Study Guide
TOSCA
by
Giacomo Puccini
Based on the French play by Victorien Sardou, La Tosca
Toledo Opera Thanks our Student Night at the Opera
Sponsors
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Principal Characters…………………...…………………………………………………………. 3
The Story……….………………………………………………………………………………… 4
The Music of Tosca…………………………………………………...…………………………. 5
The Rise of the Diva……………………………………………………………………………... 8
The Battle of Marengo………….……………………………….…………………………….…. 9
The Sites ……………………………………………………………………….………………...11
Student/Class Activities…………………………………………………………………...…... 13
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PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
Cesare Angelotti
Spoletta
[Cheh-sa-ray An-gel-oh-tee]
Rebel and former Consul
of the Roman Republic
Voice Type: Baritone
[Spoh-leh-tah]
A police agent
Voice Type: Tenor
Wants to arrest
Works for
Friends with
Mario Cavaradossi
[Ma-ree-o Kav-a-ra-doh-see]
Painter and patriot
Voice Type: Tenor
Baron Scarpia
Hates
[Skar-pee-ah]
Chief of police
Voice Type: Baritone
Floria Tosca
Loves
[Floh-ree-ah Toh-ska]
Celebrated singer and Diva
Voice Type: Soprano
Lusts for
Visit our web site (http://www.toledoopera.org/events/main/tosca ) for
information about the vocal artists who are playing the characters
in Toledo Opera’s production of Tosca. Read about the Conductor,
the Stage Director and other aspects of the production.
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The Story
Tosca
ACT I (Rome, June 1800) Cesare Angelotti, an escaped prisoner, rushes to hide in the church of
Sant’Andrea della Valle, where the painter Mario Cavaradossi is working. Cavaradossi
recognizes Angelotti and gives him food. Cavaradossi’s lover, the singer Floria Tosca, arrives to
remind him of their evening plans. A cannon signals the discovery of Angelotti’s escape and he
and Cavaradossi flee to the painter’s villa. Baron Scarpia arrives, searching for Angelotti.
Scarpia convinces Tosca that her lover has been unfaithful and sends his men to the villa. As the
church choir begins a Te Deum, he declares that he will bend Tosca to his will.
ACT II The spy Spoletta arrives at Scarpia’s study at the Palazzo Farnese with Cavaradossi.
Scarpia sends for Tosca, and Cavaradossi is tortured. Frightened by Cavaradossi’s screams,
Tosca reveals Angelotti’s hiding place. Cavaradossi angrily confronts her before being dragged
off to be executed. Scarpia offers to let Cavaradossi go free if Tosca gives herself to him. She
agrees and the baron seemingly orders that Cavaradossi be freed after a mock execution. As soon
as the orders are signed, Tosca stabs Scarpia.
Act III Cavaradossi awaits execution at the Castel Sant’Angelo. He bribes the jailer to deliver a
farewell letter to Tosca, and begins to despair. Tosca enters and explains to him how to fake his
death convincingly. The soldiers fire and depart. Tosca urges Cavaradossi to flee, but when he
doesn’t move, realizes that Scarpia has betrayed her. As Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca, she
leaps from the battlement.
THE END
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The Music of Tosca
Puccini was a composer who had an incredible gift for scene setting, or 'painting a picture' in order to
achieve the perfect sonic environment for the dramatic situations provided by his librettists. A brilliant
master of orchestration the composer used every color at his disposal in order to get the right effect.
Hence, adjectives like 'sparkling', 'bright' and 'colorful' are often used to describe Puccini's operatic
scores. In fact the scores became brighter and more brilliant as he evolved compositionally, to the
logical conclusion of Turandot with its myriad oriental and exotic elements. Tosca may not be quite
so brilliant in comparison, but it certainly has that unmistakable quality of orchestral sheen that we
have come to expect from these operas.
Tosca was not well received by the critics at the time of its première, primarily because of the
'sordid', violent nature of its story and for what must have seemed to be the rather 'brutal' music
created by Puccini to match the story. But what those critics failed to appreciate was the tightness of
the opera's musical structure and what superb control Puccini utilized to tell his story perfectly in
every detail. The reason for this 'tightness of structure' can be found in the various compositional
techniques that Puccini used consistently throughout his career. Let's take a look at some of those
techniques and find examples in the score of Tosca so that you can listen for them in performance.
