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It's been called a shabby little shocker. | 0:00:08 | 0:00:11 | |
It's seemingly facile storyline has attracted | 0:00:11 | 0:00:14 | |
all manner of critical abuse. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:16 | |
But few operas have kept audiences in thrall like this one. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:21 | |
Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
Tosca is the story of a great diva | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
as impulsive as she is politically naive. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:34 | |
Add to this her jealousy and you have a recipe for disaster. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:38 | |
It's also an evocative portrait of a great city, Rome. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:47 | |
Like many great stories, Tosca has its basis in real characters | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
and real events. Puccini, often using deceptively simple means, | 0:01:01 | 0:01:07 | |
weaves a musical tapestry that offers highly charged entertainment | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
and most importantly, keeps them wanting more. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
Ever since its premiere in Rome in 1900, | 0:01:39 | 0:01:43 | |
Tosca has rarely been off a stage somewhere in the world. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
That's not surprising, | 0:01:49 | 0:01:51 | |
because the Opera seems to have everything audiences want. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
Passion, | 0:01:54 | 0:01:56 | |
violence, | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
and tragedy. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:02 | |
Pure melodrama. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:03 | |
Giacomo Puccini was the last in a line | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
of great Italian opera composers. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:11 | |
With his talent for combining music with tightly wrought drama, | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
he took Italian opera into the 20th century. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
Puccini had already composed Manon Lescaut and La boheme, | 0:02:21 | 0:02:25 | |
but it was Tosca which saw him in full command of his powers, | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
cementing his reputation. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
It also made him a very rich man. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:36 | |
I'm going to take a closer look at the world behind Tosca, | 0:02:38 | 0:02:43 | |
and examine what makes Puccini the ultimate dramatist. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:46 | |
How he creates character, drives the action, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
and how he grips the audience, keeping us enthralled. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
In our production at the Royal Opera House in London, | 0:02:58 | 0:03:01 | |
we've assembled a cast of international superstars. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:04 | |
In the title role as Floria Tosca, the Romanian soprano | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
Angela Gheorghiu. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:12 | |
The way Puccini wrote the music, | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
his lines, all the time, | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
for the three characters, | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
he, all the time, | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
put the right sound, | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
the right power, and the right sensibility. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
With Tosca, he did a masterpiece. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
The German tenor Jonas Kaufmann plays the part of Tosca's lover, | 0:03:50 | 0:03:54 | |
Mario Cavaradossi. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:57 | |
It's fantastic how Puccini describes the emotions | 0:04:00 | 0:04:04 | |
and the soul, | 0:04:04 | 0:04:05 | |
if you would call it like that, | 0:04:05 | 0:04:07 | |
of a human being. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:08 | |
And that was his main target, | 0:04:24 | 0:04:26 | |
describe the real feelings of real persons. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:33 | |
Bryn, stretch it, stretch it, stretch it. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:48 | |
The Welsh bass baritone Bryn Terfel | 0:04:48 | 0:04:51 | |
plays the Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
one of opera's truly evil characters. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
The role of Scarpia, for me, has that twinge of danger. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
What do I do? | 0:05:08 | 0:05:09 | |
Do I stride in purposefully? | 0:05:09 | 0:05:12 | |
Do I have a mean, horrible face? | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
No, it's all in the music. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:17 | |
A stillness within the role of Scarpia, for me, | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
I think says a great deal more than giving gestures. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:26 | |
It's all through the glint of an evil eye. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:31 | |
But this opera isn't just about the people on stage, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
the other star is Rome, the Eternal City. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
For Puccini, Rome is as important as any of the characters. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:06 | |
Using three iconic locations | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
and music that somehow captures their essence, | 0:06:09 | 0:06:12 | |
he sets the action within the space of a single day, | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
