Cape Town Opera's TOSCA Comes To Joburg This Month

Cape Town Opera (CTO) will present Puccini’s powerful TOSCA to Johannesburg audiences at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein from 21 to 30 July 2023, ahead of its Cape Town season in September 2023. The highly anticipated grand scale opera will be directed by CTO’s Artistic Director Magdalene Minnaar with set and costume design by Maritha Visagie and Leopold Senekal, movement direction by Fiona du Plooy and lighting design by Oliver Hauser. 

Puccini's score reveals his compositional mastery and skill in distilling humanity’s most profound emotions into music. Maestro Adam Szmidt will conduct the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sempre Opera Chorus will be directed by Paul Ferreira. An exciting addition to the sixty-strong cast is the inclusion of a 24-member children’s chorus, overseen by Elana Neethling. 

Heading the stellar cast in both cities will be soprano Nobulumko Mngxekeza as the fiery Floria Tosca in her first production with Cape Town Opera since being appointed as Soloist last year. Ms Mngxekeza  has enjoyed an outstanding international career and recently returned from Belgium to begin rehearsals. “I am so excited to direct Nobulumko alongside an exceptional line up of Cape Town Opera artists in what happens to be one of my favourite operas of all time; layered, dynamic and a feast for the senses,” says Minnaar. Joining Mngxekeza will be tenor Lukhanyo Moyake as Cavaradossi, Tosca’s love interest, and the award-winning baritone Conroy Scott as the malicious police chief Baron Scarpia. Cape Town Opera Judith Neilson Young Artists include Lwazi Dlamini as Sciarrone, Van Wyk Venter as Spoletta, and with Reuben Mbonambi as the escaped political prisoner Angelotti.

The story of TOSCA, an opera in three acts, follows Floria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi, the ill-fated lovers whose romance plays out amidst political turmoil in Italy in 1800. It is a wrenching, passionate and at times violent melodrama of love, loss, jealousy and deception set against the backdrop of a Roman revolution during the Napoleonic Wars. Cape Town Opera’s production blends Roman grandeur with contemporary elements and strong references to the splendid architecture of the day. The costumes will be a stunning conflation of old and new, rich palettes and elegant period pieces. 

TOSCA promises to be a marvellous spectacle loaded with the drama, intrigue and mystery that audiences have come to expect and appreciate from this powerful artistic genre. 

 Cape Town Opera acknowledges, with grateful thanks, the support of the Judith Neilson Head Trust for the Johannesburg tour and the Rupert Music Foundation and the City of Cape Town for the Artscape season.

 Tickets for TOSCA at the Mandela Auditorium at Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein cost from R180 to R550 with booking through Webtickets.  Parent guidance advised.