Tone-Painting
There are many wonderful examples of 'tone-painting' in Tosca, where the composer describes an
emotional state, a scenic setting or a dramatic action through musical means. A wonderful instance of
this can be found in the prelude to Act III. Dawn is breaking over Rome and we find ourselves in the
confines of the rooftop of the Castel Sant'Angelo on the banks of the Tiber River. It is a pastoral scene
at first, providing a bit of a rest from the violence and bloodshed of the preceding act. A shepherd boy
passes by and we actually hear the awkward gait of his animals, the clanking of a bell hanging from
the neck of his guard dog, and the boy singing a song in country dialect. Slowly we feel a transition in
the orchestra, a lightening of color as the sun comes up; and then we hear the bells and chimes of the
various churches, convents and monasteries in the area as they call the faithful to morning prayer and
mass. Puccini went to great lengths to notate the exact pitches of these bells as he heard them during
an early morning visit to the actual Roman location. There is yet another transition as the music
actuallydarkens and thickens in texture. We hear the first statement of the great tune from Act III of
this opera, the tenor aria E lucevan le stelle (And the stars were shining), accompanied by the sound
of the great bell in the cupola of St. Peter's. This is almost a series of cinematic moments: imagine the
camera as it moves from following the shepherd to an aerial shot over the Castel Sant'Angelo
overlooking the city, and then to a dark, interior shot as we join the brooding, near-despairing
Cavaradossi.
These moments of tone-painting in Puccini are specific and highly detailed. They can be likened to a
canvas by a great painter like David, Delacroix or Manet. Transitions between tonal colors or textures
are quick but subtle, surrounding the principal characters in the work with a deftly drawn emotional
context while at the same time pointing to specific objects, characters or psychological states that are
present in the scene. Other moments in the opera come to mind: the entrance of Tosca wherein
the pizzicato strings tell us everything we need to know about her state of being at that moment; the
dark and violent 'twists' in the basses and lower winds during the torture of Cavaradossi in Act II,
drawing an all-too-specific picture of the device being used on him; the lengthy interlude at the end of
the same act during which Tosca finds her salvation through the discovery of a knife. These are all
moments that exhibit Puccini's supreme mastery of musical description.
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The Leitmotif
We can't truly call what Puccini does with short, suggestive motives anything like a "leitmotif system",
certainly not in the Wagnerian sense. But he comes as close as any Italian composer would dare to
the German composer's unique method of providing unity to his sprawling works. In Wagner's case,
these musical ideas were brief, pithy, powerful nuggets of melody attached to a character, object or
psychological state in an opera that would develop musically in direct relationship to the psychological
or emotional development of the character through the course of the opera. Therein lies the
difference: Puccini's leitmotifs don't develop. They remain static throughout the course of an opera or,
at least, don't develop as much as their Wagnerian counterparts.
The most famous example of Puccini's use of any kind of leitmotif is surely the Scarpia motive that
dominates the score of Tosca. It is also the easiest motive to identify as it is essentially the first two
bars of the opera. The motive is unusual in that it is really not a melody or melodic fragment at all; it
is, rather, a series of three sinister-sounding chords blared fortissimo from the full orchestra. Being
that this motive is the first thing Puccini wants us to hear as an audience, he's telling us that the
dynamic force in this opera entitled Tosca is really Scarpia, the villain. We don't hear the motive again
until Scarpia's actual entrance, as he descends upon the poor sacristan in the church of Sant'Andrea
della Valle in his search for the escaped prisoner, Angelotti. After this entrance, however, we're never
many measures away from the 'Scarpia motive' or a variant of it. Listen, for instance, to the music
which accompanies Scarpia's conversation with the sacristan immediately after his explosive entrance.
The whole dialogue is underpinned by a development of the motive, those three chords virtually
everywhere.
The three-chord idea becomes a descending three-note idea at the very beginning of Act II as we are
ushered into Scarpia's apartments in the Palazzo Farnese. Here, in Scarpia's Baroque and sumptuous
domestic environment, the brutal chords of the original motive seem out of place (at least until the
torture and questioning of Cavaradossi begins!), and transformed, the motive takes on a more elegant
nature echoing the outward charm of the man. At the end of the act, as Scarpia lies on the floor of his
apartment in a pool of his own blood, his sinister presence is hinted at by the playing of the motive
once again, this time slowly by the strings in a low, hollow register. His motive is there again even in
the prelude to Act III, just prior to the shepherd's song. Puccini is telling us that even after his death,
Scarpia will continue to exert his evil influence on the development of the plot.
