home > Runes

“Tosca” by Puccini (Vienna Opera, La Scala, Netherlands Opera). Puccini "Tosca": History of creation and Great performers of both plays and operas

22.04.2019

). The premiere took place at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14, 1900.

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 2

✪ shepherdess Aisha Orynbasarova opera Tosca 09/11/2014 Astana Opera

✪ Afterword to Tosca with correct Russian translation.

Subtitles

Characters

Floria Tosca, famous singer	soprano
Mario Cavaradossi, artist	tenor
Baron Scarpia, Rome police chief	baritone
Cesare Angelotti, former consul of the Roman Republic	bass
Sacristan	baritone
Spoletta, police agent	tenor
Sciarrone, other agent	bass
Jailer	bass
Shepherd	alto
Cardinal, judge, Roberti (executioner), clerk, officer, sergeant, soldiers, guards, policemen, gentlemen, ladies, people

History of creation

The play “Tosca” was written by V. Sardou especially for Sarah Bernard, and the actress had enormous success in it. The premiere took place on November 24, 1887 at the Porte Saint-Martin theater in Paris. Puccini saw the play at the Milan theater Filodramatico. In a letter dated May 7, 1889, the composer instructs his publisher Giulio Ricordi to carry out all the necessary negotiations to obtain Sardou's permission to write an opera based on his work. The play also aroused interest as a source for the libretto among Verdi and Franchetti. The latter received the rights to write the opera and even began work. However, thanks to Ricordi, these rights ultimately passed to Puccini. The composer turned to the new project for the first time in 1895 during a short break in work on the score of La Bohème. L. Illica (1859-1919), who wrote the libretto for Franchetti, was joined by G. Giacosa (1847-1906). On January 13, 1899, in Paris, Puccini met with Sardou and received his consent to use the play. Later, the composer agreed with the author of the drama on some changes in the plot. Puccini insisted that all minor details be removed, the plot simplified as much as possible, and the action accelerated as much as possible. The image of the main character also underwent changes: from a diva who considered her love for a freethinking artist a sin, Floria Tosca turned into a talented actress and patriot of Italy.

The premiere took place at Rome's Teatro Costanzi on January 14, 1900. The roles were performed by: Chariclea Darcle (Tosca), Emilio de Marchi (Cavaradossi), Eugenio Giraldoni (Scarpia), Ruggero Galli (Ancelotti), conducted by Leopoldo Mugnone. Present in the hall were: Queen Margaret, President of the Italian Council of Ministers Luigi Pello, Minister of Culture Baccelli, Pietro Mascagni, Francesco Cilea, Franchetti, Giovanni Sgambatti. At first the opera was received without enthusiasm. She was reproached for the unoriginality of melodic ideas, repeating Puccini’s previous discoveries, for naturalism, and the torture scene was especially criticized.

On March 17, 1900, the opera premiered at La Scala. Arturo Toscanini conducted, the role of Tosca was performed by Darcle, Scarpia by Giraldoni, Cavaradossi by Giuseppe Borjatti.

According to the libretto, the opera takes place in June 1800. The dates given to Sardou in his play are more precise: the afternoon, evening and early morning of June 17 and 18, 1800.

The opera takes place against the backdrop of the following historical events. Italy has long been a series of independent cities and lands, with the Papal States located in the center of the country. In 1796, the French army under Napoleon invaded Italy, entered Rome in 1798 and established a republic there. The Republic was governed by seven consuls; one of these consuls, Libero Angelucci, may have been the prototype of Cesare Angelotti. The French, who defended the republic, left Rome, which was occupied by the troops of the Kingdom of Naples.

In May 1800, Napoleon again sent troops into Italy, and on June 14 his army met the Austrian at the Battle of Marengo. The commander-in-chief of the Austrians, Melas, being confident of his victory, sent a messenger to Rome, but Napoleon received reinforcements in the evening and managed to win, and Melas had to send a second messenger after the first. After these events, the Neapolitans left Rome, and the French took possession of the city for fourteen years.

Act one

Angelotti, a republican escaped from prison, takes refuge in the Roman church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. He hides in the Attavanti Chapel, the key to which was left under the statue of the Madonna by his sister, the Marchioness of Attavanti. Without noticing the fugitive, the sacristan enters the church, bringing food for the artist Mario Cavaradossi who works here. Mario himself appears behind the sacristan: the painting with the image of Mary Magdalene is only half finished. Cavaradossi sings an aria Recondita armonia, where he compares the appearance of his beloved, singer Floria Tosca, with the features of a saint. The sacristan leaves Mario. Angelotti, thinking that there is no one in the church, leaves the chapel and meets Cavaradossi, his old friend. Their conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door: Floria Tosca demands that it be opened for her. Angelotti is hiding again. Tosca enters. The jealous beauty thinks that Mario depicted her rival in the portrait. Cavaradossi calms her suspicions, and they agree to meet at his place in the evening, after Tosca performs at the Farnese Palace. Florya leaves. Cavaradossi and Angelotti also leave the church - the artist decided to hide his friend at home.

At this time, news of Napoleon's defeat in northern Italy comes to Rome. On this occasion, the church is preparing for a solemn service. Scarpia, the chief of police, appears in love with Tosca. Together with detective Spoletta, he discovered evidence that Angelotti was hiding here. One of the clues is a fan with the Attavanti coat of arms, which Scarpia used to arouse Tosca's jealous suspicions.

During worship, many people enter the church. While the Te Deum is sounded in honor of the victory over Napoleon, Scarpia remains in the church, completely absorbed in the insidious plan to send his rival Cavaradossi to the scaffold.

