(In the article Thrill Ride, featured in this guide, Met Music Director James Levine compares Tosca to a Hitchcock film.) A prime example of verismo opera, Tosca functions as a kind of operatic thriller, a juggernaut that doesn’t let up from the very first chords until the curtain comes down. Tosca offers a captivating heroine, gripping melodrama, and some of the most powerful and instantly recognizable arias in opera, from the painter Cavaradossi’s E lucevan le stelle to the villain Scarpia’s Te Deum to the heroine’s indestructible Vissi d’arte. The opera’s enduring appeal is not hard to understand. With nearly a thousand performances since its 1901 company premiere, Puccini’s Tosca is one of the most-performed works in Metropolitan Opera history, currently ranking fifth on the all-time list (behind just Aida, Carmen, La Traviata, and, in the top spot, the composer’s own La Bohème). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.Īimé Dupont / Metropolitan Opera Archives Introduction These publications, and others in the Leyerle Opera Libretti series, are available directly from Leyerle’s website at Printed in the United States of America Originally published by Leyerle Publications as part of The Complete Puccini Libretti, in two volumes. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.Įnglish translation of libretto copyright © 19 by Leyerle Publications, 28 Stanley Street, Mt.

La tosca opera lirica