enunciation of the
"fugitive" motif. The sacristan's entry, accompanied by his sprightly buffo
theme, lifts the mood, as does the generally light-hearted colloquy with
Cavaradossi which follows after the latter's entrance. This leads to the first
of the "Grand Tunes", Cavaradossi's "Recondita armonia" with its sustained high
B flat, accompanied by the sacristan's grumbling counter-melody.[71] The
domination, in that aria, of themes which will be repeated in the love duet make
it clear that though the painting may incorporate the Marchesa's features, Tosca
is the ultimate inspiration of his work.[74] Cavaradossi's dialogue with
Angelotti is interrupted by Tosca's arrival, signalled by her motif which
incorporates, in Newman's words, "the feline, caressing cadence so
characteristic of her."[75] Though Tosca enters violently and suspiciously, the
music paints her devotion and serenity. According to Budden, there is no
contradiction: Tosca's jealousy is largely a matter of habit, which her lover
does not take too seriously.[76]
After Tosca's "Non la sospiri" and the
subsequent argument inspired by her jealousy, the sensuous character of the love
duet "Qual'occhio" provides what opera writer Burton Fisher describes as "an
almost erotic lyricism that has been called pornophony".[77] The brief scene in
which the sacristan returns with the choristers to celebrate Napoleon's supposed
defeat provides almost the last carefree moments in the opera; after the
entrance of Scarpia to his menacing theme, the mood becomes sombre, then
steadily darker.[33] As the police chief interrogates the sacristan, the
"fugitive" motif recurs three more times, each time more emphatically,
signalling Scarpia's success in his investigation.[78] In Scarpia's exchanges
with Tosca the sound of tolling bells, interwoven with the orchestra, creates an
almost religious atmosphere,[33] for which Puccini draws on music from his then
unpublished Mass of 1880.[79] The final scene in the act is a juxtaposition of
the sacred and the profane,[73] as Scarpia's lustful reverie is sung alongside
the swelling Te Deum chorus. He joins with the chorus in the final statement "Te
aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur" ("Everlasting Father, all the earth
worships thee"), before the act ends with a thunderous restatement of the
Scarpia motif.[73][80]
Act 2[edit]
Emmy Destinn in the role of
Tosca, c. 1910
Fisher has observed that Puccini's was a tragic muse;[77] in
the second act of Tosca, according to Newman, he rises to his greatest height as
a master of the musical macabre.[81] The act begins quietly, with Scarpia musing
on the forthcoming downfall of Angelotti and Cavaradossi, while in the
background a gavotte is played in a distant quarter of the Farnese Palace. For
this music Puccini adapted a fifteen-year-old student exercise by his late
brother, Michele, stating that in this way his brother could live again through
him.[82] In the dialogue with Spoletta, the "torture" motif—an "ideogram of
suffering", according to Budden—is heard for the first time as a foretaste of
what is to come.[33][83] As Cavaradossi is brought in for interrogation, Tosca's
voice is heard with the offstage chorus singing a cantata, "[its] suave strains
contrast[ing] dramatically with the increasing tension and ever-darkening colour
of the stage action".[84] The cantata is most likely the Cantata a Giove, in the
literature referred to as a lost work of Puccini's from 1897.[82]
Osborne
describes the scenes that follow—Cavaradossi's interrogation, his torture,
Scarpia's sadistic tormenting of Tosca—as Puccini's musical equivalent of grand
guignol to which Cavaradossi's brief "Vittoria! Vittoria!" on the news of
Napoleon's victory gives only partial relief.[85] Scarpia's aria "Già, mi dicon
venal" ("Yes, they say I am venal") is closely followed by Tosca's "Vissi
d'arte". A lyrical andante based on Tosca's act 1 motif, this is perhaps the
opera's best-known aria, yet was regarded by Puccini as a mistake;[86] he
considered eliminating it since it held up the action.[87] Fisher calls it "a
Job-like prayer questioning God for punishing a woman who has lived unselfishly
and righteously".[73] In the act's finale, Newman likens the orchestral turmoil
which follows Tosca's stabbing of Scarpia to the sudden outburst after the slow
movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.[88] After Tosca's contemptuous "E avanti
a lui tremava tutta Roma!" ("All Rome trembled before him"), sung on a middle C♯
monotone [89] (sometimes spoken),[85] the music gradually fades, ending "the
most impressively macabre scene in all opera."[90] The final notes in the act
are those of the Scarpia motif, softly, in a minor key.[91]
Act
3[edit]
The execution of Cavaradossi at the end of act 3. Soldiers
fire, as Tosca looks away. Photograph of a pre-1914 production by the
Metropolitan Opera.
