Tosca

1896–⁠99 · Opera in three acts

Sardou’s Roman thriller, first performed in Rome in 1900. The acts are set in a church, a police chief’s room and a prison roof, and each has its own bells and offstage voices.

3 recordings · 8 min

In the Hall

Act I · Recondita armoniaEnrico Caruso, tenor; Victor Orchestra · 6 November 1909
2:25
“Recondita armonia” comes from Act I of Tosca. In a Roman church, the painter Cavaradossi works on a blonde Mary Magdalene while he thinks of the dark-haired Tosca, and he sings of the beauty of both women and of his love for Tosca. Caruso sings the aria.
Listening notes
1. Recondita armonia, opening
  “Recondita armonia di bellezze diverse” — “A hidden harmony of different beauties.” Cavaradossi’s painted Mary Magdalene has blonde hair and blue eyes. His lover, Floria Tosca, is dark-haired, and the tenor’s aria opens with the painter comparing the two.
2. The Marchesa Attavanti
  The blonde woman is the Marchesa Attavanti. Cavaradossi has watched her praying in Sant’Andrea della Valle and painted her without her knowing. She also comes to the church to hide clothes in the family chapel for her brother Angelotti’s escape.
3. Blue eyes, black eyes
  Cavaradossi speaks to the painting as though the woman were there: “Tu azzurro hai l’occhio, Tosca ha l’occhio nero” — “Your eyes are blue; Tosca’s are black.”
4. Final lines of the aria
  Cavaradossi sings that art can bring different beauties together. The aria then closes on the line “Il mio solo pensier, Tosca, sei tu” — “My only thought, Tosca, is you.”
Open in the Concert Hall
Act II · Vissi d’arteEmmy Destinn, soprano; accompanists uncredited · 23 April 1914
3:11
In Act II of Tosca, Scarpia demands Tosca’s body as the price of her lover’s freedom, and Tosca, herself a singer, responds with the prayer “Vissi d’arte”, in which she puts her life in art and love before God. Emmy Destinn sings Tosca.
Listening notes
1. Opening of “Vissi d’arte”
  “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” — “I lived for art, I lived for love.” Tosca begins by naming the two things she has trusted. She says that she has harmed nobody and has helped people in need without making it known.
2. Scarpia’s offer to Tosca, Act II
  Scarpia has had Cavaradossi tortured and condemned. He offers Tosca her lover’s life in return for sex. She tries to flee, and he reminds her that he holds Mario; she sings the prayer with Scarpia still in the room.
3. Central verses: prayers, flowers, jewels
  The central verses list what Tosca has offered in faith: prayers, flowers on the altar and jewels for the Madonna’s mantle. She has also given her singing to the stars. After these verses the words turn back to her own pain.
4. Destinn’s Victor recording, 1914
  Emmy Destinn recorded this aria for Victor on 23 April 1914; the disc is Victor 88487. In December 1910 she had created Minnie in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West at the Metropolitan Opera, opposite Caruso and under Toscanini. Tim Ecker made the digital transfer and Adam Cuerden the slight restoration.
5. Final question and Scarpia’s reply
  “Perché me ne rimuneri così” — “Why do you repay me like this.” Tosca returns to the question with which she has already interrupted her prayer. When the aria ends, Scarpia replies with a command: “Risolvi!” — “Decide!”
Open in the Concert Hall
Act III · E lucevan le stelle — piano-accompanied recordingEnrico Caruso, tenor; Salvatore Cottone, piano · 11 April 1902
2:34
In “E lucevan le stelle”, from Act III of Tosca, Cavaradossi has an hour to live and recalls a night with Tosca. Caruso sings it here with Salvatore Cottone at the piano.
Listening notes
1. Cavaradossi’s aria, Act III
  On the roof of Castel Sant’Angelo, Cavaradossi recalls another night, with stars overhead, the scent of the earth and a garden gate creaking. The aria opens “E lucevan le stelle” (“And the stars were shining”). Caruso sings it here with piano accompaniment.
2. Cavaradossi’s last letter, Act III
  The jailer offers Cavaradossi a priest. Cavaradossi asks to write a last message to Tosca and offers the ring from his finger as payment for its delivery, which the jailer accepts. Before he can finish writing, he begins to remember Tosca.
3. “O dolci baci”, central lines
  Cavaradossi recalls Tosca’s footsteps on the sand, her scent and her body in his arms. He then sings “O dolci baci, o languide carezze” (“O sweet kisses, O languid caresses”).
4. Final line of the aria
  The aria closes with Cavaradossi facing death: “E non ho amato mai tanto la vita” — “And never have I loved life so much.”
Open in the Concert Hall

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