Act two

Farnese Palace. On the same evening, the victory over the French is celebrated here. Scarpia, in his office at the police station, which is located in the palace, hears the distant sounds of music and reflects on what happened that day. With the gendarme Sciarrone, he sends a note to Tosca. Spoletta searched Cavaradossi's house, did not find Angelotti there, but found Tosca there. Cavaradossi is arrested and brought to the palace. His interrogation was unsuccessful. Tosca appears and Cavaradossi manages to secretly tell her that she must remain silent about what she saw at his house. Scarpia sends the artist to a torture chamber.

Scarpia interrogates Tosca. She is calm, but only until that minute until she hears the screams of the tortured Cavaradossi from the cell. In desperation, she reveals Angelotti's hiding place - he is hiding in a garden well. Cavaradossi is brought back to Scarpia's office. He understands that Tosca has told everything. Suddenly news arrives of Napoleon's victory in Marengo. Cavaradossi does not hide his joy. Scarpia gives the order to execute him the next morning. At the same time, he makes an obscene proposal to Tosca.

Toska is completely confused and depressed by what is happening. An aria sounds Vissi d"arte. But in order to save her beloved, Tosca agrees to sacrifice herself. Scarpia convinces her that he must create the appearance of preparations for the execution of Cavaradossi. He gives Spoletta the necessary orders and at the same time writes out a pass for Tosca and the artist so that they can escape from Rome. However, when Scarpia turns to hug her, Tosca stabs him with a dagger. She quickly leaves the palace, taking the pass with her.

Act three

Area of the Sant'Angelo prison. Cavaradossi is taken to the prison roof, where he will be executed. He writes his last letter to Tosca. Cavaradossi's aria sounds E lucevan le stelle. Suddenly Floria appears. She talks about Scarpia's murder, shows her lover the passes and tells him that the execution will be false. Floria and Mario are confident that they are saved.

Soldiers appear, led by Spoletta. Cavaradossi calmly stands in front of them. Shots are fired, Mario falls, the soldiers leave. Only now Tosca realizes that she was deceived by Scarpia: the cartridges were real, and Cavaradossi is dead. The woman, distraught with grief, does not hear that the soldiers have returned. Scarpia's death is discovered, Spoletta tries to apprehend Tosca. She throws herself down from the castle roof.

The original name is Tosca.

Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto (in Italian) by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the drama of the same name by V. Sardou.

Characters:

FLORIA TOSCA, famous singer (soprano)
MARIO CAVARADOSSI, artist (tenor)
BARON SCARPIA, Chief of Police (baritone)
CESARE ANGELOTTI, political prisoner (bass)
Sacristan (baritone)
SPOLETT, police informer (tenor)
SCIARRONE, gendarme (bass)
JAILER (bass)
SHEPHERD BOY (mezzo-soprano)
ROBERTY, executioner (silent)

Time of action: June 1800.
Location: Rome.
First performance: Rome, Teatro Costanzi, January 14, 1900.

V. Sardou, the king of French playwrights, wrote “Tosca” especially for Sarah Bernhardt. She was a huge success in the role of Floria Tosca, and performances of “Tosca” were given, according to the author, three thousand times. (This number may be somewhat exaggerated: Sardou claimed this twenty years after the premiere.) In any case, this drama aroused interest as a possible source for the libretto not only of Puccini, but also of Verdi and Franchetti. Franchetti was the first to receive the rights to write an opera based on this drama, and only thanks to some slyness of Tito Ricordi, the publisher of both Puccini and Franchetti, these rights passed from a less gifted composer to a great one.

But there were others who thought, and perhaps still do, that the play was too dramatic to serve as an ideal libretto. Some of the critics who judged the premiere expressed precisely this opinion. Mascagni thought the same. He said: “I was a victim of bad librettos. Puccini was a victim of too much of a good thing.”

Whether these critics are right or wrong, the fact remains that the opera is a huge success; Sardou's play practically died after Bernhardt abandoned it, but Puccini's opera continues to live on the stages of everyone opera houses world a hundred years after its premiere, after more than three thousand performances and after hundreds of sopranos made their final leap from the parapet of the prison castle.

Puccini perfectly understood the value of Sardou's drama - the rapid pace of its development and extraordinary expressiveness. He objected sharply when the librettist Illik wanted to put a long farewell speech into the mouth of the tenor, and instead wrote a short one, but in highest degree expressive and emotional aria “E lucevan le stelle” (“The stars were burning in the sky”). He refused to write an old-fashioned quartet with a tenor being tortured offstage and Scarpia, Tosca and Spoletta discussing it on stage. He didn’t even like the famous aria “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” (“Only sang, only loved”), because it stopped the action, and when one day at a rehearsal Maria Geritza accidentally rolled back the bed just before the first sounds and sang aria, standing on the floor, the composer said: “That’s so good. This gives the aria vitality." From then on Jeritza sang it that way.

Yes, Puccini was always first and foremost a man of the theater. But this does not mean that he did not appreciate good voice. Once, when the tenor planned to stage the opera was unable to fulfill his contractual obligations and sing the part of Cavaradossi, Ricordi sent for a young tenor who - the publisher did not show originality in his judgment - had a “golden voice”. This will not help anyone then famous singer was Enrico Caruso. After Puccini accompanied him in the aria “Recondita armonia” (“His face changes forever”), the composer turned in his chair at the piano and asked: “Who sent you to me? God?"

