FILM & VIDEO

Powerful music, a gripping story and a tragic end: Puccini’s ever-popular Tosca performed at the Royal Opera House with a fabulous cast. Among the star singers in this revival are Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel. The Royal Opera Chorus and The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House are under the baton of Antonio Pappano, Music Director of the Royal Opera for a score that includes such great set pieces as the Act I ‘Te Deum’ and the arias ‘Vissi d’arte’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’. Jonathan Kent’s detailed production draws to the full on the historical backdrop of Rome in 1800, a political world of control and suspicion, beautifully evoked in Paul Brown’s lavish designs. The pageantry of church ritual, the darkness of a brooding study with its hidden torture chamber and the false optimism of the light of a Roman dawn – all throw into relief the love of the beautiful diva Tosca, the idealism of her lover Cavaradossi and the deadly, destructive obsession of the malevolent Chief of Police, Scarpia. Drama, passion and fabulous music – Tosca is one of opera’s great nights out.