Tosca

THERE STANDS SCARPIA —  ROME'S FEARED CHIEF OF POLICE — SAVORING THE THOUGHT OF RAVISHING THE DIVA TOSCA AND MURDERING HER REBEL LOVER —  AS HE LISTENS TO MASS!

Will Tosca endure a fate worse than death to save her Cavaradossi from the firing squad? The desperate heroine does what she needs to do in this famous all-time crowd pleaser that bristles with lust, politics, and violence.

Puccini's passion-packed music performed by two incredible casts! Fiery tenor stars Vladimir Galouzine and Marco Berti as Cavaradossi! Legendary bass James Morris and brilliant Italian baritone Lucio Gallo as Scarpia! And sharing the title role, two incredible Toscas!

Deborah Voigt dazzles with "vocal charisma and shimmering power — she leapt to a slicing high C as she sang of thrusting the knife into Scarpia's heart." The New York Times

From Vienna to London to L.A., Violeta Urmana is and unforgetable Tosca, "delivering white-hot drama in voice and in person." Los Angeles Times

TIME: June, 1800

PLACE: Rome

ACT ONE

The Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle

ACT TWO

The Farnese Palace

ACT THREE

Terrace of the Castel Sant’Angelo

ACT ONE

Cesare Angelotti, who has just escaped from prison in the Castel Sant’Angelo, staggers into the Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle. He searches for a key that his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, has hidden there. Fearing that he has been followed, he hides in the Attavanti family chapel.

The sacristan enters, shortly to be followed by the painter Mario Cavaradossi. When the painter himself appears, the sacristan notices that Cavaradossi’s painting of the Magdalen resembles an unknown lady who often comes to pray at a nearby altar. Cavaradossi confesses that he painted her likeness secretly. He muses on the mysterious harmony that exists in beauty, despite dissimilarities as great as those between his fair model and his own beloved, the dark-eyed opera singer Floria Tosca (Aria: Recondita armonia).
No sooner has the sacristan left than Angelotti emerges from the chapel. Recognizing him as the consul of the recently suppressed Roman republic, Cavaradossi offers assistance, giving him food and wine intended for his own midday repast. When Tosca’s voice is heard from outside, Angelotti retreats to his hiding place.

The locked door and the sound of voices have aroused Tosca’s jealous suspicions (Duet: Perchè chiuso?), and she accuses her lover of hiding a woman. Once reassured, she arranges a rendezvous with Cavaradossi for that evening at his villa. Tosca is about to leave when she recognizes the face of the newly painted Magdalen. Her jealousy is rekindled, and only after many protestations does Cavaradossi calm her and persuade her to depart.

When the cannon of the Castel Sant’Angelo signals that the escape has been discovered, Cavaradossi decides to conceal Angelotti at his villa. The sacristan returns to tell the painter the news of a victory over Bonaparte, but he finds the church empty. The choir hears the news, but an impromptu celebration is silenced by the arrival of the police chief, Baron Scarpia. Intent on apprehending Angelotti, he interrogates the terrified sacristan and receives some clues ─ the empty food basket, the unlocked chapel. A fan is found, part of a female disguise Angelotti’s sister had left for him. Scarpia recognizes on it the Attavanti crest. When Tosca returns to see Cavaradossi, Scarpia uses the fan to incite her jealousy, hoping she will further implicate Mario, whom Scarpia already suspects of anti-royalist sentiments. Tosca falls into Scarpia’s trap and runs from the church in tears. As the worshipers chant a Te Deum, Scarpia declares that he now will aim to destroy Cavaradossi and make Tosca his mistress (Finale: Va, Tosca).

ACT TWO

Scarpia is having supper in his apartment at the Palazzo Farnese. Nearby, music can be heard from a salon where the Queen of Naples is holding a victory celebration. The singer is Tosca. After sending her a note, summoning her after her performance, Scarpia reflects on his taste for violent conquests (Aria: Ha più forte sapore).

Scarpia’s aide, Spoletta, reports his failure to capture Angelotti. He did arrest Cavaradossi, whose manner betrayed that he knew Angelotti’s hiding place. Scarpia is interrogating Cavaradossi when Tosca arrives. Cavaradossi begs her to reveal nothing. The painter is taken to an adjoining room to be tortured into revealing the desired information. As he cries out in agony, Tosca is questioned by Scarpia until she can bear no more. Once she has revealed Angelotti’s whereabouts, her unconscious lover is dragged into the room.

