A new production by Tomer Zvulun. Tosca is a pulse-pounding thriller of love, loyalty, and lethal power. When fiery diva Floria Tosca and her lover, the idealistic painter Mario Cavaradossi, are blackmailed by the ruthless police chief Scarpia, devotion is tested against tyranny and desire curdles into obsession. As political intrigue tightens its grip, the drama hurtles toward moments of breathtaking intensity—where faith, art, and love stand against oppression. Last produced by The Atlanta Opera in 2013, this “shabby little shocker” presents the most evil villain and the most noble heroine in all opera in a brilliant new production. ACT I The Church of Sant’Andrea Della Valle–Rome, 1800, Noon Angelotti, a political prisoner, has escaped from Castel Sant’Angelo and takes cover in the church where his sister, the Marchesa d’Attavanti, has left him the key to the family chapel. He is discovered by the painter Mario Cavaradossi, a liberal sympathizer, who is painting an altarpiece. His portrait of Mary Magdalena is inspired by the Marchesa, whom he has observed in prayer. When the singer Floria Tosca, Cavaradossi’s lover, arrives, she recognizes the blue-eyed Magdalena as none other than the Marchesa herself. Tosca jealously insists that the figure be made to look more like her dark-eyed self, and leaves the church. Soon after, a cannon shot from the prison announces Angelotti’s escape and Cavaradossi hurries him away to hide in his country villa. The Sacristan tells the choir of the reported defeat of Napoleon at Marengo, to be celebrated with a High Mass. Their jubilation is interrupted by Scarpia, the feared Chief of Police, who arrives with his men to search for Angelotti. Scarpia finds a fan with the Attavanti crest, part of a disguise left for Angelotti, as Tosca returns to tell Mario that she will sing for the Queen that night at the Palazzo Farnese. Scarpia uses her jealousy to sow seeds of doubt about her lover and the Marchesa; as Iago used a handkerchief to
