Singer

The Italian opera classic as a gripping thriller: The singer Floria Tosca and her lover, the artist Mario Cavaradossi, find themselves in the crosshairs of police violence, political intrigue and deception. For the 125th anniversary of the opera, director José Cortés takes a close look at the well-known material and reveals the depths of human nature.

Tosca: Giacomo Puccini

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden

When the revolutionary and painter Mario Cavaradossi secretly attempts to help a political fugitive to escape the city of Rome, his lover, the famed singer Floria Tosca, believes he is cheating on her with another woman. Her jealousy is exploited by Scarpia, the unscrupulous chief of police, in order to help him capture Cavaradossi. Scarpia then makes Tosca an offer: if she gives herself to him for one night, he will release her lover.

Tosca

Bebelplatz

While La Bohème consists only of poetry and not of action, it is said that with Tosca it is the other way around: only action, no poetry. Even the librettist Giuseppe Giacosa considered Sardou's original completely unsuitable for an opera. “What made Puccini come to terms with such a real and dealing with a brutal subject whose actors are little more than puppets entangled in a highly intelligent, cleverly designed plot? ”asked the music critic Mosco Carner. Maybe just that? For over 20 years Willy Decker's classic production of Puccini's Sex and Crime masterpiece has been a repertory perennial.

EPSG:4326

The Staatstheater Stuttgart

In 1853, the US battle fleet forced Japan to open its ports and enter into business with America. “The vigorous pressing of America’s handshake given kindly, but offered with zeal and capable of both striking and embracing at the same time – rocked the isolation of the Japanese and made them sensitive for their relationship towards the rest of the world“, according to the recollection of Captain M. C. Perry, then commander of the fleet. Puccini himself never visited Japan, but with his “Japanese tragedy“ about the geisha Cio-Cio-San and her love for American Naval officer Pinkerton, he created an affecting testimony for any form of one-sided cultural transfer. By choosing the “American way of life“ Cio-Cio-San accepts a cut-off from her past and her cultural traditions, but is left behind, pregnant and full of hope for the future which is finally cruelly dashed.

Baritone

Lucio Gallo

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 14, 2025 - Jan 24, 2026

Madama Butterfly · Staatsoper Stuttgart

Past events

Mar 15 - Jun 12, 2025

Tosca: Giacomo Puccini · Staatstheater Wiesbaden

Jan 9 - May 6, 2025

Tosca · Staatsoper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

Baron Scarpia in Tosca by Puccini

Staatsoper Stuttgart

Sharpless in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Staatsoper Stuttgart

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