

Puccini
Tosca
Sydney Opera House25 June–16 August 2024
Puccini
Tosca
Sydney Opera House25 June–16 August 2024
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June
25 Jun 2024
29 Jun 2024
July
02 Jul 2024
04 Jul 2024
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31 Jul 2024
August
03 Aug 2024
07 Aug 2024
10 Aug 2024
12 Aug 2024
14 Aug 2024
16 Aug 2024
Venue
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney
Running Time
Approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes, including two intervals.
Language
Performed in Italian with English surtitles.
Please note
This production contains depictions of violence, including violence against women, murder and suicide.
Tosca is an Opera North production.
Love. Jealousy. Betrayal.
“Ah! Tosca.” Scarpia growls it, lust in his voice, danger in his eyes. Tosca thinks of her lover, his captive. How far will she go to save him?
Opera’s greatest thriller is a taut tale of passion and betrayal, taking place over just 24 hours in Rome. Renowned prima donna Tosca is in love with Cavaradossi, a painter and revolutionary. When the sadistic Chief of Police Scarpia tries to crush them, our heroine finds the strength to do the unspeakable.
Puccini’s music is sensational: from the overpowering choral power of the famous Te Deum, Tosca’s ode to art ‘Vissi d’arte’ and the haunting tenor showpiece ‘E lucevan le stelle’ as Cavaradossi faces death.
When the final note rings into silence, and you pick your jaw up off the floor, you’ll feel an extraordinary emotional release.
In this acclaimed, five-star production from Opera North, director Edward Dick writes the tension large upon the stage. A stunning renaissance fresco colours a gilded dome hanging over the performers. Dramatic, stadium-style lights by Lee Curran put a razor focus on the unfolding action, revealing beauty and menace in turn.
Tosca is the perfect first taste of opera, and one opera lovers return to again and again, to experience how music can bring great stories to emotional highs. Tosca has it all: romance, action and an unforgettable ending.
The action turns on a trio of brilliant performers, so we’ve found singers you don’t want to miss: Tosca is played by both Giselle Allen, who originated the role in this production to great acclaim, and audience favourite Karah Son. Two exciting international tenors sing Cavaradossi: Young Woo Kim and Adam Smith. And we have two imposing Scarpias: Armenian baritone Gevorg Hakobyan and homegrown star Warwick Fyfe.
“An unforgettable operatic experience ★★★★★”
The Stage
“A corker of a show… staged imaginatively and cogently ★★★★★”
The Times
“Drama to hit you in the gut ★★★★★”
The Independent
Trailer
The music

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…
Tosca at Leeds Grand Theatre (2023)
Photo credit: James Glossop, courtesy Opera North
Tosca at Leeds Grand Theatre (2023)
Photo credit: James Glossop, courtesy Opera North
Tosca at Leeds Grand Theatre (2023)
Photo credit: James Glossop, courtesy Opera North
Tosca at Leeds Grand Theatre (2023)
Photo credit: James Glossop, courtesy Opera North
Tosca at Leeds Grand Theatre (2023)
Photo credit: James Glossop, courtesy Opera North
Tosca at Leeds Grand Theatre (2023)
Photo credit: James Glossop, courtesy Opera North
Cast & Creative
Conductor
Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Choreographer
Tosca
Cavaradossi
Scarpia
Opera Australia Orchestra
Opera Australia Chorus
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 is an Opera North production.