Tickets for Tosca are $30/$35 from Ticketmaster and Colony Theater Box Office – 305.674.1040. Tosca by Giacomo Puccini premiered in January 1900.

MiamiLyricOpera.org/Tickets

Set in Rome in June 1800 when the Kingdom of Naples’s control of Rome was threatened by Napoleon’s invasion of Italy Tosca contains scenes of torture, murder and suicide, yet it also includes some of Puccini’s finest arias.

Jennifer Harris (Floria Tosca). Enrique Pina (Mario Cavaradossi). Nelson Martinez (Baron Scarpia). Diego Baner (Cesare Angelotti). Doris Lang Kosloff (conductor). Raffaele Cardone (artistic & general director).

Video by Ken English.

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Tickets for Tosca are $30 & $35 from Ticketmaster and the Colony Theater Box Office. Cast includes: Jennifer Harris, Enrique Pina, Nelson Martinez, Diego Baner, Jorge Arcila, Jared Peroune & Ismael Gonzalez. Doris Lang Kosloff, conductor. Raffaele Cardone, Artistic and & General Director. Video by Ken English, http://mediamojoguy.com.

ACT I. Cesare Angelotti (Diego Baner), an escaped political prisoner, rushes into the church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle to hide in the Attavanti chapel. As he vanishes, an old Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) shuffles in, praying at the sound of the Angelus. Mario Cavaradossi (Enrique Pina) enters to work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene – inspired by the Marchesa Attavanti (Angelotti’s sister), whom he has seen but does not know. Taking out a miniature of the singer Floria Tosca (Jennifer Harris), he compares her raven beauty with that of the blonde Magdalene (“Recondita armonia”). The Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) grumbles disapproval and leaves. Angelotti (Diego Baner) ventures out and is recognized by his friend and fellow liberal Mario (Enrique Pina), who gives him food and hurries him back into the chapel as Tosca (Jennifer Harris) is heard calling outside. Forever suspicious, she jealously questions him, then prays, and reminds him of their rendezvous that evening at his villa (“Non la sospiri la nostra casetta?”). Suddenly recognizing the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting, she explodes with renewed suspicions, but he reassures her (“Qual’ occhio al mondo”). When she has gone, Mario summons Angelotti (Diego Baner) from the chapel; a cannon signals that the police have discovered the escape, so the two flee to Mario’s villa. Meanwhile, the Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) returns with choirboys who are to sing in a Te Deum that day. Their excitement is silenced by the entrance of Baron Scarpia (Nelson Martinez), chief of the secret police, in search of Angelotti (Diego Baner). When Tosca (Jennifer Harris) comes back to her lover, Scarpia (Nelson Martinez) shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest, which he has just found. Thinking Mario (Enrique Pina) faithless, Tosca (Jennifer Harris) tearfully vows vengeance and leaves as the church fills with worshipers. Scarpia (Nelson Martinez), sending his men to follow her to Angelotti, schemes to get the diva in his power (“Va, Tosca!”).

ACT II. In the Farnese Palace, Scarpia (Nelson Martinez) anticipates the sadistic pleasure of bending Tosca (Jennifer Harris) to his will (“Ha più forte sapore”). The spy Spoletta (Jared Peroune) arrives, not having found Angelotti; to placate the baron he brings in Mario (Enrique Pina), who is interrogated while Tosca (Jennifer Harris) is heard singing a cantata at a royal gala downstairs. She enters just as her lover is being taken to an adjoining room: his arrogant silence is to be broken under torture. Unnerved by Scarpia’s (Nelson Martinez) questioning and the sound of Mario’s (Enrique Pina) screams, she reveals Angelotti’s (Diego Baner) hiding place. Mario (Enrique Pina) is carried in; realizing what has happened, he turns on Tosca (Jennifer Harris), but the officer Sciarrone (Ismael Gonzalez) rushes in to announce that Napoleon has won the Battle of Marengo, a defeat for Scarpia’s side. Mario shouts his defiance of tyranny (“Vittoria!”) and is dragged to prison. Scarpia, resuming his supper, suggests that Tosca yield herself to him in exchange for her lover’s life. Fighting off his embraces, she protests her fate to God, having dedicated her life to art and love (“Vissi d’arte”). Scarpia again insists, but Spoletta interrupts: faced with capture, Angelotti has killed himself. Tosca, forced to give in or lose her lover, agrees to Scarpia’s proposition. The baron pretends to order a mock execution for the prisoner, after which he is to be freed; Spoletta leaves. No sooner has Scarpia written a safe-conduct for the lovers than Tosca snatches a knife from the table and kills him. Wrenching the document from his stiffening fingers and placing candles at his head and a crucifix on his chest, she slips from the room.

ACT III. The voice of a shepherd boy is heard as church bells toll the dawn. Mario awaits execution at the Castel Sant’Angelo; he bribes the jailer to convey a farewell note to Tosca. Writing it, overcome with memories of love, he gives way to despair (“E lucevan le stelle”). Suddenly Tosca runs in, filled with the story of her recent adventures. Mario caresses the hands that committed murder for his sake (“O dolci mani”), and the two hail their future. As the firing squad appears, the diva coaches Mario on how to fake his death convincingly; the soldiers fire and depart. Tosca urges Mario to hurry, but when he fails to move, she discovers that Scarpia’s treachery has transcended the grave: the bullets were real. When Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca for Scarpia’s murder, she cries to Scarpia to meet her before God, then leaps to her death.