Scarpia loses no time in letting Cavaradossi know he has been betrayed, but he has little chance to enjoy the discord he has created between the lovers: another agent, Sciarrone, announces the news of a Bonaparte victory. Cavaradossi bravely threatens his captor with prompt reprisal, and the furious Scarpia orders him taken away.

Scarpia now politely offers to discuss how Tosca might save Cavaradossi. When she asks the price, Scarpia replies that despite his reputation for venality, it is not for mere money that he can be bribed by a beautiful woman (Aria: Già, mi dicon venal). Hearing drums accompanying prisoners to execution, the bewildered Tosca wonders why her lifelong devotion to art and love should be so cruelly rewarded (Aria: Vissi d’arte). Spoletta reports that Angelotti has taken poison, and asks what should be done with Cavaradossi. Scarpia then turns to Tosca, who mutely submits to his desire. In her presence, he orders a mock execution and adds, “Just as we did with Count Palmieri.” Once alone again with Scarpia, Tosca demands a safe-conduct document in order to flee the city with Cavaradossi. As Scarpia writes, Tosca’s eyes fall on a knife, which she conceals. When Scarpia attempts to embrace her, she stabs him.

ACT THREE

It is just before dawn the following morning, and a shepherd’s voice is heard below the walls of the Castel Sant’Angelo, where preparations are being made for Cavaradossi’s execution. He bribes the jailer with a ring for permission to send a letter to Tosca. As he writes, he recalls their first meeting (Aria: E lucevan le stelle). Tosca arrives and shows him the safe-conduct paper. When she reveals that she has killed Scarpia, Cavaradossi marvels that her gentle hands were capable of such violence. They plan their future together (Duet: Amaro sol per te), and Tosca instructs him on how to act out the mock execution. The firing squad arrives, the shots are fired, and Cavaradossi falls. When the last soldiers have left, Tosca calls to her lover to get up. She quickly realizes that he is dead. Spoletta and Sciarrone appear with soldiers, intent on arresting Tosca. Climbing the rampart, she cries “Scarpia, before God!” and hurls herself to her death.

	Tosca Deborah Voigt Sept. & Oct.
	Tosca Violeta Urmana* Jan.
	Cavaradossi Vladimir Galouzine Sept. & Oct.
	Cavaradossi Marco Berti* Jan.
	Scarpia James Morris Sept. & Oct.
	Scarpia Lucio Gallo Jan.
	Sacristan Dale Travis
	Spoletta John Easterlin Sept. & Oct.
	Spoletta David Cangelosi Jan.
	Sciarrone Paul Corona
	Jailer Sam Handley
	Angelotti Craig Irvin
	Shepherd Angela Mannino
	Conductor Sir Andrew Davis Sept. & Oct.
	Conductor Stephen Lord* Jan.
	Original Production Franco Zeffirelli
	Director Garnett Bruce
	Set Designer Renzo Mongiardino
	Costume Designer Marcel Escoffier
	Lighting Designer Christine Binder
	Chorus Master Donald Nally

*Lyric debut

DEBORAH VOIGT

The American soprano has previously portrayed Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, Covent Garden, and Florida Grand Opera in Miami. She spoke to Lyric Opera News while starring at Lyric as Wagner’s Isolde.

Initially, were you more attracted to Tosca’s vocalism or her dramatic qualities? 
Probably more the dramatic side of the role — there’s nothing like playing a diva! She’s also got the flirtatious/coquettish aspects of her personality in the first scene. There’s been some sort of flirtation with Scarpia to a certain extent — we know he wants her. Maybe she’s attracted to the power he holds, but she finds herself in love with this poor painter instead.

How challenging is pacing the role?
At this particular moment, being in the midst of Tristan, it would probably feel like a cakewalk! You have to be careful in Act Two because there are some perilous vocal moments, some scary high Cs — and there’s so much going on dramatically. You have to have some separation from getting too emotionally wrought. I’m fortunate to have a certain amount of temperament, and it matches the ladies I play onstage — which doesn’t mean I don’t want someday to sing some roles that are uproariously funny!

