Arrangement from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 December 2024,
3 nights
Christmas market
La Rondine - G. Puccini, the 12, version de concert
Antonio Pappano
Nadine Sierra, Serena Gamberoni, Michael Fabiano, Paul Appleby, Ashley Riches
Barbican Centre
"Tosca" was first performed on January 14, 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi, now the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, symbolically on the spot. The evening was a major social event, and in addition to the Prime Minister and the Queen, the composers Pietro Mascagni and Francesco Cilea were also present. With his "Tosca" Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) entered a new century and, with his highly theatrical and effective scenes, he committed himself to Verist opera on the one hand and to the tragic-heroic grand opera on the other.After seeing the drama of the same name by Victorien Sardous, which was a huge international success with Sarah Bernhardt in the leading role, the composer successfully applied to Sardou for the rights to create a libretto. The wealth of musical ideas (more than 60 themes appear as leitmotifs) and the breathless sequence of events are largely responsible for the immense tension and drama of the opera. By focusing on the main character, the work is considered a "prima donna opera" par excellence. Although it has always been suspected that a historical figure is behind Tosca, the characters and plot are freely invented.However, the background against which the plot unfolds is historically determined by the Second Coalition War and the Battle of Marengo in 1800 between French and Austrian troops. Napoleon’s supposed defeat and his final victory over the coalition troops are reported in the first and second act of the opera.Today "Tosca" is one of the most popular and most performed operas of all.
Tosca♪ - G. Puccini, the 13
Eun Sun Kim - Jonathan Kent
Sonya Yoncheva
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Sonya Yoncheva has been at home on the international opera stages for over ten years. Born in Bulgaria in 1981, the soprano first studied voice and piano in her hometown of Plovdiv before switching to the Geneva Conservatory for her master’s degree.In 2010, Yoncheva won the "Operalia" competition, further awards such as the ECHO Klassik in the category Newcomer of the Year (2015) as well as the Reader’s Prize of "The International Opera Awards" (2019), followed. Her engagements have taken the soprano to all the renowned houses of our time: the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Berlin and Vienna State Operas, and the Opéra de Paris, to name but a few.Her multifaceted repertoire spans works from almost all eras - this demands a great deal of flexibility from the voice, but that is precisely the singer’s main secret, as she revealed in an interview with Oper! magazine. Among others, the soprano shone in the title roles in "Tosca", "Alcina", "L`incoronazione di Poppea", as well as Mimi ("La bohème"), Marguerite ("Faust") or Violetta ("La traviata").In addition to her stage activities, Sonya Yoncheva has released three successful solo albums exclusively on Sony Classical: "Paris, mon amour" (2015), "Händel" (2017) and "The Verdi Album" (2018).
Sonya Yoncheva♪, SeokJong Baek,
Bryn Terfel
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Making his debut on the greatest opera stages of our time already during the early years of his successful career, which now spans over 25 years, the charismatic Welshman Sir Bryn Terfel has won over audiences and critics alike time and time again. Since then, Terfel has shone in his vocal range of bass-baritone in the title roles of ´Falstaff´, ´Le nozze di Figaro´, ´Don Giovanni´, ´Gianni Schicchi´ or ´Der fliegende Hollaender´, among others, as well as in the roles of Jochanaan (R. Strauss, ´Salome´), Baron Scarpia (G. Puccini, ´Tosca´) and Wotan (R. Wagner, ´Die Walkuere´). Terfel’s professional career has included appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera and the Lucerne Festival, to name just a few of the frequently recurring stops.The opera singer is under contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has released several highly popular recordings. In addition to classical opera aria repertoire, these include folkloristic songs from his homeland as well as Christmas carols. Sir Bryn Terfel has received many international awards and was knighted in 2017 for his services to music.
Bryn Terfel♪
Royal Opera House