– courtesy of Opera News

ACT I. Cesare Angelotti (Diego Baner), an escaped political prisoner, rushes into the church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle to hide in the Attavanti chapel. As he vanishes, an old Sacristan (Jorge Arcila) shuffles in, praying at the sound of the Angelus. Mario Cavaradossi (Enrique Pina) enters to work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene – inspired by the Marchesa Attavanti (Angelotti’s sister), whom he has seen but does not know. Taking out a miniature of the singer Floria Tosca (Jennifer Harris), he compares her raven beauty with that of the blonde Magdalene (“Recondita armonia”). The Sacristan grumbles disapproval and leaves. Angelotti ventures out and is recognized by his friend and fellow liberal Mario, who gives him food and hurries him back into the chapel as Tosca is heard calling outside. Forever suspicious, she jealously questions him, then prays, and reminds him of their rendezvous that evening at his villa (“Non la sospiri la nostra casetta?”). Suddenly recognizing the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting, she explodes with renewed suspicions, but he reassures her (“Qual’ occhio al mondo”). When she has gone, Mario summons Angelotti from the chapel; a cannon signals that the police have discovered the escape, so the two flee to Mario’s villa. Meanwhile, the Sacristan returns with choirboys who are to sing in a Te Deum that day. Their excitement is silenced by the entrance of Baron Scarpia (Nelson Martinez), chief of the secret police, in search of Angelotti. When Tosca comes back to her lover, Scarpia shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest, which he has just found. Thinking Mario faithless, Tosca tearfully vows vengeance and leaves as the church fills with worshipers. Scarpia, sending his men to follow her to Angelotti, schemes to get the diva in his power (“Va, Tosca!”).

ACT II. In the Farnese Palace, Scarpia anticipates the sadistic pleasure of bending Tosca to his will (“Ha più forte sapore”). The spy Spoletta (Jared Peroune) arrives, not having found Angelotti; to placate the baron he brings in Mario, who is interrogated while Tosca is heard singing a cantata at a royal gala downstairs. She enters just as her lover is being taken to an adjoining room: his arrogant silence is to be broken under torture. Unnerved by Scarpia’s questioning and the sound of Mario’s screams, she reveals Angelotti’s hiding place. Mario is carried in; realizing what has happened, he turns on Tosca, but the officer Sciarrone (Ismael Gonzalez) rushes in to announce that Napoleon has won the Battle of Marengo, a defeat for Scarpia’s side. Mario shouts his defiance of tyranny (“Vittoria!”) and is dragged to prison. Scarpia, resuming his supper, suggests that Tosca yield herself to him in exchange for her lover’s life. Fighting off his embraces, she protests her fate to God, having dedicated her life to art and love (“Vissi d’arte”). Scarpia again insists, but Spoletta interrupts: faced with capture, Angelotti has killed himself. Tosca, forced to give in or lose her lover, agrees to Scarpia’s proposition. The baron pretends to order a mock execution for the prisoner, after which he is to be freed; Spoletta leaves. No sooner has Scarpia written a safe-conduct for the lovers than Tosca snatches a knife from the table and kills him. Wrenching the document from his stiffening fingers and placing candles at his head and a crucifix on his chest, she slips from the room.

ACT III. The voice of a shepherd boy is heard as church bells toll the dawn. Mario awaits execution at the Castel Sant’Angelo; he bribes the jailer (Ismael Gonzalez) to convey a farewell note to Tosca. Writing it, overcome with memories of love, he gives way to despair (“E lucevan le stelle”). Suddenly Tosca runs in, filled with the story of her recent adventures. Mario caresses the hands that committed murder for his sake (“O dolci mani”), and the two hail their future. As the firing squad appears, the diva coaches Mario on how to fake his death convincingly; the soldiers fire and depart. Tosca urges Mario to hurry, but when he fails to move, she discovers that Scarpia’s treachery has transcended the grave: the bullets were real. When Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca for Scarpia’s murder, she cries to Scarpia to meet her before God, then leaps to her death.

– courtesy of Opera News

Tosca 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.

Musically, Tosca is structured as a through-composed work, with arias, recitative, choruses and other elements musically woven into a seamless whole. Puccini used Wagnerian leitmotifs (short musical statements) to identify characters, objects and ideas. While critics have frequently dismissed the opera as a facile melodrama with confusions of plot—musicologist Joseph Kerman famously called it a “shabby little shocker”—the power of its score and the inventiveness of its orchestration have been widely acknowledged. The dramatic force of Tosca and its characters continues to fascinate both performers and audiences, and the work remains one of the most frequently performed operas. Many recordings of the work have been issued, both of studio and live performances.

This production features Jennifer Harris, Enrique Pina, Nelson Martinez, Diego Baner, Jorge Arcila and Jared Peroune. Artistic Director Raffaele Cardone. Conductor Doris Lang Kosloff.

29 January 2011

22 January 2011