What was most valuable to you in being directed, in your role debut at Florida Grand Opera, by a legendary Puccini interpreter, Renata Scotto?
She didn’t try to make me into her idea of Tosca. She really brought the character out of me, encouraged me, and was so complimentary about my vocal mechanism, which was extremely flattering. When we’d have costume fittings she’d pay such attention to detail because she’d worn the things, she knew how they should move, how they should look.

Does one particular phrase or episode in the role sum up your feelings for this character?
I suppose it’s the aria [“Vissi d’arte,” “I’ve lived for art”] — her questioning her faith and being kind of angry with God. I’m a person of faith, I have a relationship with God, and that’s an interesting moment for me to explore: “Why, when I’ve done this
and I’ve done that, when I’ve lived the way I think You want me to live — why am I in this situation?”

Do you find the character likeable? Heroic? Smart?
I do think she’s likeable, and that she’s doing what she thinks is best, from the moment we first see her until the moment she ends her life. When she kills Scarpia, it’s not so much heroic as a woman in love who can’t think beyond what her heart is telling her. Smart? I certainly think she’s instinctual. But she has to be smart, because otherwise she wouldn’t be the successful woman she is.

What qualities are most important to you to convey onstage during the first-act duet with Cavaradossi? And how would you characterize their relationship?
There’s playfulness — at least, I certainly play her that way. I think she likes to play the jealous woman, telling Cavaradossi to change the eye color of the painting, getting upset over who’s been there, that sort of drama. I think it’s real to her, though — she really feels those flashes of temper — but he knows how to pacify her. It’s a hugely chemistry-bound relationship.

It’s not just Cavaradossi who can have sex appeal…
I think you need that with Scarpia, too. Jim Morris — plenty of sex appeal there! The first time I ever saw him, I was just beginning my career at the Met. I was standing by the principal dressing-room area, waiting to get into the elevator. I already knew of him, even had a little crush on him to begin with (which he’ll probably think is hysterical, should he ever read this). The elevator door opened, there he was in his Wotan costume, and I think I just fell on the floor. To have an appealing-looking and sexy Scarpia makes the whole setup that much more believable.

Has anything funny or strange happened to you in a Tosca performance or rehearsal?
At the Met, when you jump, you don’t know which way your skirt is going to land and then you have to crawl down for your curtain call. You’re wearing a couple of feet of train, a cape, or an overcoat. I don’t want to think about what the stagehands have seen in assisting me! The first time I did the jump in Miami, I landed on a piece of foam rubber, on a foam mattress. By this time I was very sweaty. So I landed on this thing, and my face went down into the foam. My makeup imprinted itself on the foam, and when I came to rehearsal the next day, the stagehands had cut it out and framed it to give to me. You could see the black eyelashes, the lips — they called it “The Shroud of Tosca.” Stagehands are a fun bunch of guys!

What do you think accounts for the popularity of this opera?
It involves a small cast of characters, and it’s an easy story line to grasp. There’s the love story, a great murder, a tragic ending, and gorgeous music! I’m thrilled to be opening the Lyric season as Tosca. I’ve never opened the season in any opera house, and I’m so grateful to Bill Mason for giving me the opportunity. It’s such an enormous night for the opera company, and for the city. I’ve told my family to get their tuxes and ball gowns ready!

VIOLETA URMANA

Tosca will mark the Lithuanian soprano’s long-awaited Lyric debut. She spoke to Lyric Opera News during a recent run of Tosca performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She has also sung the title role at the Teatro Comunale (Florence, role debut), Los Angeles Opera, Covent Garden, and the Vienna Staatsoper.

When did you first experience this opera in a live performance?
I don’t remember! I probably saw it in an opera house for the first time in Vilnius, when I was still a pianist. I studied piano for 17 years, and when I finished, I then began from zero as a singer. I heard so many recordings, and, of course, I fell in love with the art of Maria Callas, but I listened to all the other important singers, too.

Even when you were still singing mezzo repertoire, was singing Tosca already a dream of yours?
Of course — it’s a very, very exciting role! You need so many emotions, and you must control those emotions so well. I didn’t view it as a role that would really help me to maintain my discipline as a singer!

