Giacomo Puccini’s 1899
opera Tosca is based on a play Victorien Sardou wrote
as a star turn for Sarah Bernhardt in 1887 (La Tosca), with an opera
libretto by Luigi Illicca and Giuseppe Giascosa. Sardou’s five act play was
reduced to three acts. Elements of Shakespeare’s Othello [Iago] and Measure for
Measure [Angelo] surround three main characters: Singer Floria Tosca, who says of
herself, “Tosca’s blood burns with a mad love,” her painter lover Mario
Cavaradossi and the Chief of Police Vittelio Scarpia -- imaginary characters
peopling real Roman settings.
The opera opens in 1800
in the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome, at the Attavanti Chapel. On
one side, a large easel holds a painting of a blonde blue-eyed Mary Magdalene,
the work of the painter Mario Cavaradossi. Unbeknownst to Cavaradossi, the woman
he has painted is the sister of Angelotti, consul of the late Roman Republic,
who has just escaped from prison and is hiding in the church. Cavaradossi, a
support of Angelotti’s hides him as Tosca enters. Angelotti tells him his
sister has been in the church to leave him a disguise of women’s clothes and a
fan. Just then Tosca, Mario’s jealous lover, comes and hears voices. She
assumes he is hiding another lover and is even more suspicious when she sees
the painting, since she has dark hair and eyes. Eventually, she goes off having
made a date to see Mario later. Fearful of Angelotti being discovered, Mario
takes him off to hide in his villa. When Il Barone Scarpia comes searching for
Angelotti. He believes the painter has hidden him, so when Tosca returns to
cancel their date because she has to sing celebrating the Italian victory over
Bonaparte, Scarpia plays on her jealousy and says that the fan he carries
(which Angelotti had left behind) was actually belonged to the girl Mario was
meeting. she goes off to confront him. Scarpia plans to trap Angelotti and
Cavaradossi and bed Tosca. The act ends with the people filling the church,
celebrating a Te Deum.
Act II opens at the
Farnese palace in Scarpia’s apartment on the upper floor, where he is having a
late supper. During the first part of the scene, Tosca and the chorus sing
offstage. Cavaradossi is brought in for questioning and denies knowing about
Angelotti’s whereabouts. When Tosca arrives, Mario is taken offstage and
tortured while Scarpia tries to get her to admit where Angelotti is. As Mario’s
pain become unbearable to her, she finally tells Scarpia what he wants to know.
Mario is brought back in and Scarpia revels in telling him he’s been betrayed.
He is taken off to be executed. Scarpia finally tells Tosca that if she will
have sex with him, he will spare Mario’s life. Not wanting to outright pardon
him, he proposes that blanks be used in his execution. She agrees’ and at her
urging, he signs safe passage for the two lovers. As he tries to attack Tosca,
she takes a dinner knife and stabs Scarpia. In the libretto stage directions,
“Tosca puts down the knife, washes her hands, pulls the safe conduct from
Scarpia’s clenched hand, places a lighted candleon each side of the dead man’s
head and a crucifix on his chest. Looking about cautiously, she goes out the
door and quietly closes it.”
Act III takes place in a
cell in the Castel Sant’Angelo and above is an outdoor platform reached by
stairs. A shepherd is heard in the distance. Mario sings of his sweet memories
of Tosca. She comes and tells him of the plans, telling him how to act when
shot and not to move until she calls him. After they sing of their love, the
soldiers come and Mario is shot. But Tosca has been tricked. The bullets are
real and Mario is dead. As they discover Scarpia’s murder, Tosca climbs to the
top of wall and after telling Scarpia that he and she will stand together
before God, she throws herself off the wall.
While the real places
mentioned in the opera offer the glorious opportunities of setting, the film
relies on props and set pieces in front of a black background. Occasionally,
however, brief images of the real places present jarring intrusions. Tosca
sings of the villa where they’ll meet and we are shown it. Scarpia walks
through the church and we suddenly see the baroque paintings of the ceiling.
Also, to establish a concert feel to the production, black and white
images of the orchestra and the singers in a studio are used to open and close
scenes. When the actors would sing to themselves, we tend to get these as
voice-overs.
The strongest visual
image of the film is Tosca’s second costume, a flame red empire gown with
lengthy train and cape with even longer train. As seen from above, the swash of
color looks like blood spilling on the floor. One of the surprises of the
film for me is the director’s choice to eliminate Tosca’s business with the
candles and crucifix. This moment is one of the most seen images of the opera
and the play. Without it, I reacted with a “wtf?”
Angela Gheorghiu
(Tosca), Robert Algna (Cavaradossi), and Ruggero Raimondi (Scarpia) all have
strong and often lyrical voices. But since director Benoit Jacquot likes
close-ups, we often have operatic large gestures and emotions thrust into our
face.
The subtitles in the
version I saw (unlike the clip below) do help.
I would not call this
the definitive version of the opera, but it is worth a look.
Tosca (2001) ***