Melodic Shape
One of the most remarkable and most unifying features of Puccini's music is his melodic style, the way
he shapes his melodies. It is this aspect of his compositional style which we find most accessible
about Puccini's music, most identifiable. Almost all of his melodies are memorable because of
the way they are built. And the most memorable of his tunes are conjunct melodies which 1) move
in scale-wise motion with consecutive melodic steps; and 2) feature the use of occasional small
melodic leaps. Most children's songs and folk melodies are built this way and are, by design, easy to
remember. Take, for example, the melody for Mary Had A Little Lamb. This is a perfectly conjunct
melody which moves entirely in step-wise motion until the last three syllables of the first half of the
tune: "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, LIT-TLE LAMB". The notes on "LIT-TLE LAMB" are a small
leap up; every other melodic motion in the tune is made through consecutive note movement
or steps. The tune Three Blind Mice is also conjunct, with mostly step-wise movement, but with
considerably more leaping than in Mary…. One may wonder why these simple tunes are so
memorable, but it is simply because of this conjunct movement that we find them relatively easy to
recall.
Puccini's greatest melodies are built in much the same way. Large leaps or dissonances in the melodic
line (not in the harmonies, which are often full of discord) are generally avoided, and step-wise motion
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with occasional leaps of three, four or five notes becomes the rule. Think, again, of the big tune from
Act III of Tosca, the tenor aria E lucevan le stelle. It begins with a melodic leap of four notes, then
arcs up and down in step-wise motion, almost outlining a simple scale. And speaking of scales, that is
exactly what the voice outlines in the next phrase: a long, achingly beautiful ascending scale. And so
it goes, a melody built very simply from leaps of a fourth or fifth, combined with scale-like passages.
It seems a dull affair indeed to write about this, or to speak of it. But when you listen to it, realize the
formulaic nature of Puccini's gift, and then accept that this tune has always been one of your most
beloved memories of the operatic repertoire the genius of it begins to communicate itself to you.
Apply this same formula to any other of Puccini's great melodies…from La bohème, Manon
Lescaut, Madama Butterfly…and you begin to wonder how it was possible for this composer to
come up with so many staggeringly beautiful melodies by following what is essentially an ancient
melodic pattern.
_____________________________________
NOTE: The richness of the orchestration is made possible by the many different instruments called
for in the score: two flutes and one piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two
bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, four trombones, harp, tympani, Glockenspiel, bells,
contrabassoon, tam-tam, celeste, deep bell, organ, organ, cannon and gun shots. In addition there is
a banda of flutes, viola, harp, four horns, three trombones, and two small drums.
Reprinted courtesy of San Diego Opera Education and Outreach Program: Operapaedia.
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The Rise of the Diva
The role of the diva was born in the 1700s, when singers were able to alter scores and make demands
of composers and directors, but the diva we see in Tosca began in the middle of the nineteenth
century. During this time, roles were more often than not written with specific singers in mind and led
to the idealization of specific performers. More so than any opera title or composer, leading ladies
held a large fascination for fans even before they walked out on stage and they morphed over time to
be known also as divas.
Literally meaning the “first lady,” the term prima donna is synonymous with the term ‘diva’ and has
been used today in musical theater shows like The Phantom of the Opera and to describe modern
pop-singers like Celine Dion and Lady Gaga. The large followings that today’s famous musical artists
have is the same as the opera divas back in Puccini’s time. It seems that over history, the musical
world successfully carried this tradition of the diva along to modern day.
A wide range of attitudes exist toward the divas of today, ranging from near hero-worship to criticism
for being temperamental or frivolous. These attitudes also were present in Tosca’s time.
The character Floria Tosca is the quintessential diva in Tosca because she herself is the star of the
plot, and the show must have its own real life diva to sing the role. In the opera, Tosca is shown to
the audience as a celebrated singer, one who travels and performs special engagements both as a solo
artist and with oratorios. The audience only gets a brief moment to hear Tosca sing as if she was
performing a show. Within the actual opera, this happens in Act II off-stage while Scarpia is in his
study. For the rest of the opera, however, the audience is treated to her character singing florid and
spiraling notes for her dialogue, and one of the most famous arias ever written, “Vissi d’arte” or “I
lived for art.”
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The Battle of Marengo
One of the interesting aspects of Puccini's Tosca, is that much of the drama is driven by the historical
events which surround the action. Prominent in the text is mention of the battle between the French
and Austrian forces on the plain of Marengo.