June 17th, 1800. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
This day has real significance in Italian history. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
When news reached Rome of the defeat | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
of Napoleon's forces at the Battle of Marengo. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
Napoleon's aim was to impose a single republic | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
onto the numerous self-governing states that made up the country. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:43 | |
What's more, there were some Italians who wanted the same thing. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
The first character we meet is one of them, | 0:06:47 | 0:06:50 | |
a Republican sympathiser on the run, | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
and seeking sanctuary in church. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:55 | |
This is Sant'Andrea della Valle, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:02 | |
one of the great landmarks of the city. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
Two Popes are buried here. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:09 | |
It's one of the largest and most important churches in Rome | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
after St Peter's. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:14 | |
The whole of Act I is set here. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
What could be more theatrical than this vast space | 0:07:21 | 0:07:25 | |
and its baroque splendour? | 0:07:25 | 0:07:27 | |
A perfect counterpoint | 0:07:27 | 0:07:29 | |
to the lurid and profane goings-on of the plot. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:33 | |
It's midday, and into the church scurries Angelotti, | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
who has just escaped from prison. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
Puccini sets the scene superbly, | 0:07:47 | 0:07:48 | |
catapulting us into an atmosphere of extreme tension. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
Angelotti's sister has concealed the key | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
to one of the private chapels for him to hide in. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:25 | |
It's his escape that is the catalyst for the whole opera. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:30 | |
But how do fact and fiction meet here? | 0:08:33 | 0:08:35 | |
Eight private chapels line the nave of Sant'Andrea, | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
each dedicated to some of the great aristocratic families | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
connected with the church. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:44 | |
But none of them quite fits the description | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
of the Attavanti Chapel in Tosca. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
However, this is the Barberini Chapel. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:57 | |
It is the only chapel | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
that is separated from the main body of the church | 0:08:59 | 0:09:02 | |
by an iron grille. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:04 | |
This is more like it. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:06 | |
And, over here, we have another iron grille. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:12 | |
This leads to the crypt of the Barberini family. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:15 | |
Surely, Angelotti would have hidden down there. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
Angelotti's fear of being caught was a very real concern | 0:09:22 | 0:09:25 | |
in Rome at the end of the 18th century. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
So far, the church had been the main influence ensuring that | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
the city was stable and relatively prosperous. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
But after the French Revolution, | 0:09:38 | 0:09:40 | |
Republican zeal spread. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
The Pope was eventually forced to flee | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
and Rome was declared a republic with its own Roman consul. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:50 | |
In Tosca, this is the character of Angelotti. | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
But most Romans didn't want a republic, and it collapsed. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:05 | |
With the power vacuum, the King of Naples seized control, | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
installing a brutal secret police to keep order. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:12 | |
Paranoia and fear stalked the streets. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:16 | |
It was in this Rome that we find our hero, the young noble and artist, | 0:10:18 | 0:10:23 | |
Mario Cavaradossi. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
Cavaradossi has come to Rome. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
He has fallen in love with the singer Floria Tosca, | 0:10:28 | 0:10:31 | |
and he's a liberal. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:33 | |
He's a follower of Bonaparte and the Republican ideas. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:37 | |
But we get to know him through this music. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
A much more romantic music... | 0:10:44 | 0:10:45 | |
..with a stalwart feel, | 0:10:47 | 0:10:48 | |
majesty, impetuosity. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:52 | |
He unveils the painting. | 0:10:55 | 0:10:57 | |
Love music. | 0:10:57 | 0:10:59 | |
Like most of Puccini's operas, | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
Tosca is named after a strong | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
but ultimately tragic heroine. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
