A volcano of sensuality, violence and passion

Liberal and revolutionary ambitions in opposition as the modern totalitarian state emerges. Political rivalry and explosive passion. Two lovers, Tosca and Cavaradossi, pitted against the sinister Scarpia. There are very few operas that are as dramatically voluptuous as Tosca. Giacomo Puccini sets the veristic tragedy in Rome, in a stunning narrative time period which heightens its dramatic pace. Everything skyrockets in Tosca: the orchestra and its score ride on very powerful leitmotifs that link together a succession of breathtaking climaxes, or scenes that alternate the imposing grandiloquence of the Te Deum, with arias of a captivating lyricism like Recondita armonía. Others touch us profoundly like Vissi d’arte or take on a posthumous or transcending mood, such as the plea to heaven of E lucevan le stelle.

The wonderful young Stage director from Seville, Rafael R. Villalobos, has signed a production in collaboration with La Monnaie of Brussels, Ópera de Montpellier, Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) and the Maestranza itself. Led by Italian conductor Gianluca Marcianò, there will be 6 performances with 2 casts headed by Yolanda Auyanet and Vanessa Goikoetxea (Tosca), Vincenzo Costanzo and Mario Chang (Cavaradossi) and Ángel Ódena and Dario Solari in the role of Scarpia.

Passion, blood and violence. Characters borderlining sadism and absolute evil. A parable of the repression of totalitarian states which would devastate Europe not long after its premiere in 1900. Tosca is an irresistible volcano of music and singing.

Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Premiere at the Teatro Costanzi of Rome, 14 January, 1900.