During a daring campaign in 1796-97 the French regained control of northern Italy. In 1799, despite
the brilliance of Napoleon's General Massena, he could not overcome the superior numbers, and when
General Aleksandr Suvorov arrived with 18,000 Russian troops to support the Austrian army,
Napoleon's forces were pushed out of northern Italy once again. Northern Italy was restored to
Austria, and Massena retreated to the Rhine River.
In 1799, after Napoleon, then First Consul of France, left what remained of his Eastern forces in Egypt,
he faced several obstacles. Chief among these were: the English had control over the Mediterranean
Sea; they had effectively blockaded the Atlantic Coast of France; and there was a Russo-Austrian
army in northern Italy. More importantly, Napoleon was threatened politically at home. Now that he
possessed powers over war and peace, he needed to consolidate his grip on government, and gain a
spectacular success in order to calm royalist sentiments in Paris and solidify his position as First
Consul.
The fact that Napoleon's General in Germany and Italy, Massena, was able to retain control of
Switzerland, gave the First Consul the route he needed to strike against the Austrians. While Massena
massed his army to the east around Genoa, Napoleon was assembling a reserve force of
approximately 50,000 troops just west of Switzerland
On May 1, Napoleon learned that Massena's forces had been split in two and were now facing a
superior force of Austrians under the command of General Michael von Mélas. He sent Massena orders
to hold his position in Genoa until May 30, and used the opportunity to begin crossing the mountains
into Italy. Mélas continued his campaign against Messena's forces. He wanted to drive the French out
of Italy, however, this left him completely unaware of Napoleon's descent upon him from the north.
Napoleon's army crossed the Alps through five separate passes in order to conceal the main body of
his forces. As a result, Mélas was unable to identify the French forces as anything more than
diversionary troops. On May 19, he learned the truth. The French were descending upon Italy in force!
Mélas turned to meet the threat, but was faced with one foreboding question; which of the five
approaching armies was the main French force? Against incredible difficulties, Napoleon was crossing
with the main French column through the Great St. Bernard Pass.
Napoleon had several alternatives. Mélas had finally discovered his intentions and was in the process
of concentrating his forces at Turin. Napoleon could move South to the aid of Massena, or attempt to
take Milan, the main Austrian supply base. He chose the latter, and ordering General Lannes forces to
the southeast in order to screen his movements, he headed East toward Milan, taking the city on June
2. By sending Lannes's to the south, however, Napoleon had divided his forces in the face of the
enemy. This would prove to be a critical mistake which would almost cost him the campaign.
On June 4, Massena surrendered Genoa, and the Austrians moved north to find Lannes's army. Lannes
forced the Austrians to retreat, cutting off all of Mélas' escape routes to the East. Mélas decided that
he would have to face the French army near Alessandria and fight his way out. Napoleon, thinking that
Mélas was still trying to elude him, further dispersed his forces in an attempt to find the Austrians. Not
knowing that an overwhelming Austrian force lay just on the other side of the Bormida River, he
placed himself in a disastrous position.
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On June 14, Mélas crossed the Bormida River and attacked, deploying his forces on the Marengo plain.
Three hours later, the French, under the command of General Claude Perrin Victor, retreated.
Napoleon did not believe that he had met the main Austrian force, and ordered General Desaix, a
veteran of Egypt and one of Napoleon's best fighters, to move further Southeast to find Mélas.
With the French on the run, and anxious to reassure the Emperor of a victory, Mélas sent out a
number of dispatches saying the French had been defeated (in the opera this is the news that the
Sacristan is telling the children's chorus in Act I and is the reason for the celebration at whichTosca is
to sing).
Fortunately for Napoleon, Desaix knew that the Austrians were not waiting to the southeast, and as a
result, he hesitated when he received Napoleon's orders to march further south. As he was finally
preparing his troops to carry out the order, a messenger arrived from the First Consul, "Mélas has
attacked me first. For God's sake come if you can!" By the time Desaix arrived, Napoleon had used all
of his reserves and the French were on the retreat. Napoleon told Desaix, "The battle is lost." "Yes,"
Desaix replied, "But there is time to win another."
In a brilliant counterstroke, Desaix turned to meet Mélas head on, and within several hours turned
defeat into victory. At the critical moment of the counterattack, Desaix was mortally wounded. Fearing
that his death would destroy the morale of his troops, he gave orders that he was not to be moved
from the field of battle. His troops were so outraged at the Austrians for having struck down their
commander, that they found new courage and drove the Austrians from the field.
It is at this point in the opera, that Sciarrone arrives with the terrible news and informs Scarpia that
what they had thought was a victory against Napoleon, was in fact, a defeat, and Cavaradossi convicts
himself by shouting "Victory!".
