Template:Puccini operasTosca (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtoska]) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardou's drama, La Tosca. The work premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14, 1900. It is one of the world's most popular operas, a hit with audiences from its first performance.^[1] However it was not well received at first by critics.^[2] Today, Tosca is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire. It was listed second among the ten most frequently performed operas in North America in 2008-2009 by Opera America.^[3]

Historical context

According to the libretto, the action of Tosca occurs in June 1800.^[4] Based on the fact that word (at first false news) of the 14 June 1800 Battle of Marengo reaches Rome during the opera, Tosca takes place in the afternoon, evening, and early morning of 17 and 18 June 1800.^[5]

Italy had long been divided into a number of smaller states, with the Pope ruling central Italy, known as the Papal States, from Rome. By the 1790's, the Papal States's army was principally ceremonial; the Pope's true defense was in his alliance with Catholic nations like Austria, France, and Spain. Following the French Revolution, the French cut off financial support of the Pope, and invaded Italy under General Napoleon Buonaparte in 1796. In February 1797. the Pope bought a respite by ceding lands to the French under the Treaty of Tolentino. The French entered Rome almost unapposed on 11 February 1798, and established a republic. On 20 February, the Pope was placed in a carriage with a small entourage and expelled from Rome.^[6] He would never return, dying in Valence, France on 29 August 1799.^[7]

The Roman Republic was ruled by seven consuls—the office once held by Angelotti in the opera, and which Libero Angelucci, believed by some writers to be the basis of Angelotti actually held.^[8] The republic instituted some reforms, for example freeing the Jews from the ghetto, but that act caused a bloody revolt in the Trastevere district.^[9] The republic was disliked for its failure to manage the economy, which had been based on Papal overseas receipts and disbursements of charity.^[10] In September 1799, the French, who had protected the republic, withdrew from Rome.^[11] As the French left, troops of the Kingdom of Naples occupied the city.^[12] In La Tosca, Cavarodossi mentions that he arrived in Rome as French troops left by one gate, and Neapolitan troops entered by another.^[13]

The following year, Napoleon, who was by now the unquestioned leader of France, brought his troops across the Alps to Italy in May. The Austrian troops, part of the Allies against Napoleon, were under General Michael von Melas. Melas took Nizza (today Nice, but then in Italy) and on 4 June Genoa. He then turned north towards Milan and Napoleon's troops, and the two armies met at Marengo (near Alessandria) on Saturday 14 June. Austrian troops were initially successful. By mid-morning, they were in control of the field of battle, and Melas sent the good news south towards Rome and Naples. Fresh French troops arrived in late afternoon, and Napoleon attacked the tired and off-guard Austrians. As he retreated in disarray with the remains of his army, Melas sent a second courier south.^[14] Both dispatches would arrive in Rome on 17 June, and the Neopolitan queen, Maria Carolina (who reads the second letter onstage in the play, but is merely referred to in the opera) later wrote of her reaction to the second letter, "I very nearly died&nbsp... for several days I have been stupefied, my memory gone, my head quite empty.^[15] The Neapolitans abandoned Rome; two weeks later the new Pope, Pius VII, entered Rome,^[7] and the city would spend the next fourteen years under French domination.^[15]

Composition

Securing the rights

Victorien Sardou wrote more than seventy plays, almost all of them successful, and none of them performed today.^[16] Sardou was the great master of the well-made play, filled with intricacies with usually a surprise ending. Sardou considered himself a liberal, and was impressed by the Napoleonic period—at least four of his plays are set in that era. In the early 1880's, Sardou began a collaboration with the immensely popular actress Sarah Bernhardt. Bernhardt was at her finest in tragedy; Sardou provided her with a series of historical melodramas.^[17] He reached his greatest glory with the third Bernhardt play, La Tosca, which premiered in Paris on 24 November 1887, and which she would star in throughout Europe.^[18] The play was an outstanding success, with more than 3,000 performances in France alone.^[19]