What attracts you to the character?
It’s so real. In everything Tosca says, she’s always expressing very real feelings. You can always discover something new in her. Yesterday I sang Tosca here in Berlin and I was still finding new colors, changes of emotion, psychological things, which can keep it fresh.

How do you compare singing Tosca to your Verdi roles?
They’re all very different, of course, and you must find the key to each one. I know that when I’m preparing to sing Tosca, I’m very concentrated on what I will live onstage. Think of the second part of Act One, where she’s in a strange situation, and then it just gets worse and worse. Everything is always so dramatic, so you just have to be prepared psychologically within yourself.

Is the role well written for the voice?
It’s challenging, because she’s in an extreme situation. You must recognize that — you can’t keep on with just bel canto singing! Tosca has so many wonderful phrases, and they must be sung with real beauty, but there are passages where beauty is not enough. Of course, you can’t go over the limit, because that’s just screaming. The public likes good singing!

Is Tosca likeable?
I think so. Her jealousy is exaggerated, but that is maybe just an expression of her wonderful love for Cavaradossi. And this love is so big that she never would think of going with Scarpia — it’s impossible! She’s a very honest person, while Scarpia is slimy and strange.
Tosca is a singer, she’s creative, and she’s living her life a little like a theatrical piece. At the very end, when she sings “O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!” [“Oh, Scarpia, before God!”], she’s playing the role of her life. It’s something like “OK, I’ll die as a great actress!”

Is she heroic?
When she kills Scarpia, she’s thinking, “A woman killed this beast! All of Rome was scared of him, and a woman like me killed him.” She’s not killing him to be a heroine — this is a gesture to show that she couldn’t go to that man to buy the freedom of Cavaradossi.

For a lot of audiences, Tosca’s aria “Vissi d’arte” is all about waiting for the high B-flat.
It’s not about that! Some critics say, “This aria just stops the whole drama.” But it’s very logical that it should be there. Scarpia was driving her crazy-crazy-crazy, and now she has a still moment, where it’s as if she sees her life flowing in front of her eyes. This is a very important reflection and declaration by a woman who always went to church, who brought jewelry and flowers to the Madonna, who gave her own singing to the Madonna. “So, God, how could it happen to me that I’m such a nice person and then You give me this kind of situation in my life?” So for me, it’s very important — I don’t feel that it’s a drama-stopper at all.

Have you ever found Scarpia so appealing that your Tosca had a difficult time resisting him?
Actually, sometimes I’ve felt I would kill Scarpia in the first act! He can’t be shouting all the time. I did it with Samuel Ramey and he was very noble, but also seductive in his quiet power. He’d be so quiet, and then suddenly we’d hear, “Ma fatelo tacere!” [“Shut him up!” is Scarpia’s order to the torturer upon hearing Cavaradossi’s cries of pain]. That was scary and impressive. I felt very
desperate with him. With a Scarpia I don’t like, I feel stronger and I can resist better.

You’ve sung with the CSO — are you looking forward to returning to Chicago?
I love Chicago because so many Lithuanians live there! They’re expecting me. I thought I would make my debut a long time ago. I did an audition for Ardis Krainik, she was very excited, and I thought, “Something will come in a year or two.” Then she died and it never came, this debut — it wasn’t possible. But I did see the opera house when I was in Chicago, and I accepted this Tosca with joy.

Discography and Videography

CDs

Callas, Cioni, Gobbi; Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, cond. Cillario. (EMI)

Price, di Stefano, Taddei; Vienna Philharmonic, cond. Karajan. (Decca) 

Tebaldi, Del Monaco, London; Accademia di Santa Cecilia/Rome, cond. Molinari-Pradelli. (Decca)

Gheorghiu, Alagna, Raimondi, Cangelosi; Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, cond. Pappano. (EMI)

Scotto, Domingo, Bruson; Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. Levine (EMI)

Freni, Pavarotti, Milnes, Tajo; National Philharmonic, cond. Rescigno. (Decca) 

Caballé, Carreras, Wixell; Royal Opera House/Covent Garden. cond. C. Davis. (Philips)

 Nilsson, Corelli, Fischer-Dieskau; Accademia di Santa Cecilia/Rome, cond. Maazel. (Decca ) 