The third act's tranquil beginning provides a brief
respite from the drama. An introductory 16-bar theme for the horns will later be
sung by Cavaradossi and Tosca in their final duet. The orchestral prelude which
follows portrays the Roman dawn; the pastoral aura is accentuated by the
shepherd boy's song, and the sounds of sheep bells and church bells, the
authenticity of the latter validated by Puccini's early morning visits to
Rome.[77][85] Themes reminiscent of Scarpia, Tosca and Cavaradossi emerge in the
music, which changes tone as the drama resumes with Cavaradossi's entrance, to
an orchestral statement of what becomes the melody of his aria "E lucevan le
stelle".[85] This is a farewell to love and life, "an anguished lament and grief
built around the words 'muoio disperato' (I die in despair)".[92] Puccini
insisted on the inclusion of these words, and later stated that admirers of the
aria had treble cause to be grateful to him: for composing the music, for having
the lyrics written, and "for declining expert advice to throw the result in the
waste-paper basket".[93] The lovers' final duet "Amaro sol per te", which
concludes with the act's opening horn music, did not equate with Ricordi's idea
of a transcendental love duet which would be a fitting climax to the opera.
Puccini justified his musical treatment by citing Tosca's preoccupation with
teaching Cavaradossi to feign death.[70]
In the execution scene which
follows, a theme emerges, the incessant repetition of which reminded Newman of
the Transformation Music which separates the two parts of act 1 in Wagner's
Parsifal.[94] In the final bars, as Tosca evades Spoletta and leaps to her
death, the theme of "E lucevan le stelle" is played tutta forze (as loudly as
possible). This choice of ending has been strongly criticised by analysts,
mainly because of its specific association with Cavaradossi rather than
Tosca.[67] Joseph Kerman mocked the final music, "Tosca leaps, and the orchestra
screams the first thing that comes into its head."[95] Budden, however, argues
that it is entirely logical to end this dark opera on its blackest theme.[67]
According to historian and former opera singer Susan Vandiver Nicassio: "The
conflict between the verbal and the musical clues gives the end of the opera a
twist of controversy that, barring some unexpected discovery among Puccini's
papers, can never truly be resolved."[95]
List of arias and set
numbers[edit]
"Recondita armonia"
Menu
0:00
Enrico Caruso,
1907
Act 1 finale
Menu
0:00
Pasquale Amato, as
Scarpia, performs the act 1 finale with the Metropolitan Opera chorus, in this
1914 recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company. (From "Tre sbirri, una
carrozza" to the end of the act.)
"Vissi
d'arte"
Menu
0:00
Emmy Destinn, 1914
"E lucevan le
stelle"
Menu
0:00
Leo Slezak in 1913 for Edison
Records
Problems playing these files? See media help.
First
linesPerformed by
Act 1
"Recondita armonia"
("Hidden
harmony")Cavaradossi
"Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta"
("Do you not long
for our little house")Tosca, Cavaradossi
"Qual'occhio"
("What eyes in the
world")Cavaradossi, Tosca
"Va, Tosca!"
("Go, Tosca!")Scarpia, Chorus
Te
Deum laudamus
("We praise thee, O God")Scarpia, Chorus
Act 2
"Ha più
forte sapore"
("For myself the violent conquest")Scarpia
"Vittoria!
Vittoria!"