ACT I
Church of Sant'Andrea della Balle

Three crushing chords open the opera; they are then always used to characterize Scarpia, the sinister chief of the Roman police. This figure of a merciless, although outwardly refined man, personified the reactionary forces of Italy, where Napoleon, in 1800, was considered the apostle of freedom. Immediately after these opening chords the curtain rises. The viewer's gaze reveals an internal view of the Church of Sant'Andrea della Balle in Rome. A man in tattered clothes, trembling with fear, enters one of the side doors. This is Angelotti, a political prisoner who escaped from prison. He is hiding here in the church, in the Attavanti Chapel. His sister, Marchioness Attavanti, hid the key to this family chapel under the statue of the Madonna, and now Angelotti is feverishly looking for it. Finally, having found it, he hastily unlocks the lattice door of the chapel and hurries to take refuge in it. As soon as he disappears, the sacristan enters, bringing food and necessary things for the artist working here. He is busy with his thoughts and talking to himself about something, heading towards the artist’s place of work on the left. He is unhappy that the features of one of the parishioners appear in the image of the saint. Is it not the devil who controls the hand of the daring painter? Our hero appears, Mario Cavaradossi, an artist who begins work on the image of Mary Magdalene. The painting is on the easel, it is half finished. He sings the aria “Recondia armonia” (“He changes his face forever”), in which he compares the features of his portrait with the features of his beloved, famous singer Floria Tosca.

The sacristan leaves. Cavaradossi discovers Angelotti, who, thinking that the church is empty, has come out of his hiding place. His fear at the sight of the artist is immediately replaced by joy, because Cavaradossi is his old friend, and now the artist does not leave the unfortunate fugitive prisoner in trouble. Their conversation, however, is interrupted by a persistent knock on the door. This is Floria Tosca. As soon as he hears her voice demanding that the door to the church be opened for her, Cavaradossi pushes his friend back into the chapel to hide there. Floria appears. She is amazingly beautiful, superbly dressed and, like most beauties, she easily gives in to feelings of jealousy. This time, jealousy is aroused in her by the portrait that the artist is painting. She recognizes the blond beauty in the portrait, and it takes him some effort to calm her down. Floria cannot remain angry with her lover for long, and by the end of their love duet they agree to meet that evening at his villa after her evening performance at the Farnese Palace. After she leaves, Angelotti reappears from his hiding place and Cavaradossi takes him away to hide him in his house.

Now comes news of Napoleon's defeat in northern Italy. In the church, priests are preparing for a solemn service on this occasion. But in the midst of this preparation comes Scarpia, who, as chief of police, is looking for the fugitive Angelotti. With his detective Spoletta, he finds a lot of evidence that the fugitive is hiding here. Among the evidence is a fan with the Attavanti coat of arms. He cunningly uses it to arouse the jealousy of Tosca, for whom he himself burns with passion.

The service begins. A large procession enters the church. And while the Te Deum sounds in honor of the victory over Napoleon, Scarpia stands on the side: he hopes that he can get rid of his competitor, using Tosca’s jealousy for this. If his plan succeeds, Cavaradossi must be on the scaffold, and Floria Tosca will belong to him. Just before the curtain falls, he kneels in public prayer before the marching cardinal, although all his thoughts are absorbed in his own diabolical plan.

ACT II
Farnese Palace

In the evening of the same day, the victory over Napoleon is solemnly celebrated at the Farnese Palace; through open windows the police station, which is located here in the palace, the sounds of music can be heard. Scarpia, alone in his office, reflects on the events of the day. With his gendarme Sciarrone, he sends a note to Tosca and now receives a message from Spoletta. This detective searched the entire Cavaradossi house, but did not find Angelotti there, but saw Tosca there. He arrested Cavaradossi and brought him to the palace. While the voice of Tosca is heard singing the solo part in the victorious cantata in the palace, her lover is brought to Scarpia’s office and interrogated, but to no avail. When Tosca appears, Cavaradossi manages to whisper to her that Scarpia knows nothing and that she should not say anything about what she witnessed in his house. Scarpia gives the order to take the artist to another room - a torture chamber, which is what the gendarmes and the executioner Roberti do with them.

Scarpia then begins interrogating Tosca. She maintains her composure until Cavaradossi's moans reach her ears from the cell. Unable to bear this, she reveals the place where Angelotti is hiding - in a well in the garden. Cavaradossi, exhausted from torture, is taken to Scarpia's office. He immediately understands that Tosca has betrayed his friend. The next moment news arrives about Napoleon's victory in Marengo. The artist cannot hide his joy and sings a song of praise to freedom. Scarpia contemptuously orders the artist to be taken to prison and executed the next morning.

Scarpia then resumes his treacherous conversation with the desperate Tosca. During this dialogue, she sings the aria “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” (“Only sang, only loved”) - her passionate appeal to love and music, the two forces to which she dedicated her life. In the end, she agrees to sacrifice herself to save the life of her loved one.

Now Scarpia explains that since he has already given the order to execute Cavaradossi, preparations must be made, at least falsely, for this. He calls upon Spoletta to give the necessary orders and issues passes so that Tosca and her lover can leave Rome. But at the moment when he turns to her to embrace her in his arms, she plunges a dagger into him: “Tosca kisses hard!..” (The orchestra plays the same three chords of Scarpia, but this time pianissimo - very quietly. )

Floria quickly washes her bloody hands, takes the passes from Scarpia's lifeless hand, places a candle on either side of his head, and places the crucifix on his chest. The curtain falls as she quietly disappears from the office.

ACT III
Sant'Angelo Prison Square

The final act begins quietly enough. Behind the stage, the early morning song of a shepherd boy sounds. The scene of this action is the roof of the prison castle of Sant'Angelo in Rome, where Cavaradossi is to be brought for execution. He is given a short time to prepare himself for death. He uses it to write his last letter to his beloved Tosca. At this moment, he sings the heartbreaking aria “E lucevan le stelle” (“The stars were burning in the sky”). Soon Tosca herself appears. She shows him the safety passes that she managed to get from Scarpia, she tells him how she killed the treacherous police chief; and two lovers sing a passionate love duet, anticipating their happy future. Finally, Tosca explains that Cavaradossi must go through the farce of a false execution, after which they will escape together.