Pre-1960

Callas, di Stefano, Gobbi; La Scala, cond. de Sabata. (EMI)

Milanov, Björling, Warren, Rome Opera House, cond. Leinsdorf. (RCA/BMG) 
 
Milanov, Corelli, Guelfi; Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, cond. Gibson (ROH Heritage Series)

EMI’s 1953 Maria Callas/Victor de Sabata performance has often been cited by critics as one of the few definitive recordings of any complete opera. The praise is justified: a sense of interpretive rightness, authority, and inevitability pervades every note. One need say only that the incomparably detailed and musically sensitive Tosca of Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano’s irresistibly ardent Cavaradossi, and Lyric Opera “godfather” Tito Gobbi’s famously venomous Scarpia, supported by La Scala’s forces under the insightful de Sabata, are essential listening for all who appreciate Puccini. The performance established a standard for this opera that remains supreme after more than five decades.

Di Stefano slipped a bit vocally in the years following his first Tosca recording but, when taping it again in Vienna, his identification with the role of Cavaradossi was undiminished and he was still capable of some lovely singing when not under pressure. His partners, Giuseppe Taddei and Leontyne Price, however, were recorded at their absolute peak; he is both silky and terrifying, she invariably opulent vocally and unfailingly committed to the character (these three principals recorded their roles following stage performances at the Vienna Staatsoper). Thanks to Herbert von Karajan on the podium, the lushness of this performance is its own reward, and an enjoyable contrast with Callas/de Sabata.

It’s always exhilarating to hear such individual, colorful voices in this opera as those offered by the Renata Tebaldi/Mario Del Monaco/George London performance — three indispensable singers of the postwar period, all recorded in roles for which they were justly celebrated (ideally, one should own the Callas, Price, and Tebaldi performances). But in fact, just about all the principals in these recordings earn our admiration.

As you see, most of the great exponents of this opera in the past six decades have recorded it, and the choice will undoubtedly hinge largely on personal taste. Despite recorded sound that lacks the sumptuousness we’re accustomed to today, get Callas/de Sabata if you want to learn what this opera is really about.

Antonio Pappano, music director of Covent Garden, has made his mark as a Puccinian there. With immense authority he conducts that house’s orchestral and choral forces on a recording that served as the soundtrack for a film of the opera. Regular attendees of Lyric performances should note that singing here opposite Gheorghiu, Alagna, and Raimondi is David Cangelosi, who is returning to the role of Spoletta at Lyric this season.

DVDs

Kabaivanska, Domingo, Milnes; New Philharmonia cond. Bartoletti, dir. de Bosio. (DG)

Malfitano, Margison, Terfel; Royal Concertgebouw, cond. Chailly; dir. Lehnhoff (Decca)

Tebaldi, Tobin, London; Stuttgart Staatsoper, cond. F. Patané. (VAI -- BxW)

Tebaldi, Poggi, Guelfi; NHK Symphony, cond. Basile (VAI – BxW with Japanese subtitles)

Cedolins, Alvarez, Raimondi; Verona Arena, cond. Oren, dir. de Ana (TDK – Blu-Ray)

Lyric’s own Bruno Bartoletti conducts the soundtrack of a phenomenal performance recorded on location in Rome with a powerhouse trio of principals. The art of Bulgarian soprano Raina Kabaivanska is insufficiently documented, making her portrayal of Tosca in Decca’s video all the more treasurable. Her musical and dramatic command of the role is altogether exceptional (and the film’s final image of her will give you chills). It’s always exhilarating to experience Plácido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes in the same performance; suffice it to say that they are both in vibrant form.

There is incendiary give-and-take in the confrontation between Catherine Malfitano and Bryn Terfel – in his role debut as Scarpia -- in the Amsterdam performance (and Tosca’s bold  final death leap, as executed by Malfitano, will surely never be surpassed). For an old-school diva performance of the title role, try Renata Tebaldi, either in Stuttgart or Japan. The former has better audio and video quality, as well as the inestimable asset of the great George London as Scarpia (not that the mighty Gian Giacomo Guelfi in the Japan performance isn’t exciting, too). Go to the Verona Arena performance to hear glorious singing from the Cavaradossi, Marcelo Alvarez.