Puccini had seen La Tosca at least twice, in Milan and Turn. On 7 May 1889, Puccini wrote ot his publisher, Giulio Ricordi,

I realize my desire to work has come upon me again, livelier than ever, rather than leaving me. I am thinking about Tosca! I beg you to take the necessary steps to get Sardou's permission for it before you give up on the idea, something that would make me terribly unhappy, because 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."^[20]

Ricordi sent his agent in Paris, Emanuele Muzio, to negotiate with Sardou, who preferred that his play be adapted by a French composer and complained about the reception La Tosca had received in Italy–particularly in Milan. Sardou also warned that other composers were interested in the piece.^[21] Nonetheless, Ricordi reached terms with Sardou, and assigned the librettist Luigi Illica to write a scenario for an adaption.^[22] 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.^[23] There had also been disagreements between Puccini and Sardou—the playwright indicated his unease at entrusting his most successful work to the as-yet-unproven Puccini, whose music he did not like. Offended, Puccini backed out of the agreement.^[24] Instead, Ricordi assigned the work to Arnold Franchetti. Illica composed a libretto for Franchetti, though Franchetti felt the work was not suitable for opera. In late 1894, Ricordi, Illica and Franchetti visited Paris to confer with Sardou. While there, the three Italians met Giuseppe Verdi, who stated that he liked Tosca and would have liked to compose the work himself, were he not retired.^[25]

There are several versions of how Ricordi got Franchetti to surrender the rights and returned the project to Puccini, who had again become interested in the project.^[26] 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, "He has more time than I do".^[27] American scholar Deborah Burton contends that Franchetti gave it up simply because he saw little merit in the project and could not feel the music in the play.^[27] Franchetti surrendered the rights in May 1895, and in August Puccini signed a contract to resume control of the project.^[26]

Adaptation and writing

Sardou's well-made play, La Tosca required five acts and lengthy dialogue to reach its conclusion. While the broad details of the opera's plot are present in the play (all three main characters meet their deaths the same ways in both works) the play contains many more characters and much plot detail not present in the opera. In addition, in the play, the lovers are portrayed as though they were French: Floria Tosca in the play is Sarah Bernhardt playing herself, while Cavaradossi is Parisian-born and of Roman descent. 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.^[28] Giacosa and Puccini repeatedly clashed over the condensation, with Giacosa feeling that Puccini did not really want to complete the project.^[29]

Though Puccini described Illica's libretto for Franchetti as "extraordinary" in August 1895,^[30] Illica was soon called upon to do a new version. This 1896 libretto was long lost, resurfacing in 2000 and contains significant differences from the final version. Though Act I differs little from the pubished version, in Act II, Scarpia is given a long monologue prior to "Ha più forte sapore", and there are several variations on the dialougue surrounding Cavaradossi's "Vittoria! Vittoria!", including one in which Tosca urges Cavaradossi to put on his coat and leave.^[31] The greatest differences lie in the third act, with begins with a much longer description of the Roman dawn (which would have translated into a longer introduction to Act III) and continues with Cavaradossi singing more of his letter to Tosca in the aria analogous to "E lucevan le stelle", although both versions of the aria have similar themes. After they plan their departure from Rome, the lovers sing what was called the "Latin Hymn", with Cavaradossi stating that everywhere they go, they will find Latin traces, and the ghosts of Rome.^[32] It in the ending that the 1896 libretto differs most significantly, as Tosca does not die, but instead goes mad, cradling her lover's head in her lap. The entrance of Spoletta and the other police agents does not occur, and Tosca remains on the stage alone, hallucinating that she and her Mario, alive, are on a gondola, and that she is asking the gondolier to remain silent, for she wants a great silence.^[33] Sardou refused to consider the final change, insisting that Tosca must throw herself from the parapet to her death.^[34] Puccini agreed with Sardou, telling him that the mad scene would have the audiences anticipate the ending and start moving towards the cloakrooms. Sardou responded enthusiastically, "I see you are a man of the theatre!"^[35] Puccini pressed his librettists hard, and Giacosa issued a series of melodramatic threats to abandon the work.^[36] The two librettists were finally able to give Puccini what they hoped was a final version of the libretto in 1898.^[37]