A calculation led by Spoletta appears. Mario stands in front of him. They're shooting. He falls. The soldiers are leaving. Melancholy falls on the body of her murdered lover. Only now does she realize that Scarpia insidiously deceived her: the cartridges were real, and Cavaradossi lies dead. Sobbing over the corpse of Cavaradossi, the young woman does not hear the footsteps of the returning soldiers: they discovered that Scarpia had been killed. Spoletta tries to grab Tosca, but she pushes him away, jumps onto the parapet and throws herself from the roof of the castle. While the farewell motive of Mario's dying aria thunders in the orchestra, the soldiers stand frozen in horror.

Henry W. Simon (translated by A. Maikapara)

The wizard of “sentimental verism” was born on December 22, 1858. Giacomo Puccini “came” to opera under the influence (terrible to think!) of “Aida” by the main “verist” No. 1 of all times and peoples, G. Verdi. Puccini wrote outstanding words that became his artistic credo: “The theater has three basic laws: to interest, to amaze and to touch.” Puccini was not a preacher focused on social issues, therefore, in his works, unlike Verdi’s operas, there are few choral scenes: Puccini is an individualist; he is interested in the life of a particular person, his inner world, regardless of the socio-political surroundings. The most important theme of Puccini's music is the world of the female soul and the nature of love: its birth and decline, its creative and destructive power. At the same time, the psychological complexity of the collisions that became the plots of Puccini’s operas allows us to speak about the deepest psychologism of his music. Puccini's music is the music of the soul. It’s not for nothing that Barbara Strezand’s heroine will say in the film “The Mirror Has Two Faces”: “When we fall in love, we hear Puccini’s music”! The inexplicable modernity and dramatic psychologism of his music amaze: most Hollywood films “about love” use either Puccini’s own music or music “based on Puccini.” To “hear” this, “remember” the musical themes of “Manon Lescaut”, “Madama Butterfly”, “La Bohemes”, “Nessun Dorma” from “Turandot”...

About “Tosca” in particular.

In 1889, in Milan, Puccini first saw Sarah Bernhardt in Victorien Sardou's play Tosca. To “remind” myself who I was for cultural life of her time, Sarah Bernhardt, it is useful to remember the words of Emile Zola: “But even if this is true, even if Madame Sarah Bernhardt roasts monkeys and sleeps with a skeleton, what do we do if she wants it that way?” To understand the image great actress Also typical is the note that Sarah Bernhardt sent to the American priest who anathematized her sparkling talent: “Dear colleague, why attack me like that? Comedians should get along with each other. Sarah Bernhardt.” In 1895, while working on La Bohème, Puccini made a special trip to Florence to see Sarah Bernhardt’s Longing once again. It is interesting that for the second time Puccini “seems” that Bernard is “tired.” And in 1898, the maestro already began work on the score of his “Tosca”. The influence of the impressions of Sarah Bernhardt’s performance on the result of the maestro’s work is difficult to overestimate: the dramatic intensity of the duets (in some places overly exalted, and in others – overly pathetic), the divine aria “Vissi d`arte, vissi d`amore”, the “prolongedness” of the finale of the second act (the famous “placing candles near a corpse” is a completely meaningless and unconvincing escapade) - all this is from “Bernard’s” Tosca. In general, it is surprising that the first opera, in which the main character was an opera singer, did not encourage the directors to read this masterpiece in accordance with the “source of Puccini’s inspiration.” Until now, the opera is staged either in the surroundings of the time of events (Rome, June 17-18, 1800, with all the static and hopeless dramatic melancholy that “follows” from the laws of the mothball style) - or in a timeless void , equipped with both “readable” and obscure symbolism (cf. the propeller in the Amsterdam production by Nikolaus Lenhoff, 1998). The historical plot firmly “fitted” the action of the opera into real Roman “scenery” (it has long been in good form walk along the route Sant'Andrea della Valle - Palazzo Farnese - Castel Sant'Angelo). The essence “in a nutshell” is this. The former consul of the Roman Republic, Cesare Angelotti, who has escaped from prison, sneaks into the temple where the artist Mario Cavaradossi is working on the image of the Virgin Mary. Here he must change into a woman’s dress left for him by his sister, “with whom” Cavaradossi is painting the Virgin Mary, and hide from the persecution of Police Chief Scarpia. The singer Floria Tosca not only loves the artist to the point of oblivion, but is also jealous of him to death. Her jealousy leads to the fact that the two-faced scoundrel Scarpia receives all the necessary “tips” to arrest Cavaradossi for “aiding” a political criminal. The scene of “extorting” testimony from Tosca by torturing Mario is worthy of depicting Alla Demidova’s fanaticism in the climactic “fascist” moment with radio operator Kat in “Seventeen Moments of Spring.” Tosca is unable to endure the suffering of her lover and tells where exactly the fugitive Angelotti is hiding. They stop torturing Mario, but when he finds out at what cost he was saved, he accuses Tosca of betrayal, and, having learned about Napoleon’s victory over the Austrians, he sings patriotic words... In general, there is little clarity here on the topic of the political moment: Napoleon is an enemy of the Habsburgs, but still not a defender of Italian independence... It’s unclear what to rejoice at... This creative intelligentsia, who stands for “freedom”, always confuses everything: she is ready to support the enemy of her enemies, even if this enemy is her enemy too! In general, Mario is taken away to execution, and Scarpia makes Tosca understand how she can save her lover: he does not take money from women, but he will not refuse payment of a “different nature.” Baron Scarpia is the dramatic core of the entire second act - the brightest and most dramatic. In general, the image of Scarpia in the gallery of operatic “padoncuffs” is one of the most mysterious and psychologically powerful. Scarpia is the only character in Tosca who has his own theme song: the opera begins with its chords, its mystical gloom permeates the entire score (“there are only scoundrels all around”!), - the hysterical duets of the luxurious second act unfold around it... In general, the 2nd act begins already with the finale of the first: when, to the organ sounds of Te Deum Scarpia vows to take possession of the famous singer. His “music lover” passion for Tosca is colored in bizarre perverted tones in the style of the Marquis de Sade: Scarpia loves to “taste” women like wine, but in Tosca he is attracted by the submission of hatred: “the spasms of hatred or the spasms of love - it doesn’t matter what you get from pleasure!" But the Neapolitan “meloerotomaniac” underestimates the “opera talents” of his casual passion and, at the moment of a seemingly inevitable victory, dies from the prima donna’s hand (imagine what strength the singers of the Napoleonic era had to be able to pierce a camisole with one blow of a table knife (with a blunt end!) chief of police and take his life - probably not worth it). Before his death, Scarpia manages to do one more nasty thing: having promised to let Tosca go with her lover, he orders Cavaradossi to be shot not with blank cartridges, as Tosca thinks, but with real ones. In the fortress of Sant'Angelo, Cavaradossi first sings a magical farewell aria “E lucevan le stelle...”, then a wonderful duet with Tosca about how good it will be for them to create in freedom, then Cavaradossi is shot, Tosca, realizing Scarpia’s deception, shouts not to his own voice and, fleeing from the running policemen, jumps from a high fortress wall with the words “Scarpia, the Lord will judge us!” As usual, everyone died.