Tosca's introduction. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:28 | |
She's a very religious character, | 0:11:29 | 0:11:33 | |
full of fervour and intensity... | 0:11:33 | 0:11:36 | |
..in everything she does. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:40 | |
Passionate, warm, devoted, | 0:11:40 | 0:11:45 | |
and in love. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:47 | |
And, of course, what that means, | 0:11:51 | 0:11:52 | |
we also get to know the other part of her, which is this. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
And listen, if you can guess what the emotion is. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
Did you hear those tremolos? | 0:12:17 | 0:12:18 | |
One of the main engines of all Italian music is the tremolo | 0:12:18 | 0:12:22 | |
to create atmosphere. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:24 | |
But what is it, what is it describing? | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
Well, it's describing, of course, jealousy. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:28 | |
This is the fatal flaw. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:30 | |
She is incredibly jealous. | 0:12:30 | 0:12:33 | |
She's a diva. She's a star, in Rome. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
So, perhaps she's allowed all these foibles, | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
but in the story, | 0:12:40 | 0:12:41 | |
this jealousy will destroy her in the end. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:45 | |
The plot is tightly wound, and every element is significant. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:56 | |
Cavaradossi has used the girl he saw in the church as the model | 0:12:56 | 0:13:01 | |
for his painting. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:03 | |
But when Tosca sees the painting, she flies into a jealous rage, | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
falsely suspecting him of taking a rival lover. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
This girl was Angelotti's sister, who, unknown to them, | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
had left a key and women's clothes to help her brother's escape. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:43 | |
Well, Cavaradossi loves her so much, and loves everything, | 0:13:46 | 0:13:51 | |
including her jealousy, including her outbreaks, | 0:13:51 | 0:13:55 | |
and it's just, he cannot control. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:58 | |
It's just there. | 0:13:58 | 0:13:59 | |
He's so much in love, and that is also very essential, actually, | 0:14:32 | 0:14:36 | |
for the whole action, | 0:14:36 | 0:14:37 | |
and for the outcome of the second and third acts. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
The man who exploits Tosca's jealousy is Scarpia. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:47 | |
And as far as statements of intent go, | 0:14:50 | 0:14:52 | |
few could be deemed as powerful as the very first chords of the Opera, | 0:14:52 | 0:14:57 | |
Scarpia's theme, dominating all that follows. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
But what is this music? | 0:15:14 | 0:15:16 | |
For me, it conjures up the Titanic majesty of Rome, | 0:15:16 | 0:15:21 | |
the power of the Church, | 0:15:21 | 0:15:24 | |
and Baron Scarpia's stranglehold | 0:15:24 | 0:15:28 | |
on political society in Rome. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:31 | |
Scarpia is drawn from a number of real life characters. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:39 | |
One of the most significant is a man called Gerardo Curci, | 0:15:39 | 0:15:43 | |
a bandit known as Sciarpa, meaning scarf or sash, | 0:15:43 | 0:15:47 | |
after an item of paramilitary clothing. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:50 | |
He was one of the most murderous of the anti-Republicans, | 0:15:50 | 0:15:54 | |
and was made a Baron by the King of Naples in 1800. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:58 | |
Described as a crude figure, | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
who exuded loutish cunning and religious hypocrisy, | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
he was merciless, working around the fringes of the law. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
Certainly, Scarpia is frightening. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:14 | |
There are certain colours that you need for the role of Scarpia. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
Is that, does the music... It draws something out of you. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
-It makes you want to go over the top, doesn't it? -Definitely. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
Any sinister, any misfit, any malcontent on the stage | 0:16:24 | 0:16:29 | |
tends to make you | 0:16:29 | 0:16:31 | |
both sing at a different pace that you are used to, | 0:16:31 | 0:16:35 | |
and maybe your persona on the stage | 0:16:35 | 0:16:37 | |
becomes more active and more terrifying. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:41 | |
More sinister. He has to have an air of invincibility. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:47 | |
You know, he's aristocratic, as well. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:50 | |
So, everything falls into place within the danger of this role. | 0:16:50 | 0:16:54 | |
Scarpia doesn't actually appear | 0:16:58 | 0:17:00 | |
until towards the end of the first act. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:03 | |
But Puccini has already well established his presence. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:08 | |
We've heard his theme, but we want to meet him. Where is he? | 0:17:08 | 0:17:12 | |
Well, Cavaradossi, the painter, introduces him as a bigot, | 0:17:12 | 0:17:18 | |
a satyr, a confessor, and executioner at the same time. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:24 | |
And he says these over... | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
..the theme, repeated over and over again. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
