About: Premiere:
Teatro Costanzi, Rome, 1900. 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.