I Puccini

ITasca

I Leontyne Price
Franco Corelli
Cornell MacNeil
The Metropolitan Opera i
Orchestra and Chorus
~I Kurt Adler
France Corelli (Cavaradossi)
Franco Coralli (Cavaradossi) Puccini SONY
,.
Tasca C LASS leAl;.

Leontyne Price
Franco Corelli
Cornell MacNeil
The Metropolitan Opera
) Orchestra and Chorus

J K: Adler
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Tasca
Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi IIlica,
based on the play La Tosca by Victorien Sardou
Live performance recorded April 7, 1962

CAST (IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE)

ANGELOTTI Norman Scott

SACRISTAN Ezio Flagello
CAVARADOSSI Franco Corelli
TOSCA Leontyne Price
SCARPIA Cornell MacNeil
SPOLETTA Paul Franke
SCIARRONE George Cehanovsky
SHEPHERD Alan Fischer
JAILER Roald Reitan

The Metropolitan Opera

Orchestra and Chorus
KURT ADLER
CHORUS MASTER: Thomas P. Martin
MUSICAL PREPARATION: Jan Behr

PRODUCTION: Dino Yannopoulos

SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER: Frederick Fox
STAGE DIRECTOR: Patrick Tavernia

This production of Tosca made possible by a gift of the Metropolitan Opera Guild
DISC 1 (45:22)
Act I

1. Ah! ... Finalmente! 5:39

Angelotti, Sacristan, Cavaradossi
2. Dammi i colori! ... Recondita armonia 3:25
Cavaradossi, Sacristan
3. Ma con quei cani ... Eccelenza 2:43
Sacristan, Cavaradossi, Angelotti, Tosca
4. Mario! Mario! Mario! 5:28
Tosca, Cavaradossi
5. Or lasciami al lavoro 2:03
Cavaradossi, Tosca
6. Oual'occhio al mondo 5:24
Cavaradossi, Tosca
7. E buona la mia Tosca 5:24
Cavaradossi, Angelotti, Sacristan, Chorus
8. Un tal baccano in chiesa! 3:36
5carpia, Sacristan, Spoletta
9. Or tutto e chiaro 3:07
Scarpia, Tosca, Sacristan
10. Ed io venivo a lui tutta dogliosa 4:06
Tosca, Scarpia
11. Tre sbirri, una carrozza 4:21
Scarpia, Spoletta, Chorus
DISC 2 (70:10)
Act II
1. Tosca e un buon falco! 3:06
Spo/etta, Sctarrone
2.

3.
Ha piu forte sapore
Scarp;a, Sciarrone, Spo/etta
Meno male!
2:33

2:35
1)
Scarp;a, Spo/etta, Ceveredossi, Chorus
4. Ov'e Angelotti? 3:56
Scaroie. Ceveredossi, Spo/etta, Tosca
5. Sciarrone: che dice iI Cavalier? 2:57
Scerpis, Scierrone, Tasca, Ceveredossi
6. Orsu, Tasca, parlate 3:49
Scetpie, Tasca, Cavaraoossi, Spo/etta, Sciarrone
7. Floria! - Vittoria! Vittoria! 4:14
Ceveredossi, Tasca, Scerpie, Scierrone
8. Ouanto? - Ouanto? - IIprezzo! 4:43
Tasca, Scarp;a
9. Vissi d'arte 4:19
Tosca
10. Vedi, Ie man giunte io stendo ate! 3:09
Tasca, Scarp;a, Spo/etta
11. 10tenni la promessa 3:29
Scerpis, Tasca
12. Or gli perdono! 3:22
Tasca
 Act III

13. Introduction -10 de' sospiri 5:08

Shepherd
14. Mario Cavaradossi? A voi 4:36
Jailer, Cavaradossi
1 15. E lucevan Ie stelle
Cavaradossi
3:25

~ 16. Ah! Franchigia a Floria Tosca 2:46

Cavaradossi, Tosca

17. o dolci mani mansuete e pure 5:19

Cavaradossi, Tosca
18. E non giungono 2:39
Tosca, Cavaradossi, Jailer
19. Come e lunga I'attesa! 3:56
Tosca, Sciarrone, Spoletta
Total running time: 115 min.