When he says "confessor and executioner", | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
listen to how it changes. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:47 | |
Now we are ready to meet the real Scarpia. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
Cavaradossi hides Angelotti at his villa. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
Meanwhile, news of Napoleon's defeat at Marengo has reached Rome, | 0:18:03 | 0:18:08 | |
and a Te Deum is to be sung in celebration. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:10 | |
Puccini sets the scene | 0:18:11 | 0:18:13 | |
for one of the most impressive entrances in all opera. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
He allows the innocent joy of choirboys to reach its peak, | 0:18:17 | 0:18:20 | |
and only then kills it stone dead | 0:18:20 | 0:18:23 | |
with Scarpia's arrival. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
It's a fabulous theatrical device | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
to reinforce his terrifying persona. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
The first act, of course, he has this wonderful introduction. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:09 | |
Then, very cleverly, but with authority, | 0:19:09 | 0:19:13 | |
questions the different people on the stage. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:17 | |
There's nothing much you have to do to gauge a character. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:39 | |
It's all there in the music, every stride, every step forward, | 0:19:39 | 0:19:43 | |
every colour of a phrase. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:45 | |
But when Tosca arrives looking for Cavaradossi, | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
the music describes a surprisingly different side | 0:19:55 | 0:19:59 | |
to Scarpia's character. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:00 | |
Totally unexpected, out of the blue, | 0:20:02 | 0:20:04 | |
comes this amazingly insinuating | 0:20:04 | 0:20:08 | |
but gentle singing from you, | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
being the grand seigneur, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
and eliciting a colour from you that is... | 0:20:12 | 0:20:16 | |
"Where did that come from?" You know? Here she goes, right on the bell. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:21 | |
Remember, this whole scene is taking part in the church. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
So, you see how Scarpia's music is | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
constantly changing, | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
constantly impulsive, | 0:20:55 | 0:20:56 | |
always surprising us. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:57 | |
Scarpia's insinuating words fire Tosca's jealousy | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
so that she'll lead him to Cavaradossi and Angelotti. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:14 | |
Scarpia now sees a way to fulfil his own lust for Tosca, | 0:21:32 | 0:21:36 | |
and Puccini uses an extraordinary theatrical device to portray this. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:41 | |
Act I climaxes with the monumental Te Deum, | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
a high hymn of thanksgiving to God, | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
which is sung to celebrate the victory at Marengo. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:53 | |
Having come from generations of church composers, | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
Puccini was no stranger to the power of the ritual. | 0:21:58 | 0:22:03 | |
I went to the heart of Catholic Rome, | 0:22:03 | 0:22:05 | |
to St Peter's Basilica itself, | 0:22:05 | 0:22:07 | |
to find out about the importance of the Te Deum. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
Massimo, what function | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
does the Te Deum have in the liturgy? | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
Puccini certainly knew what he was doing. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:57 | |
I had a chance to hear the famous Sistine Chapel Choir | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
sing a specifically Roman Te Deum. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:04 | |
Aware of all the elements that could be used to maximum effect, | 0:23:43 | 0:23:48 | |
Puccini employed the Roman Te Deum | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
as one part of a vast ecclesiastical sound world, | 0:23:50 | 0:23:53 | |
to create an unholy marriage between the sacred and the profane. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:58 | |
It's an intensely dramatic way of underlining Scarpia | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
as someone who is utterly amoral. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:07 | |
A feature of Puccini's writing for Scarpia | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
is that he is the only character | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
who sings asides to the audience, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
revealing his innermost thoughts. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
Offsetting Scarpia's words, | 0:24:26 | 0:24:28 | |
Puccini uses all the tricks at his disposal. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
Underpinning it all, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
the ritual tolling of bells. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
This is oppressive, repetitive music, that starts quietly | 0:24:52 | 0:24:54 | |
and builds layer by layer. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
The long strings, the woodwinds, the organ, cannons from offstage. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:02 | |
Still softly building. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:17 | |
Very lustful, isn't it? | 0:25:24 | 0:25:25 | |
Yes, and it builds and builds, weaving and weaving... | 0:25:25 | 0:25:29 | |