The premiere of the masterpiece took place on January 14, 1900 in Rome at the Teatro Constanzi. Puccini created such a powerful psychological mosaic musical characteristics that the religious and political background turned out to be on the distant periphery of historical decor. The first thing the listener notices is the dramatic tension and contrast of the score structure: after the powerful opening chords - a slightly silly beginning (the Sacristan’s theme), the psychoneurotic jealousy of Tosca, the demonic power of Scarpia’s theme, the meditative beginning of the second act (Scarpia’s reflections “on his system of values”). , a hysterical-psychiatric scene of torture, a patriotic escapade by Cavaradossi, a tense dialogue between Tosca and Scarpia and, finally, the main chorus of the opera - “Vissi d'arte...” filled with prayerful despair (“All life is for the sake of art...”); then again an emotional explosion - the scene of Scarpia's murder, then - for no apparent reason, such a light song of a shepherdess before dawn, Cavaradossi's farewell to life - the main "chorus" No. 2 - "E lucevan le stelle...", a bright duet hymn of creativity in freedom (or freedom of creativity? ), cold as the tread of fate, the march of the firing squad, the execution of Cavaradossi, tragic hopelessness, despair and death of Tosca.

Directing.

“Tosca,” being one of the most intense and “acting-wise” interesting, enjoys very little attention among Nemirovich-Danchenko’s followers, and the existing stage versions of the opera evoke less and less “sympathy” with each theatrical season and, in their clichéd form, are increasingly asked for into a parody (Tosca and Scarpia: “- It’s better to throw yourself down! - Wait: they made a bed for you under the wall of Sant’Angelo!”, etc.). The versions available to me inspire little optimism. Hopelessly “cliche” productions include productions at the Vienna State Opera (1958, directed by Margaret Wallmann, designer Nikolai Benois) and at the Teatro alla Scala (1996, directed by Luca Ronconi, designer Margherita Pali); The production of the Netherlands Opera (1998, directed by Nikolaus Lenhoff, designer Raimund Bauer) can be considered a “conceptual” reading. They say that the main distinguishing feature of “traditional” productions is that, unless they have brilliant performers singing, they are boring to watch. In my opinion, the problem with so-called “traditional” productions is that they are boring to watch even when the most brilliant performers sing. This problem lies in the denial of theatrical laws in favor of costumed concerts. And the main responsibility here lies with the directors: I am sure that the blind use in modern directing of all, without exception, the remarks that the author left “in the margins” of the score is, to put it mildly, not indisputable. And "Tosca" - bright that example: what is one scene of the murder of Scarpia with candles worth! Scarpia writes a “pass” and, holding it in his hand, goes to Tosca in order, finally, having fulfilled all her conditions, to take possession of the famous singer; after the murder of Scarpia, Tosca begins to look for this pass in the papers on Scarpia’s desk... Then “suddenly” she “realizes” that the piece of paper clutched in Scarpia’s hand is the paper she needs... Just a stretch... Lenhoff, for example, “hides” the pass to Scarpia’s pocket, and everything falls into place: Tosca really doesn’t see the paper just written and quite naturally looks for it on the table, and then with a shaking hand reaches into the “corpse” pocket. Next are these unfortunate candles: why put them at the head of Scarpia’s corpse? It’s an incredible stretch: she needs to run to save Mario, whose life’s minutes are numbered, and she’s arranging candles! What if someone comes in?! Absurd. Lenhoff does not “raise” candles, and - again - everything falls into place: the “candle residue” of Tosca’s music destroys traces of the crime, and does not engage in inappropriate sacred rites. The only unconditional advantage of mothball productions is that they have very few stairs and other “verticals” J. For the same Lenhoff, the whole plot is an “ascent” to death, every episode, every word leads to death. The idea is convincing and fits well with the music. Each painting is a territory of extreme symbolism: instead of a temple, there is a red-violet canvas moving on a black background on the theme “ Last Judgment" and the image of the Virgin Mary surrounded by a forest of columns flashing with fiery torches in the Te Deum of the finale of the first act; instead of a palazzo there is a staircase, a propeller, a mirrored black floor and mirrored black walls; “the roof of Rome” - the upper platform of the fortress of Sant'Angelo is shown in blue space... In Ronconi's (La Scala) direction, there is complete capitulation to tradition: “let it go as it goes.” Well, let’s draw the scenery a little more whimsically: instead of “scenes of events” there are their ruins (what deep idea is in these ruins is not clear: either so primitive that it is a shame for the authors, or so deep that no one except the authors can comprehend it). In Margareta Wallmann's work the idea is as simple as hopelessness itself: let's do it as in life, and come what may. Benoit's beautiful scenery is made in the best traditions of the mothball style. In such settings it is comfortable to feel like part of a tradition, but it would seem impossible to live, but many manage and succeed.

