8 months ago

Composer: Giacomo Antonio Puccini
Librettist: Giuseppe Giacosa, and Luigi Illica
Premiere: 14 January 1900, Rome (Teatro Costanzi)
Language: Italian
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish (click on CC for subtitles)

Cast & Characters:
Shirley Verrett: Tosca
Luciano Pavarotti: Cavaradossi
Cornell MacNeil: Scarpia
Fernando Corena: Il sagrestano
Andrea Velis: Spoletta
John Cheek: Angelotti
Russell Christopher: Sciarrone
Robert Sapolsky: Un pastore
Philip Booth: Un carceriere

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor: James Conlon
Chorus Master: David Stivender

Production: Tito Gobbi
Set & Costume Design: Rudolf Heinrich
Recorded Live from the MET in 1978
Director: Kirk Browning

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder and suicide, yet also includes some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias, and has inspired memorable performances from many of opera's leading singers.

Puccini saw Sardou's play when it was touring Italy in 1889 and, after some vacillation, obtained the rights to turn the work into an opera in 1895. Turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his librettists and publisher. Tosca premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances. Despite indifferent reviews from the critics, the opera was an immediate success with the public.

Tosca Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/puccini/tosca/synopsis/

Bonus Features: https://rumble.com/v6e6ajg-tosca-bonus-features-met-1978.html

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