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VIDEO: Get A First Look At The Met's TOSCA from the 2018/19 Season

Met favorite Sondra Radvanovsky and rising star Jennifer Rowley share the title role of the volatile diva at the heart of Puccini's operatic thriller. Joseph Calleja brings his stylish tenor to the role of Cavaradossi, and Wolfgang Koch and Claudio Sgura share the role of the nefarious police chief Scarpia. Carlo Rizzi conducts Sir David McVicar's resplendent production.

Puccini's melodrama about a volatile diva, a sadistic police chief, and an idealistic artist has offended and thrilled audiences for more than a century. Critics, for their part, have often had problems with Tosca's rather grungy subject matter, the directness and intensity of its score, and the crowd-pleasing dramatic opportunities it provides for its lead roles. But these same aspects have made Tosca one of a handful of iconic works that seem to represent opera in the public imagination. Tosca's popularity is further secured by a superb and exhilarating dramatic sweep, a driving score of abundant melody and theatrical shrewdness, and a career-defining title role.

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was immensely popular in his own lifetime, and his mature works remain staples in the repertory of most of the world's opera companies. His operas are celebrated for their mastery of detail, sensitivity to everyday subjects, copious melody, and economy of expression. Puccini's librettists for Tosca, Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906) and Luigi Illica (1857-1919), also collaborated with him on his two other most enduringly successful operas, La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. Giacosa, a dramatist, was responsible for the stories, and Illica, a poet, worked primarily on the words themselves.

No opera is more tied to its setting than Tosca, which takes place in Rome on the morning of June 17, 1800, through dawn the following day. The specified settings for each of the three acts-the Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Palazzo Farnese, and Castel Sant'Angelo-are familiar monuments in the city and can still be visited today. While the libretto takes some liberties with the facts, historical issues form a basis for the opera: the people of Rome are awaiting news of the Battle of Marengo in northern Italy, which will decide the fate of their symbolically powerful city.






Lise Davidsen Hits Mark as Marshallin, with Hankey’s Octavian, Morley’s Sophie Photo
It took Richard Strauss only about 100 minutes apiece (with no breaks) to tell the lurid tale of SALOME and the tragedy of ELEKTRA. So why on earth did he and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal need almost five hours (including two intermissions) to tell the personal stories of an “aging” (she was really in her 30s) noblewoman, a couple of teenagers in love and a repulsive sexual predator?

Vancouver Opera To Conclude 2022-2023 Season With A New Production Of Richard Wagners THE  Photo
Vancouver Opera will complete its successful 2022-2023 season with The Flying Dutchman. Written by one of the world's greatest operatic composers, Richard Wagner, this production will delight opera enthusiasts and casual fans alike.

THE MAGIC FLUTE to be Presented at Portland State University Opera in April Photo
Portland State University Opera will present Mozart's final opera, 'The Magic Flute,' April 21 through April 30, 2023, at Lincoln Performance Hall, 1620 SW Park Avenue, Portland.

Experiments In Opera Presents A Rare Run Of ANTHONY BRAXTON THEATER IMPROVISATIONS For Com Photo
In celebration of the 78th birthday (June 4, 1945) of Anthony Braxton—one of the most important musicians, educators, and creative thinkers of our time, as well as a mentor to EiO—Experiments in Opera presents a rare run of performances of Compositions No. 279-283, composed in 2000 for improvisational actor and improvising musicians.


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