Singers-actors.

4.1. Vienna, 12.11.2004 (conductor Maurizio Barbacini)

Floria Tosca – Eszter Suemegi: convincing, beautiful vocals, distinguished by smooth, unhysterical transitions from forte to piano (in general, the singer’s ability to “not yell” in the part of Tosca is a great joy for the listener).

Mario Cavaradossi – Keith Ikaia-Perdy: pure light tenor, distinguished by his performance “from the heart”: he sang like the last time.

Baron Scarpia – Franz Grundheber: extremely nothing special; smooth, quiet performance, without the proper level of drama.

4.2. Vienna, 03.11.07. (conducted by Paolo Carignani)

Floria Tosca – Michel Crider: voices with a range of 1/5 of an octave are, of course, a rarity, but still not a reason to go on stage... powerful squeals in B flats and half-whispers of all other “notes” - the manner is, to put it mildly, interesting... but this is definitely not about Tosca and, most definitely, not about Puccini.

Mario Cavaradossi – Johan Botha: a powerful, beautiful tenor still does not “fit” in any way with the singer’s non-theatrical appearance (although one can forgive anything for such a voice).

Baron Scarpia – Falk Struckmann: one of best performers The “bastard role” was at its best here; Struckmann’s dramatic talent cannot but delight; his bright “flexible” baritone, combined with exceptional theatrical skill, gives an extraordinary impression.

4.3. Milan, recording 2000 (conducted by Riccardo Muti)

Floria Tosca - Maria Guleghina: “I can’t believe my ears.” In chorus No. 1, the B-flat “leaves” (“without” which it cannot be sung at all). And in general, it’s somehow pale... Not theatrical, not operatic, somehow debut-like... Maybe Guleghina simply has nothing to say in Tosca?.. In “Nabucco” she is completely different!

Mario Cavaradossi – Salvatore Licitra: again “I can’t believe my ears.” I also heard Lisitra in Pagliacci (of course, with “ Country honor"), and in "André Chénier", but Lisitra did not have such a pale sound as in the Milanese "Tosca".

Baron Scarpia – Leo Nucci: that’s right – “they all agreed.” The usually bright and convincing baritone Leo Nucci in the Milan recording sounds more than faded, dispassionate... Apparently, Scarpia is not Nucci’s hero: Scarpia is a petty demon, an inveterate and vile animal, but definitely not Nabucco or Macbeth...

4.4. Amsterdam, recorded 1998 (conducted by Riccardo Celli)

Floria Tosca – Catherine Malfitano: extraordinary dramatic talent and outstanding vocal abilities (sometimes not flawlessly “working”, but this does not “reduce the impression”) create a unique, original and convincing image. In scenes of hysterics, Malfitano screams in a voice that is not her own, in scenes of fear her hands shake, and her eyes sparkle madly... In general, “our man.”

Mario Cavaradossi – Richard Margison: classic Wagnerian tenor confidently leads all arias and duets; does not make any special impression and his Cavaradossi remains in the background.

Baron Scarpia - Bryn Terfel: magnificent acting, 100% in character, impeccable work in complex mise-en-scenes and a wonderful dramatic baritone “from here”.

Total.

“With all that”: the music is magical, and the performers range from “interesting” to “outstanding,” but there is melancholy in my soul. “Phenomenon and Apsyurt”: why has one of the most beautiful and dramatic scores not yet received a bright and convincing embodiment? Why did “Manon Lescaut” find its original embodiment at the Vienna Opera in the work of Robert Carsen, but “Tosca” did not?.. Because Puccini’s bright “theatrically expressive” music needs real directorial discoveries, and not illustrative “mise-en-scenes” at the drama club level?. . Will wait?..

ACT ONE

Church of Sant'Andrea in Rome. Angelotti, the former consul of the Roman Republic, who escaped from imprisonment in the fortress, enters one of the side doors. His sister, Marquise Attavanti, hid the key to the family chapel located in the church under the statue of the Madonna. Angelotti looks for the key, finally finding it, unlocks the door of the chapel and hurries to take refuge in it.

As soon as he disappears, the old sacristan enters, bringing food and work supplies for Cavaradossi. Soon the artist himself appears.
As the old man leaves, the chapel door opens and Angelotti enters. He thinks that the church is empty and looks at the artist with horror. Fear, however, gives way to joy: Cavaradossi is his longtime friend and ally. And now the artist does not leave his friend in trouble. Their conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door: it’s Tosca. The artist thrusts a basket of food into Angelotti's hands and pushes him into the chapel. The singer enters and listens incredulously to Cavaradossi’s explanation. She heard voices and thinks that there was a beautiful blond stranger, whose features are depicted in Cavaradossi's painting. In the end, the artist manages to calm his beloved. She leaves.