Napoleon could not rejoice. He bore a deep personal loss in General Desaix. In addition, he had
endangered the army by dividing his forces and almost lost the campaign. On June 15, Baron von
Mélas asked Napoleon for truce terms. The battle had recovered Italy for the French, and stabilized
the political climate at home for Napoleon. Marengo also marked the end for the Republic in France.
Following the battle, Napoleon sent word to Paris saying, "I hope the French people will be pleased
with their Army." Dictatorship was just over the horizon, and with it, greater desires for military glory.
Note: Tosca takes place on June 17, three days after the Battle of Marengo. It took that long for the
dispatches to cover the approximately 250 miles from Marengo to Rome.
Reprinted courtesy of San Diego Opera Education and Outreach Program: Operapaedia.
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The Sites
ACT
I
Sardou set his first act in the church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale. It was surrounded by empty spaces
through which Angelotti could have escaped. Puccini moved it to Sant'Andrea della Valle.This is
much closer to the Palazzo Farnese and the Castel Sant'Angelo, but is in a built-up area in where it
would have been more difficult for an escaped prisoner to elude notice. Sant'Andrea della Valle is one
of the great churches of Rome, the seat of a Cardinal-Prince. Its dome is second in size only to that of
St. Peter's. It was built in 1591, on land adjacent to the site of the Pompey's Theatre in which Julius
Caesar was killed. Although none are named after the Attavanti family, there are four chapels, one
decorated by Michelangelo. However, none of the chapels are closed by a lockable grill, and there is
no painting of either Mary Magdalene or the Temptation of Lazarus, such as those on which the
fictional Cavaradossi is supposed to be working.
ACT
II
The Palazzo Farnese is admired as the handsomest palace of the high Renaissance in Rome. It was
built — partly under the direction of Michelangelo — for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, later to become
Pope Paul III. In 1731 it passed to the wife of Philippe de Bourbon, grandson of the French King Louis
XIV. Their oldest child was given the title of King of the Two Sicilies. In 1757 it passed to Ferdinand
IV, husband of Marie Caroline and the palazzo became the seat of Bourbon authority in Rome. Under
the French and the short-lived Roman Republic, it was ransacked and looted. When, in 1800, the
Bourbons regained control it became the headquarters of Naselli, the Governor of Rome. In
Sardou's La Tosca, Scarpia's offices were in the Castel Sant'Angelo, but in the opera his quarters
would have been on the top floor of the Palazzo Farnese. In 1874 the palazzo was made the residence
of French ambassador to the new Kingdom of Italy, and between 1908 and 1911, it was purchased by
French Republic. It is still the site of the French Embassy.
ACT
III
The Castel Sant'Angelo was built between 135 and 139 as a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian
and his successors. The last burial was in 211, and the ashes were scattered long ago. In 271
Hadrian's Tomb became a defensive work guarding the bridge over the Tiber, and in the fifth century,
the mausoleum was converted to a regular fortress. The marble facings and the statues were probably
destroyed by the Goths. There has been an angel at the top since 590, when Pope Gregory the Great
saw the apparition of an archangel announcing the end of a plague. He erected a marble angel and
renamed the fortress as the Castel Sant'Angelo. He built the circular ramp on which one reaches the
upper stories today. This had a drawbridge half way up which still existed in 1800.
In the Middle Ages the Castel became the principal place of refuge for popes during attacks on the
Vatican. In the fifteenth century it was connected with Vatican by a long corridor, still seen today.
When Rome was threatened in 1525, Pope Clement fled to the Castel Sant'Angelo with guard of
soldiers and a few favored cardinals, one of whom was pulled up in a basket just before the fortress
was closed. During a summer-long siege, Clement, although in luxury, was effectively a prisoner.
Finally, in December, he made his escape disguised as a merchant.
The Castel also became a state prison as well as a papal residence, and during the Middle Ages, the
people of Rome tried to destroy it as a hated symbol of oppression. Unlike the storming of the French
Bastille, they failed; it was just too strong. Luxurious apartments for the popes and their families
occupied the whole third floor. The quarters of Sardou's Scarpia may have been in one of them.
Among the inhabitants of the castle during the Renaissance, were member of the infamous Borgia
family, including the beautiful Lucrezia, her evil brother Cesare, and their father Pope Alexander VI.
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The Borgia apartments have two square holes in the floor, one reputed to lead to a dungeon, the other
to the River Tiber for the disposal of bodies.