The way you say your name always, and hers together, enjoy them both. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:40 | |
..Tosca. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:42 | |
Fabulous. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
Now a new effect, the rhythmic muttering of devout voices. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:50 | |
Like Iago in Verdi's Otello, he confesses his evil | 0:25:53 | 0:25:58 | |
and manipulative nature. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
In church, he conjures up the image of Angelotti on the scaffold, | 0:26:01 | 0:26:05 | |
and at the same time, | 0:26:05 | 0:26:07 | |
the image of Tosca in his arms. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
It's amazing, you've got the setting, the church, | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
the service that's going on, and you, lusting. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:30 | |
It's almost masturbatory. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
I mean, it's frightening that this could happen, and this juxtaposition | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
of church and lust, this is what the whole piece is about, actually. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
With the climax of the Te Deum, the stage is set | 0:27:30 | 0:27:33 | |
for the bloody and gruesome events that inevitably follow. | 0:27:33 | 0:27:37 | |
But like so many of his operas, | 0:27:41 | 0:27:43 | |
Puccini found inspiration from someone else's work. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
Were it not for Puccini, | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
the name Victorien Sardou | 0:27:50 | 0:27:51 | |
would be just a historical footnote. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
In the late 19th century, | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
Sardou was one of the most famous playwrights alive, | 0:27:58 | 0:28:01 | |
having 70 plays to his name. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
His masterwork...La Tosca. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
In 1889, Puccini had seen La Tosca twice, | 0:28:12 | 0:28:16 | |
and both times starring the greatest actress of the day, | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
the flamboyant and charismatic Sarah Bernhardt. | 0:28:18 | 0:28:22 | |
Tosca had everything Puccini wanted. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
Intensely dramatic situations, violent and raw, | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
that you could easily get a handle on, | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
and crucially, at its heart, a heroine, | 0:28:34 | 0:28:37 | |
a passionate, fiery, yet ultimately tragic heroine. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:42 | |
This was the clincher. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:43 | |
It fired Puccini's imagination | 0:28:47 | 0:28:49 | |
and he set out to reduce Sardou's | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
five plot-heavy acts | 0:28:51 | 0:28:53 | |
to a lean, finely-honed three. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:55 | |
For this, his publisher, Ricordi, | 0:29:01 | 0:29:04 | |
assembled the dream team behind Puccini's most recent success, | 0:29:04 | 0:29:07 | |
La boheme, the librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. | 0:29:07 | 0:29:12 | |
Between them, they did such a good job | 0:29:14 | 0:29:16 | |
that Sardou himself declared | 0:29:16 | 0:29:17 | |
that the libretto was dramatically superior to the play. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
And Puccini certainly ratchets up the drama in Act II, which is set | 0:29:26 | 0:29:30 | |
in one of Italy's finest Renaissance buildings, the Palazzo Farnese. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:34 | |
Now the French Embassy in Rome, it was once home to Popes, Queens, | 0:29:38 | 0:29:42 | |
and briefly, the King of Naples. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:45 | |
The perfect setting for Scarpia's headquarters. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
Astonishing. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:57 | |
I've conducted Tosca so many times, | 0:29:57 | 0:29:59 | |
but to actually be in the room | 0:29:59 | 0:30:01 | |
where the heart of the Opera takes place | 0:30:01 | 0:30:05 | |
is, for me, a...is just an amazing moment, actually. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:08 | |
The walls are covered by these stunning Florentine frescoes, | 0:30:13 | 0:30:18 | |
celebrating the Farnese family's fidelity towards the church. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:23 | |
How ironic it is that this | 0:30:24 | 0:30:25 | |
should be where Scarpia conducts his business. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:29 | |
Time has passed and it's now later in the evening of the same day. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:36 | |
The mood has changed, too. Now it is darker, almost claustrophobic. | 0:30:37 | 0:30:42 | |
One of Puccini's great skills is that he crafts the action | 0:30:45 | 0:30:49 | |
and the music so very precisely. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:53 | |
There's a tremendous economy to his writing. | 0:30:53 | 0:30:57 | |
It's almost lean. | 0:30:57 | 0:30:58 | |
Everything happens | 0:30:58 | 0:30:59 | |
just when it's supposed to happen. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:02 | |
Having hidden Angelotti, | 0:31:04 | 0:31:06 | |
Cavaradossi tells Tosca everything | 0:31:06 | 0:31:08 | |
before Scarpia's henchmen get their hands on him. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:11 | |
Puccini then uses the sound of a concert given by Tosca | 0:31:13 | 0:31:17 | |
offstage to heighten the tension onstage. | 0:31:17 | 0:31:21 | |
It's often been said | 0:31:36 | 0:31:37 | |
that Puccini was the creator | 0:31:37 | 0:31:39 | |
of what would become the cinematographic soundtrack, | 0:31:39 | 0:31:42 | |
and I think theatricality, in all senses, | 0:31:42 | 0:31:46 | |
