Tosca

New production of the Dijon Opera

Premiered in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, Puccini’s new opera, Tosca, was a smash hit. Dominique Pitoiset gives a new reading to this famous melodrama, viewed from a political angle, by examining the omnipresence of totalitarian regimes.  

The action takes place in 1800 in the Eternal City, occupied by reactionary troops loyal to the monarchy in Naples, following Bonaparte’s victory in Marengo. The diva Floria Tosca, in order to save her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, assassinates the Machiavellian chief of police, Baron Scarpia, before suffering the posthumous vengeance of the latter. From the historic drama by Victorian Sardou all that remains is this infernal trio condemned to perdition. Will love and liberty resist tyranny and lecherous sadism? Cruelty, cynicism and passionate love are on full display in this incredible work of power and fluidity. The staging of this world-renowned masterpiece, one of the most performed operas not just by Puccini but of the entire Italian repertoire, questions the role of the artist in the face of totalitarian power, in a society muzzled by political violence with the support of complicit religious authority.

Music Giacomo Puccini
Libretto Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica,
based on the play by Victorien Sardou

Musical director Debora Waldman
Stage director Dominique Pitoiset

Dijon Bourgogne Orchestra
Dijon Opera Choir
Maîtrise de Dijon
Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine

Scenography Edoardo Sanchi
Lighting Christophe Pitoiset
Costumes Nadia Fabrizio
Dramaturgy Emilio Sala

Floria Tosca Monica Zanettin
Mario Cavaradossi Jean-François Borras
Le Baron Scarpia Dario Solari
Cesare Angelotti Sulkhan Jaiani
Spoletta Grégoire Mour
Sacristan Marc Barrard
Sciarrone Yuri Kissin
Un carceriere Jonas Yajure*

<sup>New production of the Dijon Opera
Stage sets and costumes produced by the Dijon Opera workshops
* Artist from the Dijon Opera Choir</sup>

^{Illustration © Lorenzo Mattotti}