SYNOPSIS

In the interior of the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle, the painter Cavaradossi discovers his old friend Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner who is now in flight and hiding from the prison guards, who are looking for him led by the evil Scarpia, Chief of Police. Cavaradossi is pledging to help his friend when Tosca arrives, jealous because she heard her lover whispering with someone, although now he is alone. The painter reassures her and Tosca departs, after the two agree to meet that evening. Angelotti reappears, and Cavaradossi takes him to hide at his villa outside the city. Choristers and acolytes arrive to celebrate the Te Deum, and Scarpia enters looking for Angelotti, bringing a sombre mood to the proceedings. Tosca returns looking for Cavaradossi: she has been engaged to sing that evening and cannot meet him as planned. Scarpia seizes the opportunity to play upon Tosca’s jealousy, and filled with insecurities, she rushes away to Cavaradossi’s villa in search of him. Scarpia sends his henchman, Spoletta, to follow her. Against the background of the Te Deum, Scarpia expresses his burning desire to possess Tosca.
Scarpia is having supper in his apartment at the Palace. Tosca’s voice can be heard in the background, singing at the engagement she had previously made. Cavaradossi is dragged in for questioning, but he refuses to give up his friend Angelotti. Scarpia, infuriated by the painter's obstinacy, writes a note summoning Tosca. She arrives to find the painter manacled, but he begs her in a whisper not to betray Angelotti. Cavaradossi is taken to the next room, leaving Tosca and Scarpia alone. As he is tortured, Tosca is unable to withstand any of her lover’s cries of agony and reveals Angelotti’s whereabouts. Cavaradossi is brought back and scolds Tosca bitterly; but Scarpia has the two of them just where he wants them, and begins to put into practice his diabolical plan to have Tosca at any cost. He orders that Cavaradossi is taken and imprisoned at Castel Sant’Angelo, where he is to be shot at dawn. Tosca entreats Scarpia to show mercy; Spoletta enters with news that rather than be recaptured, Angelotti has taken his own life. Scarpia offers Tosca a despicable deal: he will trade Cavaradossi’s life for a night of passion with her. When Tosca agrees, Scarpia tells her that there will be a mock execution at dawn, after which she and her lover can flee together. He writes her a passage of safe conduct, and as he begins to make her odious advances towards her, Tosca plunges a knife into him, snatched from Scarpia’s own supper table.
Dawn, on a parapet of Castel Sant’Angelo. Cavaradossi is brought up from his cell in preparation for his execution. Tosca arrives and explains that the firing squad will be using blanks, and that she has put an end to Scarpia’s evil ways forever. They dream of their future happiness together, the executioners file in, and the execution takes place. When everyone has gone, Tosca calls to her lover to rise. He is still. To Tosca’s horror and disbelief, when she pulls back the cloth that had been placed over his body, she discovers that Scarpia has cheated her after all, and her lover is dead. Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca, having found Scarpia’s murdered body, but Tosca has other ideas: she hurls herself over the parapet to her death.

"Tosca" in Torre del Lago Puccini

1958
Antonietta Stella, Giuseppe di Stafano, Anselmo Colzani
Conductor: Nino Sonzogno
Company of Teatro Massimo di Palermo

1964
Anna De Cavalieri, Mario Del Monaco, Tito Gobbi
Conductor: Franco Mannin
Director: Carlo Acly Azzolini

1971
Orianna Santurione, Gianfranco Cecchele, Piera Francia
Conductor: Ivan Polidori
Director: Ruggero Rimini

1974
Emma Renzi, Orianna Santurione, Placido Domingo, Giorgio Merighi, Antonio Boyer
Conductor: Ferruccio Scaglia
Director: Beppe De Tomasi

1977
Raina Kabaivanska, Radmilla Bakocevic, Luciano Pavarotti, Josè Carreras, Franco Tagliavini, Louis Manikas, Gian Piero Mastromei
Conductor: Nino Sonzogno
Director: Tito Gobbi

1979
Renata Scotto, Helia T'Hezan, Gianfranco Cecchele, Nunzio Todisco, Aldo Protti, Rolando Panerai, Ettore Nova
Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli
Director: Renzo Giacchieri

1981
Eva Marton, Giuliano Cianella, Ingvar Wixell
Conductor: Nicola Rescigno
Director: Fiorenzo Giorgi

1985
Marilyn Zschau, Giacomo Aragall, Ingvar Wixell, Vincente Sardinero, Aldo Bramante, Alfredo Mariotti
Conductor: Daniel Oren
Director: Sandro Sequi

1986
Maria Slatinaru, Giovanna Casolla, Lando Bartolini, Ruben Dominiguez, Luis Lima, Silvano Carroli, Franco De Grandis, Alfredo Mariotti
Conductor: Daniel Oren
Director: Sandro Sequi

1990
Rosalind Plowright, Jean Glennon Whitehouse, Giuseppe Giacomini, Salvatore Fisichella, Silvano Carroli, Franco Giovine, Luigi Roni, Sergio Pezzetti
Conductor: Giuliano Carella
Director: Attilio Colonnello

1992
Ghena Dimitrova, Adriana Morelli, Giorgio Merighi, Gianfranco Cecchele, Lando Bartolini, Franco Giovine, Ko Seng Hyoun
Conductors: Niksa Baresa, Lovrenc Arnic
Director: Flavio Trevisan

1995
Barbara De Maio, Galina Kalinina, Giovanna Casolla, Josè Cura, Nunzio Todisco, Franco Giovine, Antonio De Gobbi, Graziano Polidori
Conductor: Garcia Navarro
Director: Gianni Quaranta

1997
Ines Salazar, Laura Niculescu, Josè Cura, Mario Malagnini, Sherril Milnes, Ko Seng Hyoun
Conductor: Anton Guadagno
Director: Vivien A. Hewitt

2000
Norma Fantini, Laura Niculescu, Natalia Margarit, Richard Margison, Dario Volontè, Ko Seng Hyoun, Justino Diaz
Conductor: Alberto Veronesi
Director: Beni Montresor

2001
Daniela Longhi, Antonia Cifrone, Ignacio Encinas, David Pittman-Jennings
Conductor: Andrea Licata
Director: Beni Montresor

2002
Antonia Cifrone, Nicola Martinucci, Zwetan Michailov, Alberto Mastromarino, Ko Seng Hyoun, Luca Gallo, Massimo La Guardia
Conductor: Roberto Tolomelli
Direction, sets and costumes by Beni Montresor, recovered by Gaetano Miglioranzi

2004
Francesca Patanè, Andrea Bocelli, Giuseppe Gipali,Giorgio Surian, Alberto Mastromarino
Conductors: Steven Mercurio, Jacek Kaspszyki
Directors, scenes and constumes: Beni Montresor

2006
Norma Fantini, Antonia Cifrone,Marcello Giordani, Andrew Richard,Lucio Gallo.
Conductor: Alberto Veronesi
Director, scenes and costumes: Igor Mitoraj