is enhanced by music that is so descriptive, | 0:31:46 | 0:31:50 | |
and so telling, | 0:31:50 | 0:31:51 | |
that it reaches the audience with an immediacy that is palpable. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:57 | |
Listen to this music, for instance, | 0:31:57 | 0:31:59 | |
as Cavaradossi is brought to the torture chamber. | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
Having summoned Tosca, | 0:32:08 | 0:32:10 | |
Scarpia hopes that the torture of Cavaradossi | 0:32:10 | 0:32:13 | |
will force her to reveal Angelotti's hiding place. | 0:32:13 | 0:32:15 | |
Listen to the dark colours. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:20 | |
You can imagine the place already, from the sound of the celli... | 0:32:20 | 0:32:24 | |
..and the violas. | 0:32:25 | 0:32:27 | |
Using the open strings to give that bite and snarl. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:42 | |
What could be more filmic than that? | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
And what a suggestive, almost Sibelian darkness in this music. | 0:32:58 | 0:33:04 | |
In so many respects, | 0:33:09 | 0:33:10 | |
Tosca anticipates the world of film, | 0:33:10 | 0:33:12 | |
and at two hours, it runs just like a film. | 0:33:12 | 0:33:15 | |
Many of the ideas that Puccini employs can be | 0:33:18 | 0:33:21 | |
found in the music of film composers today. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:24 | |
I went to the world-famous Cinecitta film studios in Rome | 0:33:33 | 0:33:36 | |
to meet Ennio Morricone, | 0:33:36 | 0:33:37 | |
composer of the iconic score | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, | 0:33:39 | 0:33:41 | |
and a great Puccini fan. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:43 | |
Nowhere does this have more impact than in the scene where | 0:34:39 | 0:34:42 | |
Puccini depicts Tosca's torment, | 0:34:42 | 0:34:44 | |
whilst in a room offstage, | 0:34:44 | 0:34:46 | |
Cavaradossi is being brutally tortured. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:49 | |
Puccini takes this torture music now | 0:34:57 | 0:35:01 | |
and enhances it, as Scarpia's describing Cavaradossi with | 0:35:01 | 0:35:05 | |
a rim around his head with nails in it that will be tightened | 0:35:05 | 0:35:09 | |
so that there'll be blood spatter, | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
so he talks and gives the information. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:14 | |
Listen to the blood spatter of the trumpets | 0:35:14 | 0:35:17 | |
in this musical enhancement. | 0:35:17 | 0:35:20 | |
Tell me where Angelotti is. | 0:35:32 | 0:35:34 | |
She writhes in agony. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:43 | |
And brings her to the top C. | 0:35:46 | 0:35:49 | |
This certainly satisfies our animal instincts, | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
this music of a rare violence. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:22 | |
In fact, Herbert Von Karajan said, | 0:36:22 | 0:36:24 | |
it helps, once a year, for a conductor to conduct Tosca | 0:36:24 | 0:36:28 | |
to...just to let all his...baser instincts be released, if you like. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:32 | |
Eventually, it's too much for Tosca, | 0:36:38 | 0:36:40 | |
and she gives away Angelotti's hiding place. | 0:36:40 | 0:36:43 | |
MAN SCREAMS | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
Sometimes, it's good not to know some information. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:56 | |
-Well, he's a master at that. -It is a master. | 0:36:56 | 0:36:59 | |
He is a master at knowing how to actually put pressure on you. | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
-And, in fact, it works. You do spill the information. -Yes, I spill. Ah... | 0:37:02 | 0:37:06 | |
-And this. -This is, I don't, I never... | 0:37:06 | 0:37:09 | |
-It's a betrayal. -Yes, it is. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:11 | |
But, you know, in Tosca, I never like this. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:14 | |
When I saw for the first time, I was so upset. "No, don't, ah! | 0:37:14 | 0:37:18 | |
-"No, you must not. How could you?" -Yeah. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:23 | |
-But she did, because he knew it, how to do it. How to... -Yeah. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:28 | |
..to take the information from her. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:30 | |
It's impossible not to understand the feeling | 0:37:30 | 0:37:33 | |
we have as an opera singer. | 0:37:33 | 0:37:36 | |
This is the first role we play ourselves, I mean, | 0:37:36 | 0:37:39 | |
I play myself, in a way. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:41 | |
The sheer emotional force of the role, | 0:37:45 | 0:37:47 | |
and the turmoil Tosca goes through, | 0:37:47 | 0:37:49 | |
demands of the singer her full range of interpretive powers. | 0:37:49 | 0:37:54 | |
Since its premiere, | 0:38:04 | 0:38:05 | |
the role of Tosca has become one of the iconic operatic characters, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:10 | |
one that almost defines a singer's greatness. | 0:38:10 | 0:38:13 | |
One of the legendary Toscas was the brilliant | 0:38:15 | 0:38:18 | |
and notoriously temperamental Maria Callas. | 0:38:18 | 0:38:21 | |
With her own turbulent and colourful life, | 0:38:21 | 0:38:24 | |
she almost created the image of the great diva. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:29 | |
Lover of millionaires and famous for her fiery temper, | 0:38:37 | 0:38:41 | |
she ended up deserted and heartbroken. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:44 | |
But behind the public figure | 0:38:46 | 0:38:48 | |
lay a fastidious and extremely hard-working professional, | 0:38:48 | 0:38:52 | |
famous for her attention to the finest detail, | 0:38:52 | 0:38:55 | |
for leaving no stone unturned | 0:38:55 | 0:38:56 | |
in the pursuit to find the heart of a role. | 0:38:56 | 0:38:59 | |
Here she is with the great baritone | 0:39:04 | 0:39:07 | |
Tito Gobbi as Scarpia, | 0:39:07 | 0:39:08 | |
in a 1964 performance from Covent Garden. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
