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Opera on 3

Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Puccini's Tosca

Performances & Events

Drama: Musical

Music: Classical

28/01/2012

Puccini's Tosca

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Puccini's Tosca

Puccini's Tosca, from the New York Met, with soprano Patricia Racette in the title role.

Puccini's Tosca, live from the New York Met. American soprano Patricia Racette sings the title role, with Marcelo Alvarez as Cavaradossi. Mikko Franck conducts.

Puccini's Tosca
Live from The Met

The action of Puccini's masterpiece takes place over a single day and night in Rome. During that day an escaped political prisoner shelters in a church. An artist, Mario Cavaradossi, helps him. The artist's lover is opera-singer Floria Tosca - passionate and jealous. The sadistic Chief of Police Baron Scarpia is hunting both the escaped prisoner and (for very different reasons) Tosca. By the following morning Scarpia, Cavaradossi and Tosca are all dead - murder, a firing squad and suicide. All of the ingredients for the grandest of operas are present and Puccini's mastery of the art of music-theatre produces an opera that manages to be both ingeniously composed and highly popular.

The Met has assembled a strong cast for this revival. Leading American soprano Patricia Racette sings the title role, the outstanding Argentine tenor Marcelo Álvarez is Cavaradossi and the veteran American bass-baritone James Morris brings his enormous experience to the role of Scarpia. The conductor is the young Finnish maestro Mikko Franck. He's currently Finnish National Opera's Artistic Director and General Music Director - a job to which he was appointed 8 years ago at the age of 25. 

Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff.

Tosca...Patricia Racette (Soprano)
Cavaradossi...Marcelo Álvarez (Tenor) 
Scarpia...James Morris (Bass) 
Sacristan...Paul Plishka (Bass) 
Cesare Angelotti...Richard Bernstein (Bass) 
Spoletta...Joel Sorensen (Tenor) 
Sciarrone...James Courtney (Bass) 
Jailer...Jeremy Galyon (Bass) 
New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Conductor.....Mikko Franck.

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