Arrangement from Tuesday 28 to Friday 31 May 2024,
3 nights
"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 29, nouvelle production
Andrea Battistoni - Kornel Mundruczo
Eleonora Buratto,
Charles Castronovo
American tenor Charles Castronovo was born in New York on June 19, 1975. Plácido Domingo’s recordings introduced him to opera. Charles Castronovo then joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan, where Charles Castronovo made his debut in 1999 in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci as Beppe. Charles Castronovo has since performed in major opera houses such as the Royal Opera House, the Paris Opera, the Vienna and Berlin Staatsoper ... His vast repertoire extends from tenor roles in works of Mozart such as Don Giovanni , Cosi Fan Tutte and La Flûte enchantée, and other great operas such as Lucia di Lammeroor, L’Elisir D’Amore or La Traviata.
Charles Castronovo♪,
Ludovic Tézier
Baritone Ludovic Tézier was born on September 10, 1968 in Marseille into a music-loving family. He developed a passion for opera very early on, and for Wagner in particular. Ludovic Tézier joined the Center national des Artistes Lyriques then the Lyric Art School of the Paris Opera. Ludovic Tézier began his career in 1992 on the stage of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, where he performed Pompeo in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. Speaking four languages, including Russian, Ludovic Tézier approaches with ease the most varied composers: from Mozart to Indy, via Verdi, Massenet or Tchaikovski.
Ludovic Tézier♪Staatsoper
Norma - V. Bellini, the 30
Sonya Yoncheva
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♪, Tara Erraught,
Joseph Calleja
Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja was born on January 22, 1978 in Attard. Joseph Calleja discovers opera thanks to the film Le Grand Caruso. He began singing in his church choir at the age of sixteen. Joseph Calleja made his debut in Verdi’s Macbeth which he performed in Germany and for his American debut at the Seattle Opera. Winner of the Caruso Competition in Milan in 1998, Joseph Calleja played roles on the biggest stages in Europe in La Traviata, Les Puritains or La Bohême.
Joseph Calleja♪, Roberto Tagliavini
Staatsoper
