Tosca
also La Tosca
verismo opera · melodramma in tre atti
Composer Giacomo Puccini
Librettist Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa
Synopsis
The painter Cavaradossi shelters an escaped political prisoner from the chief of police, Baron Scarpia. When Scarpia arrests and tortures him, he turns to Cavaradossi's lover, the singer Floria Tosca, with a bargain: her lover's life in exchange for herself.
Key facts
- Premiere
- 14 January 1900, Teatro Costanzi, Rome
- Acts
- 3
- Language
- Italian (it)
- Setting
- Rome, in June 1800.
Notes
The only version. Puccini made small revisions after the premiere but nothing amounting to a distinct version.
Dramatis personae
| Role | Voice | Created by |
|---|---|---|
| Floria Tosca A celebrated singer, devout and jealous. | soprano (dramatic) | Hariclea Darclée |
| Mario Cavaradossi A painter and Bonapartist sympathiser, Tosca's lover. | tenor (spinto) | Emilio De Marchi |
| Barone Scarpia Chief of the Roman police. | baritone (dramatic) | Eugenio Giraldoni |
| Cesare Angelotti An escaped political prisoner, former consul of the Roman Republic. | bass | Enrico Ruggero Galli |
| Il sagrestano The sacristan of Sant'Andrea della Valle. | bass (buffo) | Ettore Borelli |
| Spoletta A police agent under Scarpia. | tenor | Enrico Giordani |
| Sciarrone A police agent under Scarpia. | bass | Giuseppe Gironi |
| Il carceriere A jailer. | bass | Aristide Parasassi |
| Un pastore A shepherd boy. | treble | Angelo Righi |
Source
- La Tosca by Victorien Sardou (1887)