Tosca

„Tosca” . An opera-thriller set against the monumental scenery of the Eternal City. Three striking protagonists—every ambitious performer’s dream: Tosca, Cavaradossi, and Scarpia—bound together in an inextricable embrace of love, betrayal, and death. The lofty ideals and celebration of beauty embodied by the two lovers collide with a cruel reality ruled by the jealous chief of the Roman police.

The librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, adapting the prose of Victorien Sardou and his La Tosca, succeeded in preserving the story’s dynamic pace and the tragic arc of the singer Floria Tosca. The opera holds the audience in suspense until the very end—despite the musical narration that so often slows the action on stage. Its brutal realism reveals how an unfortunate chain of events can turn life upside down, awakening inner demons we never knew existed.

„Tosca” is a work that leaves no one indifferent. It moves, captivates, and confronts the audience with inescapable emotions. It is a world of extreme choices and tensions, where love, power, and freedom intertwine into a single, unsettling narrative,” says the Director of the Kraków Opera, Prof. Piotr Sułkowski, PhD.

The opera by Giacomo Puccini rightfully holds its place among the most frequently performed works on opera stages worldwide. Over its 71-year history, the Kraków Opera has returned to it many times — this time entrusting the production to a woman:

This masterpiece inspired us to revisit the classic tale of the struggle between good and evil. What at first glance appears to be a simple love triangle unfolds into a complex tragedy, interwoven with political intrigue, love, and jealousy. At the beginning of the opera, Tosca is a woman of integrity, living in perfect harmony with her faith, her love, her art, and life itself. Yet within less than twelve hours, everything collapses. Her entire world falls apart, and nothing remains of her faith or of what she once believed in says the stage director Julia Pevzner.

Audiences, regardless of age, love this story without a happy ending—rich in familiar, lyrical arias. For how could one leave the theatre without at least silently humming “E lucevan le stelle…”?

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WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT DURING THE PERFORMANCE? 

• loud sounds imitating gunfire
• scenes of violence