Cavaradossi quickly makes a decision, he gives Angelotti the key to his country house and himself accompanies his friend to ensure the safety of the escape.

Priests are preparing for a solemn service on the occasion of Napoleon's defeat. The sacristan calls the people to church.
The all-powerful chief of the Roman police, Baron Scarpia, enters the church: the threads of the search lead here, to the church, apparently, the fugitive Angelotti found refuge here. The investigation is still ongoing when Tosca returns to the church. She is surprised to discover that the artist is no longer in the church. Jealousy flares up in her. And Scarpia still fuels her suspicions, because he has long been attracted to the beautiful singer.
The church fills with parishioners. The solemn service begins. During the ceremony, Scarpia acknowledges keeping an eye on Tosca, for her steps will probably lead to Cavaradossi and then to Angelotti.

Scarpia made a decision - he will execute the revolutionaries and get Floria Tosca for himself.

ACT TWO

Palazzo Farnese. Scarpia's detectives arrive and report that they searched to no avail. Vacation home Cavaradossi: They didn't find Angelotti. Just in case, they took Cavaradossi with them, apparently knowing where his friend was hiding. While Scarpia and his henchmen are interrogating the artist, a "hymn of thanksgiving" sung by Tosca is heard from the chapel.

The artist denies everything. Tosca enters, whom Cavaradossi warns with a gesture to remain silent.
Scarpia sends the prisoner to the torture chamber, then begins interrogating Tosca. The singer is silent, but Cavaradossi’s moans are heard louder and louder from the torture chamber, and she cannot stand it. A woman in love reveals Angelotti's location.

The goal has been achieved. The police chief gives the order to stop the torture. The exhausted, bloodied artist is brought in, and it immediately becomes clear that Tosca has secured his release at a terrible cost: she has betrayed Angelotti. He angrily pushes away the woman he loves.
Scarpia orders the artist to be taken to prison and shot at dawn.

After the tragic internal struggle Tosca accepts the offer. But the police chief does not intend to fulfill the agreement. Instead of releasing the artist, he promises Tosca that during tomorrow’s execution the soldiers will fire blank cartridges, Cavaradossi’s job is only to act out the comedy of the execution. To avert Tosca’s suspicions, he immediately gives the order: “Instead of the scaffold, a bullet!” Just like in the case of Palmieri!” Tosca thinks that these words refer to blank cartridges. But Scarpia understands that the police chief's words mean death. Scarpia graciously agrees to issue even a pass for lovers.

While he is writing the pass, Tosca quietly hides a knife, prepared on the table for dinner. When Scarpia, with a ready-made pass in his hands, approaches Tosca, trying to hug her, she kills the villain with a knife.

ACT THREE

Platform on the fortress towers.
It's getting light. Through the veil of fog, the outlines of the city emerge in the distance. From somewhere you can hear the ringing of the bells of Rome.
Cavaradossi is taken out of prison. His last request: he wants to write a few words to his beloved. The artist gives his ring to the jailer and he nods: let him write.

Suddenly Tosca appears and, all glowing with joy, informs her beloved that the execution will only be an appearance. She instructs the artist: when a volley is heard, he must fall to the ground - after the executioners leave, the pass issued by Scarpia will open the way to freedom. A convoy passes.

Toska hides behind one of the columns, watching the tragic scene from there. A volley is heard - Cavaradossi falls.
As soon as the soldiers leave, Tosca quietly calls out to him and sees with horror that his beloved is dead. Sobbing, she falls on his corpse.
Noise and voices are heard: Scarpia's corpse has been discovered, and they are looking for the killer. Toska, without waiting for his pursuers, rushes down from the height of the fortress tower.

With a libretto (in Italian) by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the drama of the same name by V. Sardou.

Characters:

Time of action: June 1800.
Location: Rome.
First performance: Rome, Teatro Costanzi, January 14, 1900.

Whether these critics are right or wrong, the fact remains that the opera is a huge success; Sardou's play practically died after Bernhardt abandoned it, and Puccini's opera continues to live on the stages of all opera houses in the world for a hundred years after its premiere, after more than three thousand performances and after hundreds of sopranos made their final leap from the prison parapet castle

Puccini perfectly understood the value of Sardou's drama - the rapid pace of its development and extraordinary expressiveness. He objected sharply when the librettist Illik wanted to put a long farewell speech into the tenor’s mouth, and instead wrote a short but highly expressive and emotional aria “E lucevan le stelle” (“The stars were burning in the sky”). He refused to write an old-fashioned quartet with a tenor being tortured offstage and Scarpia, Tosca and Spoletta discussing it on stage. He didn’t even like the famous aria “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” (“Only sang, only loved”), because it stopped the action, and when one day at a rehearsal Maria Geritza accidentally rolled back the bed just before the first sounds and sang aria, standing on the floor, the composer said: “That’s so good. This gives the aria vitality." From then on Jeritza sang it that way.

Yes, Puccini was always first and foremost a man of the theater. But this does not mean that he did not appreciate a good voice. Once, when the tenor planned to stage the opera was unable to fulfill his contractual obligations and sing the part of Cavaradossi, Ricordi sent for a young tenor who - the publisher did not show originality in his judgment - had a “golden voice”. This then unknown singer was Enrico Caruso. After Puccini accompanied him in the aria “Recondita armonia” (“His face changes forever”), the composer turned in his chair at the piano and asked: “Who sent you to me? God?"