Cavaradossi is condemned to death, | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
but Scarpia gives Tosca a terrible choice. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:22 | |
Submit to his sexual advances and Cavaradossi will live. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:27 | |
Out of this desperate situation emerges one of Puccini's most | 0:39:27 | 0:39:31 | |
moving arias for soprano. | 0:39:31 | 0:39:33 | |
Curiously, this now famous aria, | 0:40:27 | 0:40:29 | |
Vissi d'arte, | 0:40:29 | 0:40:30 | |
wasn't even planned to be in the opera. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
But during rehearsals for the premiere, | 0:40:37 | 0:40:39 | |
the soprano singing Tosca, | 0:40:39 | 0:40:41 | |
Hariclea Darclee, a Romanian, like Angela, | 0:40:41 | 0:40:44 | |
had a bit of a diva moment herself. | 0:40:44 | 0:40:46 | |
When Hariclea Darclee starts singing the role, Hariclea says, | 0:40:50 | 0:40:55 | |
"Maestro, I have no aria, and it's me, Tosca!" | 0:40:55 | 0:41:00 | |
And thanks to her, | 0:41:00 | 0:41:02 | |
I always said, | 0:41:02 | 0:41:03 | |
because I'm proud about this | 0:41:03 | 0:41:06 | |
because she's a Romanian soprano. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:07 | |
Finally, he composed | 0:41:07 | 0:41:09 | |
Vissi d'arte. Vissi d'amore. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
Initially, Puccini wasn't convinced, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:33 | |
as he feared it would slow down the action. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:36 | |
But there is no doubt that it adds to the drama. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:39 | |
A fervent yet disillusioned prayer before Fate strikes. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:44 | |
Grazie, Angela. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:52 | |
Scarpia agrees to issue a safe-conduct pass, | 0:43:00 | 0:43:03 | |
providing Cavaradossi goes through the pretence of a mock execution, | 0:43:03 | 0:43:09 | |
and Tosca satisfies his lust. | 0:43:09 | 0:43:11 | |
Everything is very important within the storytelling. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:20 | |
This is a genius of Puccini, in a way, that he's giving you such | 0:43:20 | 0:43:23 | |
dramatic intensity. | 0:43:23 | 0:43:25 | |
So, it has everything. | 0:43:25 | 0:43:27 | |
Even the death has to be entertaining for people. | 0:43:27 | 0:43:31 | |
By letting the action play in real-time, | 0:43:37 | 0:43:39 | |
Puccini, again, | 0:43:39 | 0:43:41 | |
brilliantly strings out the game of cat and mouse | 0:43:41 | 0:43:43 | |
to heighten the nervous tension. | 0:43:43 | 0:43:45 | |
How will Tosca resolve this dilemma? | 0:43:47 | 0:43:49 | |
And there in the music is Tosca's answer. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:12 | |
And it's something this great diva | 0:44:13 | 0:44:15 | |
would never have dreamed herself capable of | 0:44:15 | 0:44:18 | |
even an hour earlier. | 0:44:18 | 0:44:20 | |
It's before dawn the following morning | 0:45:34 | 0:45:37 | |
and I've come to the Castel Sant'Angelo, | 0:45:37 | 0:45:40 | |
where the third Act of Tosca is set, | 0:45:40 | 0:45:42 | |
and where Cavaradossi is awaiting execution. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:45 | |
Tosca eventually makes her way here, | 0:45:50 | 0:45:52 | |
with the pass securing the safe conduct for her and her lover. | 0:45:52 | 0:45:56 | |
From these ramparts, | 0:45:58 | 0:46:00 | |
you really get a sense of the geography of the city, | 0:46:00 | 0:46:03 | |
and how it fits in with the opera. | 0:46:03 | 0:46:05 | |
Just over my shoulder | 0:46:08 | 0:46:09 | |
is the Sant'Andrea della Valle church, | 0:46:09 | 0:46:12 | |
where Act I takes place, | 0:46:12 | 0:46:14 | |
and just hidden behind there | 0:46:14 | 0:46:16 | |
is the Farnese Palace of Act II, | 0:46:16 | 0:46:18 | |
so the distances are very, very short, actually. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:22 | |
It's a very tight feel. | 0:46:22 | 0:46:23 | |
You can imagine Tosca running here | 0:46:25 | 0:46:27 | |
after she has murdered Scarpia. | 0:46:27 | 0:46:29 | |
The Castel Sant'Angelo is one of Rome's most imposing landmarks, | 0:46:35 | 0:46:40 | |
once home to the papal guard, and their prisoners. | 0:46:40 | 0:46:44 | |
For centuries, it has symbolised the fusion of Church and State. | 0:46:44 | 0:46:49 | |
The dawn breaking music at the beginning of Act III | 0:46:51 | 0:46:55 | |
is where Puccini really establishes Rome | 0:46:55 | 0:46:57 | |
as its own character in the opera. | 0:46:57 | 0:46:59 | |
What he does is to create yet another cinematic effect, | 0:47:02 | 0:47:06 | |
a musical soundscape that vividly captures its majesty and atmosphere. | 0:47:06 | 0:47:11 | |
Underpinning a sighing melody is the sound of bells, | 0:47:14 | 0:47:19 | |
but myriad bells, | 0:47:19 | 0:47:20 | |
the sound of Roman bells sounding the matins. | 0:47:20 | 0:47:23 | |
It is alleged he came here | 0:47:23 | 0:47:25 | |
to hear for himself how this would have sounded. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:29 | |
To recreate the sense of perspective, | 0:47:42 | 0:47:45 | |
Puccini was very particular with his requirements. | 0:47:45 | 0:47:48 | |
To realise Puccini's intentions, | 0:47:51 | 0:47:53 | |
we set up four percussion players | 0:47:53 | 0:47:55 | |
at the back of the stage in different positions, | 0:47:55 | 0:47:58 | |
near and far, and they have different pitched bells, | 0:47:58 | 0:48:03 | |
and the first bell, | 0:48:03 | 0:48:04 | |
the B natural here, | 0:48:04 | 0:48:06 | |
is marked lontanissimo, very far away. | 0:48:06 | 0:48:09 | |
This next bell is a little closer, meno lontano. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:18 | |
Now this bell, vicino, it's marked. | 0:48:23 | 0:48:25 | |
Near. | 0:48:25 | 0:48:28 | |
It was considered quite unusual, and strange, | 0:48:59 | 0:49:03 | |
the actual sounds of the city | 0:49:03 | 0:49:06 | |
superimposed onto music. | 0:49:06 | 0:49:09 | |
What was this? | 0:49:09 | 0:49:11 | |
