Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 6 Tosca 2

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 35 TOSCA AT LYRIC THROUGH THE YEARS Above: Renata Tebaldi as Tosca and Tito Gobbi take a bow during Lyric’s 1960 run of Tosca . Center: Carol Neblett as Tosca with Luciano Pavarotti as Cavaradossi,1976; Sherrill Milnes and Renata Scotto,1987/88 Right: Samuel Ramey and Doina Dimitriu, 2004/05 Photo: Sorenson Photo: Tony Romano Photo: Dan Rest Photo: David H. Fishman brought in Giuseppe Giacosa to put the prose into verse, and the libretto was heavily reworked for Puccini’s dramatic needs. Tosca was performed at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14, 1900, in the presence of Queen Margherita, composers Franchetti, Pietro Mascagni, and Francesco Cilea, among others, and journalists from all over the world. The production was overseen with great care by Giulio Ricordi’s son, Tito, who commissioned set designs from Adolfo Hohenstein. The conductor was Leopoldo Mugnone, and Hariclea Darclée sang the principal role. The tense climate at the première was further increased by the rumor, which later turned out to be false, that someone would throw a bomb into the theater. The public’s reaction, apart from some encores, was not particularly warm, at first. But over 16 repeat performances, and numerous others the following year in other Italian cities and abroad, audiences grewmore and more enthusiastic. Tosca is now one of the most performed operas in the world, but for decades the critical reviews (including that of Gustav Mahler, who left a 1903 performance before it was finished) were very hard on this particular masterpiece. At first, Tosca may seem completely different from Puccini´s previous heroines: she is a famous primadonna who performs in the Eternal City, a sensual, enterprising, free, and haughty individual. Her entrance—we hear her in the wings shouting Mario’s name three times before we see her beautiful features— is immediately impetuous, inquisitive, and ardent. But Tosca is also a very pious woman in papal Rome, devoted to the Madonna to whom she offers flowers, seeking forgiveness for the kisses she exchanges in church with Cavaradossi, and for the immoral relationship of free love she lives with him. She is passionately jealous, and therefore fragile and vulnerable. Her Act II prayer-lament aria ”Vissi d’Arte,” one of the great heights in the repertoire, has the effect of suspending the relentless rhythm of the tragic events, almost transporting us to a place inside the heroine’s mind. Her situation is dire, but the music—much of it reminiscent of material already heard, but here reworked by the composer—creates a potent connection with her more carefree recent past. A piece of splendid vocal effusion, the aria is introspective and sincerely religious—simultaneously full of both faith and lamentation. Until this moment, we have seen Tosca as a strong and passionate woman; here, a window opens on her weaknesses. The music underscores the character’s multifaceted nature. Sadly, it becomes clear that, for all her dynamic traits, she is also a simple, small girl, defined by love, who will suffer the same cruel fate as other Puccini heroines. It is astonishing to learn that, concerned about slowing the action, Puccini seriously considered cutting the aria. The master dramatist kept it in. Anna, the protagonist of Le Villi and the first in the series of the composer’s fragile heroines, was an ethereal and innocent creature, possessed also of those traits that became common to later heroines: her total dedication to love; an ineluctable path toward personal sacrifice; and nearly impossible surrounding circumstances. The successive heroines, Floria Tosca among them, develop this archetypal model to a highly advanced level, becoming far more than emblems of Puccini’s own psyche or mere types. Tosca’s instincts and strong temperamental contradictions, brought alive through the composer’s sophisticated music, combine to present us with a real woman, whose vital force still remains fervent and captivating today. Daniela Costa is currently Professor of Italian Opera at the Florence Center of the UNC Chapel Hill Burch Honors program.