ACT I
Church of Sant'Andrea della Balle

ACT II
Farnese Palace

In the evening of the same day, the victory over Napoleon is solemnly celebrated at the Farnese Palace; through the open windows of the police station, which is located here in the palace, the sounds of music can be heard. Scarpia, alone in his office, reflects on the events of the day. With his gendarme Sciarrone, he sends a note to Tosca and now receives a message from Spoletta. This detective searched the entire Cavaradossi house, but did not find Angelotti there, but saw Tosca there. He arrested Cavaradossi and brought him to the palace. While the voice of Tosca is heard singing the solo part in the victorious cantata in the palace, her lover is brought to Scarpia’s office and interrogated, but to no avail. When Tosca appears, Cavaradossi manages to whisper to her that Scarpia knows nothing and that she should not say anything about what she witnessed in his house. Scarpia gives the order to take the artist to another room - a torture chamber, which is what the gendarmes and the executioner Roberti do with them.

ACT III
Sant'Angelo Prison Square

Henry W. Simon (translated by A. Maikapara)

The Rome premiere, conducted by Leopoldo Mugnone, brought together journalists and cultural representatives in the hall, as well as Queen Margaret and members of the government. Nevertheless, the public and critics accepted the opera without enthusiasm; subsequently they spoke about the lack of originality of melodic ideas going back to Puccini’s previous operas, about sound and stage sadism (in particular, the torture scene was meant). But the negative features also revealed the incomparable skill of the composer, who was always able to make a deep impression with his theater. Puccini tried to introduce the action into the sound, light, color and moral atmosphere of Rome early XIX century. The composer's friend Don Panichelli helped him recreate the authentic ringing of bells in the vicinity of Castel Sant'Angelo and, together with a resident of Lucca, Alfredo Vandini, also a friend of the composer, told him the poems of the ancient folk song(shepherd songs). There was a lot in the image of Rome that was fictitious, but also attractive in the sense of depicting the historical situation. Like an artist in front of an easel, Puccini paints nature freely, with all the enthusiasm of the first contact with it. This fact in itself would not be so interesting if it were not for the connections with images characters. The orchestra describes them as if sketchily, rather hastily, but carefully following the truth; suddenly his calm speech is interrupted, he becomes agitated, sobs or threatens, insults or pleads. Then the character’s image acquires plasticity, swiftness and excitement. Taken by surprise, the viewer does not have time to recover from surprise as the indomitable Puccini dries away his tears, even returns his smile with a few phrases, without ceasing to add new strokes and correct what he has written. A cunning master, he moves swiftly from innocent touches to tragedy with acrobatic ease.

As for the characters, they seem to want to establish themselves at any cost, crushing and trampling on everything that interferes with them. While in romantic art the hero was the absolute ruler outside world, here it is the latter who puts pressure on the hero, demanding respect for himself. This is tantamount to suffocation. It should be borne in mind that Puccini's scene almost exactly depicts the crypt as a symbol of existence, devoid of a mythological aura. At the dawn of a new century, Tosca could not better mark a new historical and aesthetic milestone. The cruelty and lustfulness of Scarpia, a monstrously vicious and at the same time sincere, secular man and servant of power; the tenderness of Tosca, the only woman in the opera, capricious and jealous, but above all loving and courageous; the poetic simplicity with which the artist Cavaradossi is attached to life and its joys; a very skillful framing of the action, which alternately serves as a church in festive decoration, a hall in a palace with an adjacent torture room, a prison and inside it a punishment cell for those sentenced to death; a combination of voluptuousness and torture, lust for life and oppression - everything rises like a kind of tombstone. In the face of death, beauty and love triumph in a victory won through pain.

G. Marchesi (translated by E. Greceanii)

History of creation

The plot of the play “Tosca” by the French playwright Victor Sardou (1831-1908) attracted Puccini’s attention for a number of years. He first saw Tosca in Milan in 1889 with the famous Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. The freedom-loving pathos of Sardou's drama, set in Italy during the dark era of reaction, was in tune with Puccini's sentiments. The tense atmosphere of the play, the severity of the conflicts, and the dramatic nature of the characters’ experiences corresponded to the composer’s desire for bright operatic expressiveness. The creation of the libretto for the future opera was entrusted to the composer's permanent assistants - L. Illika (1859-1919) and D. Giacosa (1847-1906). Puccini himself took an active part in the work, at whose insistence a number of changes were made to the fate of the main character. The music of Tosca was composed in 1898-1899. The first performance - January 14, 1900 - was accompanied by great success. Productions of the opera soon followed in major European theaters, strengthening the glory of this one of the most famous works Puccini.

Music

"Tosca" is one of Puccini's most dramatic works. Her music is brightly expressive, sometimes ecstatically excited. In the extended scenes, recitative and ariatic forms freely alternate, united by a detailed orchestral part.

In the first act there are two sections. In the first there is music of a chamber-intimate nature, in the second a crowd stage becomes the backdrop for a personal drama.

In the orchestral introduction, the darkly ominous, heavy tread of the chords associated with the image of Scarpia is contrasted with the rapidly descending, nervous theme of Angelotti. The plastically relief melody of Cavaradossi’s aria “It changes its face forever” conveys a feeling of rapturous rapture in beauty. Tosca’s arioso “Our Little House” is imbued with flirtatious grace and elegance. Cavaradossi's arioso “There is no gaze in the world” sounds passionately and excitedly, turning into the waltz-smooth melody of his love duet with Tosca, full of languid bliss. A festively animated boys' choir opens the second half of the act. In the extended duet-scene, Scarpia's sanctimonious remarks against the backdrop of a church bell are contrasted with Tosca's expressive cantilena, overwhelmed either by lyrically mournful or angry-indignant feelings. Scarpia's final aria is contrasted with the solemn music of the church service.