And at the time, it was quite controversial. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:14 | |
But what a stunning effect. | 0:49:14 | 0:49:16 | |
Puccini was meticulous in researching | 0:49:21 | 0:49:23 | |
the actual pitches of the bells he heard, | 0:49:23 | 0:49:25 | |
even enlisting the help of a religious music expert, | 0:49:25 | 0:49:28 | |
who found out that the great bell of St Peter's, the Er Campanone, | 0:49:28 | 0:49:32 | |
produced just the sound he needed. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:36 | |
The new day finds Cavaradossi being led from his cell | 0:49:57 | 0:50:01 | |
to face the firing squad. | 0:50:01 | 0:50:03 | |
The music now prepares us for perhaps | 0:50:03 | 0:50:06 | |
the opera's most celebrated aria. | 0:50:06 | 0:50:08 | |
In setting up Cavaradossi's aria, | 0:50:12 | 0:50:15 | |
E lucevan le stelle, | 0:50:15 | 0:50:16 | |
an aria which is about memories of the good times, | 0:50:16 | 0:50:21 | |
but also the feeling of impending doom, | 0:50:21 | 0:50:24 | |
his impending death, | 0:50:24 | 0:50:26 | |
Puccini creates, and it's very, very special, a pathos, here, | 0:50:26 | 0:50:30 | |
using four cellos. | 0:50:30 | 0:50:32 | |
This is a tradition to create intimacy of expression, | 0:50:32 | 0:50:37 | |
already used by Verdi in Otello, | 0:50:37 | 0:50:39 | |
at the beginning of William Tell, of Rossini. | 0:50:39 | 0:50:43 | |
So it's an Italian form of creating something new and special. | 0:50:43 | 0:50:50 | |
Using the love music. | 0:50:55 | 0:50:57 | |
It's perfectly set up by Puccini. | 0:51:11 | 0:51:13 | |
It's always this question, | 0:51:13 | 0:51:15 | |
how can you manage to be in this mood? | 0:51:15 | 0:51:17 | |
To really be in this frustrating, | 0:51:17 | 0:51:22 | |
but at the same time, | 0:51:22 | 0:51:24 | |
still deeply loving moment of love and regret. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:30 | |
The answer is very simple, just listen to the music. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:33 | |
This leads into a remarkable new theme. | 0:51:41 | 0:51:44 | |
The aria is written perfectly. | 0:52:19 | 0:52:22 | |
That's the secret. I mean, | 0:52:22 | 0:52:23 | |
that's the magic that lies between the lines. | 0:52:23 | 0:52:25 | |
He guides you exactly to the right spot. | 0:52:25 | 0:52:29 | |
Cavaradossi is remembering a night of love with Tosca, | 0:52:54 | 0:52:58 | |
and what's striking is that the melody is in the orchestra, | 0:52:58 | 0:53:01 | |
the words are almost spoken. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:03 | |
And there's this moment in the aria which I find always very beautiful | 0:53:13 | 0:53:18 | |
because then he drops his mask of heroism, | 0:53:18 | 0:53:22 | |
and you suddenly reveal a normal human being | 0:53:22 | 0:53:26 | |
that is afraid of death. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:28 | |
-Big hug while I'm in climax. -Yes. | 0:54:13 | 0:54:15 | |
Tosca arrives with Scarpia's safe-conduct pass | 0:54:16 | 0:54:19 | |
and shows it to Cavaradossi. | 0:54:19 | 0:54:21 | |
But the precise moment | 0:54:22 | 0:54:25 | |
when he realises that he won't escape alive | 0:54:25 | 0:54:28 | |
has always been a source of debate and interpretation... | 0:54:28 | 0:54:31 | |
..something we discussed in rehearsals. | 0:54:32 | 0:54:34 | |
There's a discussion going on about | 0:54:52 | 0:54:55 | |
how much Cavaradossi knows about what's really going to happen, | 0:54:55 | 0:55:01 | |
and Jonas is communicating to Angela here | 0:55:01 | 0:55:05 | |
that at the moment she says | 0:55:05 | 0:55:07 | |
there's going to be a simulated execution, | 0:55:07 | 0:55:11 | |
he realises, he knows | 0:55:11 | 0:55:13 | |
that Scarpia would never agree to something like this, | 0:55:13 | 0:55:17 | |
the oppression of his regime, | 0:55:17 | 0:55:19 | |
the manipulation, | 0:55:19 | 0:55:21 | |
it would never work, and, | 0:55:21 | 0:55:23 | |
somehow to humour her, | 0:55:23 | 0:55:25 | |
he goes along with it | 0:55:25 | 0:55:27 | |
and he goes along with her hope. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:30 | |
Almost to the very end, | 0:55:38 | 0:55:39 | |
Tosca believes that it's all just playacting. | 0:55:39 | 0:55:43 | |
Strangely, when Tosca premiered in Rome in 1900, | 0:56:04 | 0:56:07 | |
real-life events echoed the opera's historical setting. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:11 | |
The economic situation in Italy was bad. Anarchist groups flourished, | 0:56:13 | 0:56:18 | |
and there had been riots in the North and South. | 0:56:18 | 0:56:22 | |
It was a pretty tense time. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:24 | |
The unrest caused the premiere to be postponed by a day, | 0:56:26 | 0:56:30 | |
and on the first night, there was a rumour of a bomb scare. | 0:56:30 | 0:56:32 | |
But it turned out to be a false alarm and the performance went ahead. | 0:56:34 | 0:56:39 | |
The moment when I see the blood, I realise | 0:56:53 | 0:56:56 | |
I had no other solution than to kill myself. | 0:56:56 | 0:57:01 | |
I had no time to think. | 0:57:02 | 0:57:06 | |
It was just an instinct. | 0:57:06 | 0:57:08 | |
The public loved it. | 0:57:34 | 0:57:35 | |
Several numbers were encored, and there was a rapturous | 0:57:35 | 0:57:38 | |
ovation for Puccini himself at the final curtain. | 0:57:38 | 0:57:42 | |
With Tosca, Puccini's reputation | 0:57:44 | 0:57:46 | |
as THE Italian opera composer was secure. | 0:57:46 | 0:57:49 | |
Over the next quarter century, the masterpieces continued to flow, | 0:57:51 | 0:57:56 | |
operas like Madama Butterfly | 0:57:56 | 0:57:58 | |
and Turandot joined Tosca as worldwide hits. | 0:57:58 | 0:58:01 | |
Puccini's airtight musical dramas, still dominated though | 0:58:03 | 0:58:08 | |
by his astonishing melodic invention, | 0:58:08 | 0:58:10 | |
established the template for what makes a successful opera. | 0:58:10 | 0:58:15 | |
I love conducting this music, | 0:58:15 | 0:58:17 | |
and I love this city, Rome. | 0:58:17 | 0:58:21 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:32 | 0:58:35 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:58:35 | 0:58:39 |