For the Metropolitan Opera:

PRODUCTION SUPERVISION: Grace Row
RESTORATION: Andreas Meyer & John Fredenburg

) ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING:

PRODUCT MANAGER: Steven

Charles
Carter
Harbutt

1
For Sony Classical:
ART DIRECTION: Roxanne Slimak
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Jennifer Liebeskind

Photos courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives

This monaural recording has been digitally remastered from original source materials
has won the Battle of Marengo, a defeat for Scarpia's side. Cavaradossi shouts out his
defiance of tyranny and is dragged off to be executed. Scarpia, calmly resuming his supper,
suggests to Tosca that he would let Cavaradossi go free if she'd give herself to him. Fight-
ing off his advances, she calls on God, declaring that she has dedicated her life to art and
love ("Vissi d'arte"). Scarpia insists, when Spoletta interrupts: faced with capture, Angelotti
has killed himself. Tosca, now forced to give in or lose her lover, agrees to Scarpia's propo-
sition. The baron seemingly orders a mock execution for Cavaradossi, after which he is
to be freed. Spoletta leaves. As soon as Scarpia has written a safe-conduct for the lovers,
Tosca kills him with a knife she had found earlier on the table. Wrenching the document
from his hand, she quietly leaves the room.
Act III
At dawn, Cavaradossi awaits execution at the Castel Sant'Angelo. He bribes the jailer
to deliver a farewell letter to Tosca. Overcome with memories of love, he gives in to his
despair ("E lucevan Ie stelle"). Tosca enters. She explains to him what has happened and
the two imagine their future in freedom. As the firing squad appears, Tosca instructs
Cavaradossi how to fake his death convincingly, then hides. The soldiers fire and depart.
Tosca urges Cavaradossi to hurry, but when he doesn't move, she realizes that Scarpia has
betrayed her and that the bullets were real. Spoletta rushes in to arrest Tosca for murder.
She cries out to Scarpia and leaps from the battlement.
Reprinted courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

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SYNOPSIS

Act I
Rome, June 1800. Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner, rushes into the church of
Sant'Andrea delia Valle to hide in one of the chapels. Once he has disappeared, a sacristan
enters and then the painter Mario Cavaradossi, who sets to work on his portrait of Mary
Magdalene. The painting has been inspired by the Marchesa Attavanti, whom Cavaradossi
has seen in the church but does not know. While he works, he compares the dark-haired
beauty of his lover, the singer Floria Tosca, to that of the blonde Marchesa Attavanti ("Re-
condita armonia"). Angelotti, a member of the former Bonapartiste government, ventures
out and is recognized by Cavaradossi. The painter gives him food and hurries him back
into the chapel as Tosca is heard calling from outside. Suspicious, she jealously questions
Cavaradossi, then reminds him of their rendezvous that evening at his villa. Suddenly recog-
nizing the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting, she accuses him of being unfaithful, but he
assures her of his love. When Tosca has left, Angelotti emerges from the chapel. A cannon
signals that the police have discovered the escape, and he and Cavaradossi flee to the
painter's villa. The sacristan enters with choirboys who are preparing to sing in a Te Deum
that day celebrating a victory against Napoleon. Their excitement is silenced by the arrival
of Baron Scarpia, chief of the secret police, who is searching for Angelotti. When Tosca
comes back looking for Cavaradossi, Scarpia shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest that
he has just found. Seemingly finding her suspicions confirmed, Tosca bursts into tears.
She vows vengeance and leaves as the church fills with worshipers. Scarpia sends his men
to follow her to Cavaradossi's villa, where he thinks Angelotti is hiding ("Tre sbirri ... Una
carrozza ... "). While the congregation sings the Te Deum, Scarpia declares that he will bend
Tosca to his will.

Act"
In his study at the Palazzo Farnese, Scarpia sadistically anticipates the pleasure of having
Tosca in his power ("Ha piu forte sapore"). The spy Spoletta arrives, explaining that he was
unable to find Angelotti. Instead he brings in Cavaradossi. While Scarpia interrogates
the painter, Tosca is heard singing at a royal gala in the same building. Scarpia sends for
her and she enters just as Cavaradossi is being taken away to be tortured. Frightened by
Scarpia's questions and Cavaradossi's screams, Tosca reveals Angelotti's hiding place.
Cavaradossi is carried in, hurt and dazed. Realizing what has happened, he angrily con-
fronts Tosca, when the officer Sciarrone rushes in to announce that, in a surprise, Napoleon