Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924):
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| Floria Tosca | MARIA CALLAS |
| Mario Cavaradossi | GIUSEPPE DI STEFANO |
| Scarpia | TITO GOBBI |
| Cesare Angelotti | FRANCO CALABRESE |
| Spoletta | ANGELO MERCURIALI |
| Sagrestano | MELCHIORRE LUISE |
| Sciarrone / Un carceriere | DARIO CASELLI |
| Un pastore | ALVARO CORDOVA |
Introduction
Embodying Puccini’s tempestuous Roman diva, Maria Callas seeks to protect the gloriously lyrical Cavaradossi of Giuseppe di Stefano as she confronts the subtly sadistic Scarpia of Tito Gobbi. Under Victor de Sabata’s taut direction, this is an enduring classic from La Scala.
Synopsis
Politics, sex and religion drive Tosca, set in 1800 in Rome amidst the turbulence of the Napoleonic wars. The opera singer Floria Tosca is the lover of the Republican painter Mario Cavaradossi, who is sentenced to death for hiding an escaped political prisoner. Baron Scarpia, the ruthless Royalist police chief, wants Tosca for himself: he offers to stage a fake execution for Cavaradossi -- provided she yields to him. Tosca agrees, on condition that she can then flee the country with Cavaradossi. Scarpia makes the necessary instructions, but before he can claim Tosca, she stabs him and escapes. As dawn rises, Tosca arrives at the roof of the Castel Sant’Angelo, the scene of the planned ‘execution’. The firing squad shoots – but the bullets are real. Distraught, Tosca throws herself from the parapet.
Puccini’s tightly constructed score, first heard in 1900, brims with lyricism and thrills. In his first aria, Cavaradossi muses on female beauty, but in his second ‘E lucevan le stelle’, he is preparing to die. Scarpia’s hypocrisy is exposed as he lusts after Tosca during a resounding Te Deum in church, and Tosca’s ‘Vissi d’arte’, sung at a moment of crisis, is a prima donna’s credo: “I have lived for art, I have lived for love.”
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Compact Disc 1 42.34 ACT ONE
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Compact Disc 2 65.30 ACT TWO ACT THREE |
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