("Victory! Victory!")Cavaradossi
"Già, mi dicon
venal"
("Yes, they say that I am venal")Scarpia
"Vissi d'arte"
("I
lived for art, I lived for love")Tosca
Act 3
"Io de' sospiri"
("I give
you sighs")Voice of a shepherd boy
"E lucevan le stelle"
("And the stars
shone")Cavaradossi
"O dolci mani"
("Oh, sweet hands")Cavaradossi
"Amaro
sol per te m'era il morire"
("Only for you did death taste bitter for
me")Cavaradossi, Tosca
Recordings[edit]
Further information: Tosca
discography
The first complete Tosca recording was made in 1919, using the
pre-microphone acoustic process. The conductor, Carlo Sabajno, had been the
Gramophone Company's house conductor since 1904; he had made recordings of
Verdi's Ernani and Rigoletto before tackling Tosca with a young and largely
unknown cast.[96] In 1929 Sabajno recorded the opera again, with the orchestra
and chorus of the Teatro alla Scala and with star names Carmen Melis and Apollo
Granforte in the roles of Tosca and Scarpia.[97] In 1938 HMV secured the
services of the renowned tenor Beniamino Gigli for a "practically complete"
recording that extended over 14 double-sided shellac discs.[98]
In the
post-war period, following the invention of long-playing records, Tosca
recordings were dominated by Maria Callas. The earliest of her recordings in the
role were of two live performances in Mexico City, in 1950 and 1952.[99] In
1953, with conductor Victor de Sabata and the La Scala forces, she made the
recording which for decades has been considered the best of all the recorded
performances of the opera.[100][101] Callas made several more recordings, mainly
of live stage performances, the last in 1965.[99] The first stereo recording of
the opera was made in 1959, with Francesco Molinari-Pradelli conducting the
Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus with Renata Tebaldi as Tosca and Mario Del
Monaco as Cavaradossi.[102] Herbert von Karajan's acclaimed performance with the
Vienna State Opera was in 1963, with Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Di Stefano and
Giuseppe Taddei in the leading roles.[100]
The 1970s and 1980s saw a
proliferation of recordings, many of live performances. Plácido Domingo first
recorded Cavaradossi in 1973, and continued to do so at regular intervals until
1994. In 1976 he was joined by his son, Plácido Domingo Jr., who sang the
shepherd boy's song in a British recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra.
More recent commended recordings have included Antonio Pappano's 2000 Royal
Opera House version with Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Ruggero
Raimondi.[100] Recordings of Tosca in languages other than Italian are rare but
not unknown; over the years versions in French, German, Spanish, Hungarian and
Russian have been issued.[99] An admired English language version was released
in 1995 in which David Parry led the Philharmonia Orchestra and a largely
British cast.[103] Since the late 1990s numerous video recordings of the opera
have been issued on DVD and Blu-ray disc (BD). These include recent productions
and remastered versions of historic performances.[104]
Editions and
amendments[edit]
The orchestral score of Tosca was published in late 1899 by
Casa Ricordi. In contrast to his other operas, Puccini appeared to be satisfied
with his initial score, which remained relatively unchanged in the 1909 edition
prepared by Osbourne McConachy.[105] An unamended edition was published by Dover
Press in 1991.[106]
The 1909 score contains a number of minor changes from
the autograph score. Some are changes of phrase: Cavaradossi's reply to the
sacristan when he asks if the painter is doing penance is changed from
"Pranzai"[107] ("I have eaten.") to "Fame non ho" ("I am not hungry."), which
William Ashbrook states, in his study of Puccini's operas, accentuates the class
distinction between the two. When Tosca comforts Cavaradossi after the torture
scene, she now tells him, "Ma il giusto Iddio lo punirá" ("But a just God will
punish him" [Scarpia]); formerly she stated, "Ma il sozzo sbirro lo pagherà"
("But the filthy cop will pay for it."). Other changes are in the music; when
Tosca demands the price for Cavaradossi's freedom ("Il prezzo!"), her music is
changed to eliminate an octave leap, allowing her more opportunity to express
her contempt and loathing of Scarpia in a passage which is now near the middle
of the soprano vocal range.[108] A remnant of a "Latin Hymn" sung by Tosca and
Cavaradossi in act 3 survived into the first published score and libretto, but
is not in later versions.[109] According to Ashbrook, the most surprising change
is where, after Tosca discovers the truth about the "mock" execution and
exclaims "Finire così? Finire così?" ("To end like this? To end like this?"),
she was to sing a five-bar fragment to the melody of "E lucevan le stelle".
Ashbrook applauds Puccini for deleting the section from a point in the work
where delay is almost unendurable as events rush to their conclusion. He also
points out that the orchestra's recalling "E lucevan le stelle" in the final
notes would seem less incongruous if it was meant to underscore Tosca's and
Cavaradossi's love for each other, rather than being simply a melody which Tosca
never hears.[110]
References[edit]
Notes
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p.
11
Jump up ^ Nicassio, pp. 12–13
Jump up ^ Budden, p. 181
Jump up ^
Fisher, p. 21
Jump up ^ Phillips-Matz, pp. 106–107
Jump up ^ Philips-Matz,
pp. 107–108
^ Jump up to: a b c d Phillips-Matz, p. 109
Jump up ^ Budden,
pp. 182–183
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p. 17
^ Jump up to: a b Phillips-Matz, p.
18
^ Jump up to: a b "Tosca: Performance history". Stanford University.
Retrieved 27 June 2010.
Jump up ^ Osborne, p. 115
Jump up ^ Fisher, p.