Little work had been done on the score, and that situation did not change in 1897, which Puccini devoted mostly to performances of La Bohème.^[38] The opening page of the autograph score, containing the Scarpia motif, is dated January 1898.^[39] In between continued performances of La Bohème, Puccini worked on the opera. He principally worked on the score, occasionally requesting requesting changes in the libretto. He asked clerical friends for words for the congregation to mutter at the start of the Act I Te Deum, when nothing they gave him satisfied him, he supplied them himself. At Puccini's request, Giacosa irritably supplied new lyrics for the Act I 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."^[40] At the end of the year, Puccini wrote that he was "busting his balls" on the opera.^[40] He investigated the melodies to which the Te Deum was set in Roman churches, and sought to authentically reproduce the cardinal's procession, even to the uniforms of the Swiss Guards. 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.^[36] It was not until 29 September 1899 that Puccini was able to mark the final page of the score "[c]ompleted"; even then there was work which remained, such as the shepherd boy's song at the start of Act III, which Puccini wanted in romanesque dialect. The poet Luigi Zanazzo wrote one, which after slight modification was placed in the opera.^[41] In October 1899, Ricordi realized that some of the music for Cavaradossi's Act III aria, "O dulci 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 III for the publisher.^[42] Ricordi was overwhelmed by the completed Act III prelude, which he received in early November, and softened his views, though he was not completely happy with the music for "O dulci mani".^[43] In any event time was too short before the scheduled January 1900 premiere to make any significant change.^[44]

Performance history

In October 1899, after three years of difficult collaboration, the opera was ready for production. Because it is a story about Rome, it was decided that the prima (premiere) would be given in the Eternal City, at the Teatro Costanzi, rather than at La Scala, Milan. Considerable curiosity surrounded the premiere of Tosca, owing to its long and troubled gestation. Soprano Hariclea Darclee portrayed Tosca, tenor Emilio de Marchi was Cavaradossi, and baritone Eugenio Giraldoni played Scarpia. Leopoldo Mugnone served as Director. Queen Margherita of Italy, Prime Minister Luigi Pelloux, and many composers, including Franchetti, Pietro Mascagni, Francesco Cilea, and Giovanni Sgambati, were among the first-night audience.

Tosca's success was complete, notwithstanding the marked difference in atmosphere between Puccini's latest opera and its immediate predecessor. After its premiere, productions were soon mounted internationally. First stagings at major Italian opera houses include:Teatro Regio di Torino (20 February 1900), La Scala (17 March 1900), Teatro Lirico of Milan (10 November 1900), Teatro Comunale di Bologna (17 November 1900), Teatro di San Carlo (20 December 1900), the Teatro Regio di Parma (26 January 1901), the Teatro Donizetti (22 August 1903), and La Fenice (26 Dicembre 1905). It was first performed on the island of Malta in Valletta on 4 March 1903.

The first production outside Italy was at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 16 June 1900. Other premieres in South and Latin America soon followed: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (13 September 1900); Santiago, Chile (30 June 1901); Mexico City, Mexico (27 July 1901); Montevideo, Uruguay (17 August 1902); Havana, Cuba (13 December 1902); San Juan, Puerto Rico (1902); Asunción, Paraguay (1903); San José, Costa Rica (1903); San Salvador, El Salvador (10 May 1905); Caracas, Venezuela (25 October 1905); and Panama City, Panama (3 November 1908).

