Anthony Besch’s celebrated production has travelled to opera houses around the world since it was first created for Scottish Opera in 1980.
Masterfully conceived by a consummate storyteller, Besch’s much-loved production transports Puccini's powerful drama to Fascist Italy in the 1930s, a setting entirely in tune with the dark intensity of this passionate tale.
Floria Tosca, a famous diva, is engaged to Mario Cavaradossi. But Scarpia, the sadistic Chief of Police, is infatuated with her and plans to kill her lover and take her for himself. As Scarpia’s schemes unfold, Tosca and Cavaradossi are drawn into a devastating chain of events that has little chance of ending well.
Puccini’s music, at times heartbreakingly tender, at times powerful and harrowing, captures the sweeping span of this epic story - from the exquisite stillness of a silent dawn in Rome, to the raw drama of Tosca’s final, desperate plight.
Susannah Glanville, star of Opera North’s 2009 production, returns to the role of Tosca and English baritone Robert Poulton is Scarpia. Spanish tenor José Ferrero makes his Scottish Opera debut as Cavaradossi.