31
Jump up ^ Burton, p. 86
Jump up ^ Nicassio, pp. 32–34
Jump up ^
Nicassio, p. 35
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p. 46
Jump up ^ Nicassio, pp.
48–49
Jump up ^ Nicassio, pp. 169–170
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p. 47
Jump up
^ Nicassio, pp. 204–205
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p. 18
Jump up ^ Phillips-Matz,
p. 112
Jump up ^ Nicassio, pp. 272–274
^ Jump up to: a b Nicassio, p.
227
^ Jump up to: a b c d Fisher, p. 23
^ Jump up to: a b Budden, p.
185
Jump up ^ Budden, p. 189
^ Jump up to: a b c Phillips-Matz, p.
115
^ Jump up to: a b Fisher, p. 20 and p. 23
Jump up ^ Burton, p.
278
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p. 306
^ Jump up to: a b c d Osborne, p. 139
^
Jump up to: a b Budden, p. 194
Jump up ^ Budden, pp. 194–195
Jump up ^
Budden, p. 195
Jump up ^ Phillips-Matz, p. 116
^ Jump up to: a b Budden,
p. 197
Jump up ^ "Almanscco di Gherardo Caseglia 14 Gennaio 1900".
AmadeusOnline. Retrieved 15 July 2010. (in Italian)
^ Jump up to: a b c d e
Phillips-Matz, p. 118
^ Jump up to: a b Budden, p. 198
^ Jump up to: a b
Ashbrook, p. 77
Jump up ^ Greenfeld, H. pp. 122–23
^ Jump up to: a b
Budden, p. 199
Jump up ^ Phillips-Matz, p. 120
Jump up ^ Budden, p.
225
Jump up ^ Greenfeld, H. pp. 138–139
Jump up ^ "Emmy Destinn
(1878–1930)". The Kapralova Society. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
^ Jump up to: a
b c Neef (ed.), pp. 462–467
Jump up ^ Phillips-Matz, p. 121
Jump up ^
Petsalēs-Diomēdēs, pp. 291–93
Jump up ^ Hamilton, Frank (2009). "Maria
Callas: Performance Annals and Discography". frankhamilton.org. Retrieved 3 July
2010.
Jump up ^ Girardi, pp. 192–93
Jump up ^ "Tosca, Bregenzer
Festspiele – Seebühne". The Financial Times. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 12 July
2010.
Jump up ^ O'Connor, John J. (1 January 1993). "A 'Tosca' performed on
actual location". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
Jump up ^
Forbes, Elizabeth (7 September 2007). "Luciano Pavarotti (Obituary)". The
Independent. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c Nicassio, pp.
241–242
Jump up ^ Phillips-Matz, p. 119
Jump up ^ Greenfeld, H. pp.
125–26
Jump up ^ "The Royal Opera: Puccini's opera La Tosca". The Musical
Times (London): 536–37. 1 August 1900.
Jump up ^ Greenfeld, H., pp, 125–126
and pp. 138–139
Jump up ^ Kerman, p. 205
^ Jump up to: a b Osborne, p.
143
Jump up ^ Newman, p. 188
Jump up ^ Newman, pp. 230–231
Jump up ^
Newman (1958), p. 465
^ Jump up to: a b c Budden, p. 222
Jump up ^ "Quick
Opera Facts". Opera America. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
Jump up ^ Greenfield,
pp. 148–150
^ Jump up to: a b Fisher, pp. 27–28
^ Jump up to: a b Osborne,
pp. 137–138
^ Jump up to: a b Budden, Julian. "Tosca". Oxford Music Online.
Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Fisher, pp. 33–35
Jump up ^
Burton, p. 201
Jump up ^ Newman. p. 114
Jump up ^ Budden, p. 203
^ Jump
up to: a b c Fisher, p. 20
Jump up ^ Budden, p. 207
Jump up ^ Newman, p.
191
Jump up ^ Newman, p. 221
Jump up ^ Newman, p. 235
^ Jump up to: a b
Burton, pp. 130–131
Jump up ^ Budden, p. 212
Jump up ^ Newman, pp.
233–234
^ Jump up to: a b c d Osborne, pp. 140–143
Jump up ^ Greenfield,
p. 136
Jump up ^ Budden, p. 216
Jump up ^ Newman, p. 244
Jump up ^ In
the first edition the line was recited later, on the D♯ before rehearsal 65. See
Apendix2g (Ricordi 1995, p. LXIV)
Jump up ^ Newman, p. 245
Jump up ^
Budden, p. 217
Jump up ^ Fisher, p. 26
Jump up ^ Ashbrook, p. 82
Jump
up ^ Newman, p. 150
^ Jump up to: a b Nicassio, pp. 253–254
Jump up ^ "The
house conductor: Carlo Sabajno". Kings College London Centre for the History and
Analysis of Recorded Music. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
Jump up ^ Gaisberg, F.W.
