The great Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca is one of his most well-known works. The three-act opera is set in the “Eternal City” of Rome at the turn of the 19th Century; a time marked by political unrest and Napoleonic wars.
The plot is centered around three characters — the diva of Rome, Floria Tosca, the corrupt Police Chief, Baron Scarpia, and Tosca’s lover, Mario Cavaradossi. The chief lusts for Tosca and sets out to make Cavaradossi’s life hell, in order to get Tosca for himself.
Scarpia acts on a suspicion that Cavaradossi assisted a political prisoner, and attempts to manipulate Tosca into revealing the hiding place. He also wishes to reveal Cavaradossi’s involvement in the crime in the hopes of swaying Tosca’s perception of her lover. Ultimately, Scarpia arrests and tortures Cavaradossi.
He gives Tosca an ultimatum — she must give in to his demands or risk having her lover killed. This entire sequence plays out as the music steers the drama, creating an uncomfortable air as Tosca is torn between the two choices.
An opera performance hinging on authoritarianism:
The main themes of Tosca are centred on authoritarianism, lust, and abuse of power. It showcases human emotion at its rawest and most vulnerable.
Puccini differentiates the two religious aspects — one of which is based purely on exploiting and manipulating religion and using it as a tool to oppress and dominate, while the other highlights religion as a tool for personal hope and faith.
This opera by Giacomo Puccini resonates to this day, and the themes are still relevant. Scarpia persecutes the republicans of the time with the Pope’s blessing and uses it as an impetus for his actions. This opera displays the uglier side of humanity, and it’s a theme that has been explored further in works inspired by Tosca.
The music that moved:
Tosca contains some of the most popular and iconic music:
- During Act II of the opera, after finding herself at the mercy of Scarpia, Tosca sings Vissi d’arte (‘I lived for art.”), a painful and expressive soprano aria. She muses over her dark fate and implores the Heavens to reveal why they have abandoned her to this dark fate.
- A trivial fact about this aria was that Puccini almost cut out this masterpiece of intense emotion and reverence, believing it “held up the overall action” of the opera.
- Cavaradossi’s farewell to his troubled life is titled, “E lucevan le stelle,” and is a heartbreaking rendition he sings while awaiting his execution. It is considered one of the most popular Italian tenor arias in history.
- Finally, the “Te deum” that closes Act I, is a battle between what’s profoundly sacred and inanely profane. It’s a tussle between the chorus hymn of “Te deum” while the evil Scarpia gloats over his anticipated liaison with Tosca. The finale is accompanied by a powerful orchestration, with organs, church bells, and even cannons firing to lend a cacophonic impact to the madness that is Scarpia .
The cannons also signify that Angelotti, the prisoner, has escaped.
Puccini also admitted that he researched melodies that were set in royal opera houses and Roman churches and ensured that the music was in line, syncing with the impressive pitch of the St. Peter’s Basilica.
Ultimately, Tosca is seemingly ancient in its telling but extremely modern in the themes it explores. It retells a sobering fact — the tyranny of evil men, packaged in a Napoleonic Roman Empire tragedy.
