Fortune favored Puccini, however, and the rights soon fell into his hands anyway, with Illica still on board as co-librettist with Giuseppe Giacosa (you may have heard of yet another Puccini-Illica-Giacosa partnership: a little opera called La bohème). In Tosca’s story, Puccini wrote, he saw an opera that he more or less “needed” to write.īut Puccini’s dreams of setting La Tosca to music were almost derailed when, years later, the rights to La Tosca were handed over to a different composer, who’d already lined up a libretto with erstwhile Puccini collaborator, Luigi Illica. Having seen Victorien Sardou’s French play La Tosca––a melodrama written for the eminent stage star Sarah Bernhardt––Puccini knew the piece had “opera” written all over it, and he soon began shopping for the rights to transform La Tosca into a musical work. As early as 1889, Puccini was clamoring to turn the story of a singer and her artist lover caught in a web of political intrigue into an opera. Italian maestro Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, which debuted in Rome (the city in which it takes place) in 1900, was a masterpiece several years in the making. A bass might lay down a low note when he wants to be extra menacing. A soprano may hit a really high note when she’s angry or scared. As you’ve probably guessed, there will be singing. Opera A 400-year-old genre born in Italy that was cultivated throughout Europe from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries and eventually made its way to the United States (that’s right, Americans write operas, too). We’re sure you’re already familiar with the concept of opera but, just in case you’re looking for a refresher or you want to go deeper, here are some thoughts that may be of interest: Parents, Teachers, and Caregivers: We’ve Got You Covered Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosaīased on the play La Tosca by Victorien SardouĬaption: Original poster by Alphonse Maria Mucha for the play La Tosca (1887) featuring actress Sarah Bernhardt. OPERA / 2018-2019 TOSCA TEACHER AND PARENT GUIDE

Tosca opera composer