

Puccini
Tosca
Sydney Opera House22 February–13 March 2021
Puccini
Tosca
Sydney Opera House22 February–13 March 2021
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Venue
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney
Language
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Running time
approximately 2 hours & 50 minutes, including 2 intervals
Please note
This production is set in Nazi-occupied Rome, and Nazi symbols, including swastikas and uniforms, are shown on stage. It also contains depictions of sexual violence that may cause distress.
Production Partner
She lived for love. On this desperate day, can she find the strength to kill for it?
Three ominous chords ring out of the orchestra pit and the mood is set. On stage, the soaring marble columns are brilliant with light, but somewhere out of sight, a shadow looms.
A runaway prisoner bursts into the chapel and the opera takes off: a gripping tale of love, lust and betrayal unfolding at breakneck pace.
Tosca has everything: a real and worldly love, an extraordinary heroine and the greatest villain in all of opera.
Puccini’s evocative music intensifies the emotion at every turn. Combined with John Bell’s thoughtful production set in Nazi-occupied Rome, the effect is “epic, absorbing and shattering” (The Sydney Morning Herald — ★★★★½).
Tosca’s dramatic music demands powerhouse performers. Sensational young conductor Andrea Battistoni leads a brilliant cast. Carmen Giannattasio makes her Opera Australia debut as Floria Tosca, a role coveted for its vast dramatic arc and show-stopping aria, ‘Vissi d’arte’. Diego Torre reprises his passionate Cavaradossi. Marco Vratogna, renowned for his villains, returns as Scarpia.
Cast & Creative
Conductor
Director
Revival Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Tosca
Cavaradossi
Scarpia
Angelotti
Sacristan
Spoletta
Sciarrone
Gaoler
Opera Australia Chorus & Opera Australia Orchestra

Cheat Sheet: Tosca
Everything you need to know about Puccini’s blood-soaked, lustful melodrama.
What happens in the story? Who was the composer? What should I expect from the music? Here’s everything you need to know…
The Story
In a beautiful church, the painter Cavaradossi is working. When an escaped prisoner bursts in, Cavaradossi risks his own life to help Angelotti hide from the Fascist police. But Cavaradossi’s lover, Tosca, overhears him talking and becomes jealous. In spite of Cavaradossi’s ardent assurances of love, it is easy for the chief of police, Scarpia to fan the flames of her jealousy. He wants Tosca for himself.
Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi on suspicion of aiding Angelotti, and as he is tortured, Tosca is made to listen to his cries. She has a fateful choice before her: give into the hateful Scarpia’s lascivious demands and save her lover’s life, or save her honour and kill Cavaradossi. In that terrible moment, Tosca makes a choice, and the consequences play out in a heart-rending Act III.
She lived for love. On this desperate day, can she find the strength to kill for it?
ACT I
Angelotti, who has just escaped from prison, finds a key left for him in a church by his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, and hides in the Attavanti chapel. The sacristan enters, grumbling about having to clean the painter Cavaradossi’s brushes. Cavaradossi returns to his work and, when Angelotti emerges from hiding, promises to help him but tells him to hide again when they hear Tosca approaching. AIthough she begins to suspect that he is having an affair with the Marchesa, Cavaradossi reassures her of his love before she leaves.
Angelotti tells Cavaradossi that his sister has left him some female clothing and that he intends to escape in disguise. Cavaradossi mentions a hiding-place down the well in his garden in case of emergency. They hear a shot, indicating that the escape has been discovered, and Cavaradossi rushes Angelotti to his safe house.
The sacristan announces a grand Te Deum to celebrate a report of a victory for the current regime. Excitement at this news is cut short by the arrival of Scarpia, on Angelotti’s track. A search of the church reveals a fan with the crest of the Attavanti and, when Tosca returns, looking for Cavaradossi, Scarpia uses it to inflame her jealousy, as a way of winning Tosca for himself.
ACT II
Scarpia waits for Tosca, who is singing at an official reception to celebrate the victory. Spoletta informs him that Angelotti has still not been found but that Cavaradossi has been arrested. Under interrogation he denies any knowledge of Angelotti. Tosca arrives as Cavaradossi is led off to torture. At first she refuses to tell Scarpia anything, but finally she can bear Cavaradossi’s suffering no longer and reveals Angelotti’s hiding-place. When Cavaradossi is brought in and hears Scarpia ordering the arrest of Angelotti it is obvious that Tosca has betrayed him. At this moment the news of a serious defeat for the current regime arrives. Cavaradossi is triumphant and Scarpia orders his execution.
Tosca begs for the life of her lover and Scarpia names his price: she must have sex with him in exchange for Cavaradossi’s freedom. Seeing no alternative, she agrees, and Scarpia orders Spoletta to perform a mock execution of Cavaradossi, after which he and Tosca will be able to escape. As he claims his reward, however, Tosca kills him.
ACT III
Cavaradossi awaits execution. He remembers the happiness Tosca had brought him. Tosca then tells him what has happened and prepares him for the mock execution. She realises too late that she has been deceived by Scarpia: the execution was real. Tosca pays for Scarpia’s murder with her own life.
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton
Tosca at Sydney Opera House (2021)
Photo: Prudence Upton

Enjoy dinner before the opera
Overture Dining at Sydney Opera House
Allow us to make your dinner reservation for you: at Overture Dining in the Northern Foyer of the Joan Sutherland Theatre. You’ll be served a themed three-course menu for just $75.