Ham tonight: Tosca in Parma
OperaTonight Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, streams Puccini’s Tosca for our readers.
Following the 1900 premiere in Rome, Tosca quickly established itself a staple of the operatic repertoire. From the moment the curtain raises, Puccini engages the audience with five distinctive opening chords associated with evil of Scarpia, the infamous chief of police whose desire to possess the diva knows no limits. These chords also herald a composer able to use harmonic devices to thrilling effect. He manages to characterise musically all the essential elements of the drama leaving room for sumptuous lyric writing for his soloists. Teatro Regio di Parma have gathered an impressive line up for their new production including conductor Daniel Oren and director Joseph Franconi Lee with soloists Maria José Siri as Floria Tosca and Fabio Sartori as Mario Cavaradossi.
The Plot: a famous singer lives only for art and love. But when she finds herself caught in a web of politics, corruption, lies and lust, she is forced to make a terrible choice.
Subtitles in Italian and English
Friday 31 May at 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 New York
Scarpia must be having Parma ham tonight with his Spanish wine.
Parma has a lovely little opera house. I always advise people to visit the less-traveled P’s cities in Italy — Parma, Piacenza, Padua, Perugia, Pisa, Pavia, Pordenone.
Not only are they less crowded during peak season, but the food and show tickets are cheaper.