As a prison the Castel was not always so bad. We know much about conditions there in the sixteenth
century from the artist Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571). In his autobiography this famous goldsmith
and sculptor tells how he was imprisoned for stealing the papal jewels, injured during a brief escape,
and then recaptured. (It was usually easy to escape from the Castel.) After giving his parole, he had
the run of the place and was able to carry on his profession while incarcerated.
In the eighteenth century, the marble angel was replaced by the present 18 foot high bronze one.
Under the French, the statue was painted red, white and blue and a liberty cap was set on its head.
The angel is usually part of Tosca sets. It stands on a small terrace set back from the edge of the
tower. Tosca is supposed to jump from there into the Tiber River but that is clearly impossible. At that
time, 1798-9, one could walk out of prison upon payment of a bribe, and many did.
In La Tosca Angelotti's sister is able to bribe the jailor not only to allow her brother to leave the
prison, but even to drive him from Rome in a carriage. Such conditions did not last.
Late nineteenth-century tourists were shown, along with the papal apartments and other features, the
live political prisoners behind the bars. The Castel remained a prison until 1901 when it was converted
to a museum. Mussolini 'restored' the Castel and converted it into a regular tourist attraction. The
view from the terrace of this powerful symbol of the combined power of the Church and the State is
one of finest in Rome.
Reprinted courtesy of San Diego Opera Education and Outreach Program: Operapaedia.
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Student and Class Activities
Before the Performance
 Think of some famous artists that you follow in today’s media. When you
are watching the opera, think of the features that the character Tosca and
modern day divas have in common.
After the Performance
Grades 6-8
 Compare your experience with this professionally-produced opera to other
theater or music performances that you have experienced. What was
different? How do you think those differences impacted your response to the
performance?
o ODE*: Music: Grade 8: 4RE: Express how music performance and
settings affect audience response.
 Create your own review of the opera, commenting on aspects such as the
story, the music, the performances of principal vocal artists and the chorus,
the role of the orchestra, and the visual elements of scenery, costumes and
lighting. The Blade newspaper will publish a review of Toledo Opera’s
Tosca in the Saturday, October 11th issue, both online (The Blade.com) and
in print. On what points do you agree and or disagree with the reviewer?
o ODE: Drama/Theater: Grade 8: 1PR: Compare and contrast personal
opinions about a dramatic or theatrical work with those of a professional
critic.
 Who are the primary characters in the opera? What are the personal conflicts
or problems between them? What do the characters do that exacerbate or
help resolve these problems?
o ODE: Drama/Theatre: Grade 7: 1CE: Consider and discuss the
consequences of a character’s actions in a drama production.
o ODE: Drama/Theatre: Grade 8: 1CE: Analyze and discuss the
conflicts and emotions of the characters in a selected dramatic work.
 Could Tosca be set in a different time or place? If no, why not? If yes, what
elements of the plot or drama would be affected and need to change?
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o ODE: Drama/Theater: Grade 6: 3RE: Explain how changes in a
production concept (such as time period or modernization) would alter
the presentation of a work.
Grades 9-12
 News about the outcome of a battle between Napoleon’s army
(France) and Austria is a key part of the plot in Tosca. What plays
or musicals do you know where a war, battle or fight is a critical
element of the plot?
o ODE: Music: Level II: 8CE: Describe how music reflects the social
and political events of history and the role of the musician in history
and culture.
o ODE: Drama/Theatre: Level III: 2CE: Analyze a dramatic and
theatrical work in the context of its time period and culture.
 Create your own review of the opera, commenting on aspects such as the
story, the music, the performances of principal vocal artists and the chorus,
the role of the orchestra, and the visual elements of scenery, costumes and
lighting. The Blade newspaper will publish a review of Toledo Opera’s
Tosca in the Saturday, October 11th issue, both online (The Blade.com) and
in print. On what points do you agree and or disagree with the reviewer?
o ODE: Drama/Theatre: Level III: 5RE: Compare and contrast personal
and professional criticism of a specific dramatic performance.
*Ohio Department of Education Standard
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Critical Response to the Opera
Create Your Own Review
Write a review of Tosca. Use the following chart to organize your thoughts. You can be critical,
describing what you liked and what you thought needed improvement. In your review mention
the plot, the music, the singing and acting, and visual elements such as the scenery and costumes.
Notes for Review of Tosca
Music
Plot
Vocal
Artists
(quality of
voice and
acting)
Scenery and
Costumes
Overall
Rating in
points or
stars
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