Greetings again, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all :o) This month, I would like to introduce to you a favorite opera of mine, and one I had the rare chance to see the other day, with my very favorite diva in the whole world singing the lead part of Floria Tosca, Angela Gheorghiu. She has the voice of an angel, and I had good fortune to see her in my number one favorite opera, La Traviata, back in 1994, and she had the lead part of Víoletta Válery, in that as well..Watching her on stage performance, and pairing that up with her very dynamic, and flashy soprano voice, is more than enough to melt anyone's heart, and draw tears at all the right places, and even at times when they aren't meant to fall :o) Such is the power of her voice..In my opinion, she is more regal, and comes across more powerful in her presence and voice than even Maria Callas, and I realise this is going to upset a few out there, but these are my thoughts :o)

At the beginning, there is an escaped political prisoner, Angelotti. Angelotti hides in a church where the artist Cavaradossi is working on a portrait of Mary Magdalene. Singing ’Recondita Armonia’ (strange harmony), Cavaradossi admits to a church official, Sacristan, that his portrait has been inspired by two women, Tosca his lover, and the Marchessa Attavanti, who, it just so happens, is Angelotti’s sister. He begins to compare the two women -"She has blue eyes, but my Tosca's eyes are dark"..

Sacristan leaves quickly, and Mario then converses with Angelotti, and gives him his lunch, and asks him to hide quickly, because Tosca is coming, and she is a jealous lover, who would pick up that someone else had been..So she comes, and they begin to speak, and sing "Ora stammi a sentir: stasera canto", which is basically them having a conversation..She asks him who the woman in the painting is, he says that "it's the Magdalene and do you like it"? Tosca says "this woman is too beautiful to be the Magdalene, with her blue eyes and blonde hair, who is she really"? So he explains that this was a portrait of a woman who came into the church to pray, and he painted her unawares, and that is all there is to it, and of course, Tosca is wildly jealous..So she suggests to him to paint her eyes black - this would of course throw off the whole painting. They begin to talk of love to each other, remembering nights together in their little house, how intoxicating were the smell of the flowers during the full moon one night.....

Later, Scarpia who is the chief of police, comes to the church to question Mario about Angelotti, and encounters Tosca instead..This part reminds me of that scene in Othello, in which the one guy attempts to make Othello believe his wife, Desdemona, is in love with another, though it isn't true..Scarpia is a man who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain..He is rather like a psi feeder gone wayyyyy beyond bad, and he enjoys seeing people in that very moment in which he has a hold of their soul, and they come to full realisation of that fact..He enjoys the thrill of the kill in other words..Tosca is a beautiful woman, and one whom he desires immensely, so he attempts to get information about Angelotti, and points out the portrait of the woman as being Angelotti's sister, and who painted it, but Mario, her lover..Why this must obviously mean they are having an affair, and whaddya know! I just happen to have the lady's fan, left behind by her, to prove it..

As we know, Tosca is a jealous woman, so of course this goes straight into her, and Scarpia in a soliloquy, says "I have poisoned her, I have planted the seeds of doubt"..

When Cavaradossi discovers Angelotti, he agrees to help him escape, but time is fast running out. Suspecting Cavaradossi’s involvement, Scarpia tricks Tosca into leading his men to her lover, then summons her to his chambers while Caravadossi is tortured in the very next room. But it is Tosca who can take no more. Tormented by Cavaradossi’s cries she breaks down and reveals Angelotti’s whereabouts.

During this scene, She offers to pay him whatever price he asks, money wise, and he says "it has been said by some that I can be bought..but for a woman such as yourself, money cannot buy me, I require something better than money"..And he goes on to tell her that seeing her tormented, and so passionate about her lover, has set him on fire, and he enjoys seeing her suffer this way.."Anger is, after all, just as good and as powerful as passion, I'll take that". And Tosca realises what he is saying to her, and tells him how despicable he is, and she would never consider such a thing..But Mario is being tortured, and Scarpia has had the doors thrown wide open so she can hear his screams of pain..He shouts to her to say nothing, but Tosca can no longer abide his torments, and she gives in and bargains with Scarpia..

After Cavaradossi is taken off to be executed, Scarpia offers Tosca an evil trade: her body for CaravadossiÂ’s life. If she submits to Scarpia’s advances, he would arrange a mock execution. She has asked Scarpia for a pass out of the city - we will leave here forever.."Where will you go? To Civitavecchia"? Yes, she says..So he arranges a pass out of the city for "Tosca, and the man accompanying her"..He tells both her and his man that he cannot simply allow Cavaradossi to be let off so simply - we must instead have a mock execution, and explains how it works to her..Scarpia seemingly makes the necessary arrangements, his man leaves with this information, and Tosca sees a knife, having been left at the dinner table by Scarpia, so as he approaches her, she stabs him to death..

She then leaves, and of course, Scarpia's men know she is coming, so they allow her some time to speak with Mario, and they recount together all the wonderful times they have had together, and that very soon, they will have those times together again. She tells him he must pretend to be killed. On the first shot, he must fall and not move until she tells him they have all left, then they can escape together and live in peace.

But when the firing squad’s shots ring out, they are real, and so is Cavaradossi’s death. But Tosca doesn't know this and says to herself "how handsome he is! such an artist! look how masterfully he falls!" Even in death, the wicked Scarpia has managed to betray her. When they leave, she rushes over to him, but finds him dead..All the pleas in the world cannot wake him again, it is too late..But they are coming back! They found Scarpia stabbed to death, and know Tosca killed him..She can do nothing. There is no escape, nowhere to hide..She sings in her final aria how she has never hurt anyone, and fervently prays to the divine, "why is this my fate when I have never harmed a soul in my life? I have only loved and helped quietly where it was needed, and now in the end to be put through this.." Seeing there is nothing more that can be done, she leaps from the parapet and falls to her death..Before she falls, she promises Scarpia that they will meet before God, to have their judgement of who was the worser..

And then, she falls...

Well..It is my sincerest wish that you all will come away with a feel for dramatic music such as opera is, and my present to you is the beautiful voice of Angela Gheorghiu..Discover her for yourselves, she is truly magnificent. Tosca was actually made into a movie not long back, and stars Angela as Tosca, and her husband plays the part of Mario Cavaradossi, so the love and passion between the two is not pretended, but totally real, and I believe it gives this performance what it needs to properly convey the depth of feeling between these two. In real life, if they two did this performance together on stage, you would find it near impossible to obtain tickets..For those interested, here is an act by act write up, courtesy of Opera News -

Click here

For those wishing to fully experience the magic of this opera, you can listen to some sound clips here -

Click here

As always, I hope you all have enjoyed this review..I try to present different styles of music, different genres, to promote interest in something extraordinary. One hopes you will fervently enjoy this review..All the very best for a blesséd new year..

Dark Blessings~

Silver

Back to Reviews

Back to Main Page