The British premiere of Tosca was at the Royal Opera House, London on 12 July 1900 with Milka Ternina in the title role, Fernando De Lucia as Cavardosi, Antonio Scotti as Scarpia, and Luigi Mancinelli conducting. Mancinelli, Ternina, and Scotti also performed in the United States premiere of the opera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 4 February 1901 with Giuseppe Cremonini as Cavardosi. The Met toured with that production to present the Philadelphia premiere at the Academy of Music on 28 February 1901. The Irish premiere of the opera took place on 31 December 1909 in Dublin. The work was first performed in Boston at the Metropolitan Theatre on 18 December 1911 with Emma Eames in the title role.

In Eastern Europe the opera was first performed in Turkey at the Turkish State Opera and Ballet in Constantinople on 23 Augist 1900. The Ukranian premiere was given at the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater on 1 January 1901 and the Greek premiere at the Greek National Opera in Athens on 14 April 1901. Other premieres followed: Bucharest, Romania (11 February 1902); Warsaw, Poland (Great Theatre, Warsaw, 7 November 1903); Prague, Czech Republic (Prague National Theatre, 21 November 1903); and Budapest, Hungary (Hungarian State Opera House, 1 December 1903).

On the Iberian Peninsula Tosca was first performed in Madrid, Spain at the Teatro Real on 15 December 1900. The opera's Portuguese premiere was mounted at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon on 29 January 1901. The opera's first performance in Africa was at the Cairo Opera House in Egypt on 26 November 1901. It was performed for the first time in Tunis, Tunisia in 1903.

Tosca received its French premiere at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 13 October 1903 using a French language translation by Paul Ferrier. Conducted by André Messager, the production starred Claire Friché as the title heroine, Léon Beyle as Cavaradossi, and Hector Dufranne as Scarpia. Ferrier's translation had been used earlier that year for the Monaco premiere at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Monte Carlo on 28 March 1903. It was also used for the Belgium premiere at La Monnaie in Brussels on 2 April 1904. The opera was first given at the Palais Garnier on 24 November 1925.

The Semperoper of Dresden presented the German premiere of Tosca on 21 October 1902. The Austrian premiere took place at the opera house in Graz on 10 June 1904. It was first presented at the Vienna State Opera on 28 January 1910 with Maria Jeritza in the title role, Richard Mayr as Scarpia, and Felix von Weingartner conducting. It was first performed at the Berlin State Opera on 4 October 1921 and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 13 April 1969. Other notable first performances include: San Francisco Opera (2 October 1923, with Giovanni Martinelli and Giuseppe De Luca), the New York City Opera (21 February 1944, with Dusolina Giannini), and the Lyric Opera of Chicago (18 November 1954, with Eleanor Steber).

Roles

Synopsis

Place: Rome

Time: June 1800.

Historical Background In 1798-1799, Italy was fought over by France, now a revolutionary republic, and conservative states, such as Austria, Russia, and the Kingdom of Naples. In February, French troops entered the Papal States, occupied Rome, and proclaimed a new Roman Republic. The Pope had to flee to Tuscany. Liborio Angelucci (the basis for the opera's Cesare Angelotti^[45]) became a consul of the Republic. King Ferdinand of Naples tried to restore the Pope but was defeated by the French, who occupied Naples in January 1799 and proclaimed the Parthenopaean Republic there.

But in April 1799, an Austrian-Russian army defeated the French in northern Italy. In June, Cardinal Ruffo re-occupied Naples for Ferdinand and, in September, Neapolitan troops entered Rome. The reactionary party conducted a general purge of thousands of republicans and liberals, including many artists, scientists, and intellectuals.

In spring 1800, the French returned, now led by Napoleon. Outnumbered, he was nearly defeated by the Austrians at Marengo on 14 June 1800, but recovered near the end of the day to win a complete victory. The action of the opera takes place four days after the battle, and news from Marengo figures in the plot.

Act 1

• Scene: Inside the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome, 1800

"Recondita armonia" Enrico Caruso's 1907 performance of "Recondita armonia". Problems playing this file? See media help.