(June 1944). "The Recording of Tosca". Gramophone (London: Haymarket): p. 15.
Retrieved 30 June 2010.
Jump up ^ "Complete Recordings of Two Puccini
Operas: Tosca and Turandot". Gramophone (London: Haymarket): p. 23. December
1938. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c "There are 250 recordings
of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini on file". Operadis. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
^
Jump up to: a b c Roberts, pp. 761–762
Jump up ^ Greenfield et al (1993), pp.
314–318
Jump up ^ Hope-Wallace, Philip (February 1960). "Puccini: Tosca
complete". Gramophone (London: Haymarket): p. 71. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
Jump up ^ "Puccini: Tosca (Sung in English)". Gramophone (London:
Haymarket): p. 82. June 1996. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
Jump up ^ "DVD videos,
Puccini's Tosca". Presto Classical. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
Jump up ^
"Tosca". Eastman School of Music. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
Jump up ^ "Tosca in
Full Score". Dover Press. ASIN 048626937. Missing or empty |url= (help)
Jump
up ^ Tosca, revised vocal score by Rodger Parker (Ricordi 1995), critical notes
on p. XL
Jump up ^ Ashbrook, pp. 92–93
Jump up ^ Nicassio, p. 245
Jump
up ^ Ashbrook, p. 93
Sources
Ashbrook, William (1985). The Operas of
Puccini. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-9309-6.
Budden, Julian (2002). Puccini: His Life and Works (paperback ed.). Oxford:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-226-57971-9.
Burton, Deborah; Nicassio,
Susan Vandiver; Züno, Agostino, eds. (2004). Tosca's Prism: Three Moments of
Western Cultural History. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN
978-1-55553-616-9.
Fisher, Burton D., ed. (2005). Opera Classics Library
Presents Tosca (revised ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: Opera Journeys Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-930841-41-3.
Girardi, Michele (2000). Puccini: His International
Art. Chicago: Chicago University Press. ISBN 978-0-226-29757-6.
Greenfeld,
Howard (1980). Puccini. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 978-0-7091-9368-5.
Greenfield, Edward (1958). Puccini: Keeper of the Seal. London: Arrow Books.
Greenfield, Edward; March, Ivan; Layton, Robert, eds. (1993). The Penguin
Guide to Opera on Compact Discs. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-046957-8.
Kerman, Joseph (2005). Opera as Drama. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24692-8. (Note: this book was first
published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1956)
Neef, Sigrid, ed. (2000). Opera:
Composers, Works, Performers (English ed.). Cologne: Könemann. ISBN
978-3-8290-3571-2.
Newman, Ernest (1954). More Opera Nights. London: Putnam.
Nicassio, Susan Vandiver (2002). Tosca's Rome: The Play and the Opera in
Historical Context (paperback ed.). Oxford: University of Chicago Press. ISBN
978-0-19-517974-3.
Osborne, Charles (1990). The Complete Operas of Puccini.
London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-575-04868-3.
Petsalēs-Diomēdēs, N.
(2001). The Unknown Callas: The Greek Years. Cleckheaton (UK): Amadeus Press.
ISBN 978-1-57467-059-2.
Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane (2002). Puccini: A
Biography. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 978-1-55553-530-8.
Roberts, David, ed. (2005). The Classic Good CD & DVD Guide 2006.
London: Haymarket. ISBN 978-0-86024-972-6.
Further reading[edit]
Gruber,
Paul, ed. (2003). The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera. New York: W.
W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-03444-8.
External
links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tosca.
Tosca: Free
scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Libretto
Full
piano score with notes
Susan Vandiver Nicassio: Ten Things You Didn't Know
about Tosca
[hide]
v
t
e
Giacomo Puccini
OperasLe Villi
(1884)
Edgar (1889)
Manon Lescaut (1893)
La bohème (1896)
Tosca
(1900)
Madama Butterfly (1904)
La fanciulla del West (1910)
La rondine
(1917)
Il trittico
Il tabarro
Suor Angelica
Gianni Schicchi
(1918)
Turandot (1924)
Other worksMessa di Gloria
(1880)
FamilyGiacomo Puccini (great great grandfather)
Domenico
Puccini (grandfather)
OtherCompositions
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