PHILIP BERTRAM
(Baritone)
PATRICIA Ross -
BOROUGH and PARTNER
THE GERSHOM
PARKINGTON
QUINTET
PUCCINI'S opera is founded on the drama hy Sardou, and is one of tho most grimly tragic stories in the whole realm of Opera, a tale of love and jealousy and black-hearted treachery. Tosca is a famous singer in the story, and she and the painter, Cavaradossi, love one another. But Scarpia, Chief of Police, also loves the singer, and it is he who brings about the final tragedy by getting the painter into his power. The painter has befriended Angelotti who was escaping from prison, and that is made the excuse for Scarpia first to subject him to torture and finally to have him shot. Before that Tosca had stabbed her unwelcome suitor, and after her lover's execution, throws herself from the battlements of the castle, so that the tragedy is as complete and sombre as could well bo devised. Several of Puccini's strong and dramatic numbers are well known, apart from the context in the whole work, and a selection from the Opera includes much that is familiar to listeners.