Cesare Angelotti, a republican, brother of the Marchesa Attavanti and an escaped prisoner of the State, runs into the church and hides in his family's private chapel. The painter Mario Cavaradossi who has republican sympathies, arrives to continue work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene. He exchanges banter with an elderly sacristan, before singing of the "secret harmony" in the contrasting blond beauty of his painting and that of his dark-haired lover, Floria Tosca. The sacristan mumbles his disapproval before leaving.

Angelotti emerges and tells Cavaradossi, an old friend, of his troubles. He is being pursued by the dreaded police chief Scarpia. Cavaradossi gives his friend food, and promises to assist his escape. Angelotti hurriedly returns to the chapel as Tosca arrives. She sings of her hopes for a peaceful future with Cavaradossi ("(Do you not long for our little house"), but then expresses jealousy over the woman in the portrait whom she recognises as the Marchesa. Cavaradossi reassures her of his fidelity, and finally persuades her to leave. Angelotti reappears, and reveals to Cavaradossi his plan to escape disguised as a woman.

Act I finale Pasquale Amato, as Scarpia, performs the Act I 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.) Problems playing this file? See media help.

The sound of a cannon signals that Angelotti's escape has been discovered. As he and Cavaradossi leave the church the sacristan re-enters with groups of choristers, celebrating the news that Napoleon has apparently been defeated at Marengo. The celebrations cease abruptly with the entry of Scarpia; he is looking for Cavaradossi, whom he suspects of complicity in Angelotti's escape. As Scarpia interrogates the sacristan on Cavaradossi's whereabouts, Tosca arrives. Scarpia skilfully arouses her jealous instincts by implying a relationship between the painter and the Marchesa. He draws Tosca's attention to the women's clothes—Angelotti's disguise—found in the chapel, and suggests that someone must have surprised the lovers. Tosca falls for his deceit; enraged, she rushes off to confront Cavaradossi. Scarpia orders his agents to follow her, and then privately gloats on the evident success of his plans ("Go, Tosca! Now Scarpia digs a nest within your heart!), as a procession enters the church singing the Te Deum.

Act 2

• Scene: Scarpia's apartment in the Palazzo Farnese

Scarpia, at supper, sends a note to Tosca asking her to join him. His henchman Spoletta announces the arrest of Cavaradossi, who is then brought in to answer charges of concealing Angelotti. The sound of Tosca's voice, singing in a concert nearby, can be heard. Cavaradossi denies the charges and, as Tosca arrives, is 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 only she can save her lover from indescribable pain, by revealing Angelotti's hiding place. She resists, but hearing Cavaradossi's cries, eventually yields the secret.

"Vissi d'arte" Emmy Destinn's 1914 recording of "Vissi d'arte" Problems playing this file? See media help.

Caravadossi is brought back to the apartment where he recovers consciousness and, learning of Tosca's betrayal, is furious with her. Then news arrives that, after all, Napoleon had been victorious; Cavaradossi gives a defiant "victory" shout before being taken off to prison. Scarpia, left alone with Tosca, proposes a bargain: if she gives herself to him, Cavadarossi will be freed.("Yes, they say that I am venal") She is revolted, and repeatedly rejects his advances. Outside she can hear the drums summoning prisoners to execution; she pleads with Scarpia that she has lived only for love and art ("I lived for art, I lived for love, never did I harm a living creature"), but he is merciless. When Spoletta brings news that Angelotti has killed himself, Scarpia announces that Cavaradossi must face a firing squad the next morning. However, if Tosca will submit, he will arrange for this to be a mock execution.

Tosca, in despair, agrees, on condition that Scarpia will provide a safe-conduct for herself and her lover. Scarpia assents, and signs the document. As he approaches to embrace her she stabs him to death with a knife she has taken from the supper table. After cursing him, in a gesture of forgiveness she lights candles and places a crucifix on the body. She then retrieves the safe-conduct before leaving quietly.

Act 3

• Scene: The upper parts of the Castel Sant' Angelo, early morning

"E lucevan le stelle" "E lucevan le stelle", sung by Leo Slezak in 1913 for Edison Records Problems playing this file? See media help.

A shepherd boy's song is heard ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound for matins. In the Castel Cavaradossi is informed that he has one hour to live. He refuses the offer of a priest but is allowed to write a letter, which he composes aloud ("And the stars shone, and the earth was perfumed"). He dissolves into tears, but is then astonished as Tosca rushes in with the safe-conduct. She reveals that she has killed Scarpia, and that the imminent execution is a sham; Cavaradossi must feign death, but after the soldiers have gone he can leave Rome with her. Cavaradossi is amazed at the courage shown by one so tender ("Oh sweet hands pure and gentle"), and they sing of the life they will have together ("Together in exile we shall bear our love through the world").

As they do so, preparations are made for the execution, and Cavaradossi is led away. Tosca watches with increasing impatience as the final rituals are carried out. After a volley of shots, Cavaradossi falls, and Tosca exclaims "What an actor!". A long hiatus follows as the soldiers prepare to depart the scene. When they have all gone she rushes towards Cavaradossi, to find that he is dead. Heartbroken, she throws herself across his body. Off-stage voices indicate that Scarpia's body has been found, and that Tosca's guilt is known. As Spoletta rushes in crying "You will pay for his life most dearly!", Tosca rises, evades Spoletta's clutches, and runs to the parapet. With a last cry of "Oh Scarpia! Before God" she hurls herself over the edge.

Musical analysis

Tosca begins on an imposing, quasi-tragic note, much darker than the opening pages of Puccini's earlier operas. However, the composer takes care to introduce the Sacristan, a basso buffo, for comic relief. Puccini was always very careful to include well-defined minor characters. The Sacristan's banter with Mario gradually leads to the aria Recondita armonia. This piece requires vocal intensity and extension, together with depth of interpretation from the tenor, and is enriched by the Sacristan's Counter-melody.

Angelotti returns to the scene and the music darkens; but with Tosca's entrance and the duet Non la sospiri la nostra casetta, a lighter note returns, with orchestral timbres very near to elements of French impressionist music. When Angelotti is seen again, Puccini brings back a tragic atmosphere, of similar depth as in the first scenes; Angelotti is clearly the musical key of the tragedy, much more than Scarpia.^{[citation needed]}

A nearly comic interlude features the sacristan and the chorus, creating an overall cheerful tone. This is immediately interrupted with the arrival of Scarpia, as the orchestra once more becomes deep and obscure, but with energy and power this time, conveying the overall power held by the police chief. Every accent and word of Scarpia is underscored by Puccini to depict a character with a depth of evil comparable perhaps only to Iago in Verdi's Otello. The darkness of the orchestra continues throughout the scene of the search of the church. Upon Tosca's sudden arrival in the cathedral, the sinister nature of the music is toned down significantly, as Scarpia acts politely towards her. However, as Scarpia plays upon Tosca's jealousy, the music resumes that darkened tone for the rest of the act.

The episode of Cavaradossi's interrogation is written in a "conversational" musical style; it ends with an example of diegetic music, as Tosca sings a cantata – recalling the baroque tradition within the realist context of the opera.

Act III begins with an orchestral introduction, descriptive of the Roman countryside. The orchestral introduction to the shepherd-boy's song ends with three brief repetitions in the lower registers of the chords, B-flat, A-flat, and E-major. While the rhythm is different, these are the same chords as Scarpia's familiar signature motif, a subtle foreshadowing that Scarpia's role in the drama is not over. The act includes the famous aria E lucevan le stelle, and the opera's violent conclusion, to a brief forte restatement of the 'E lucevan...' theme.

List of musical items

Recordings

See: Tosca discography.