Puccini’s Tosca is one of the two operas being staged in ETO’s spring tour, and while the work with its Roman backdrop is often produced in the grandest of settings, its three acts involve only a handful of characters in small spaces which have the potential to be both safe and fearful.
The production will call on ETO’s strengths: fluid acting, communicative singing, and designs that conjure striking effects out of apparently simple elements.
Directing is the highly respected Blanche McIntyre, whose recent successes have included As You Like It (2015) and The Comedy of Errors (2014) at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Tosca is set in Rome in June 1800, a dangerous time and place: the city is unstable as Napolean drives through Europe, and spies and enemies are everywhere. Against this perilous background, artists – here, Cavaradossi – and singers – here, Floria Tosca – try to stay true to their calling and their beliefs while their place in the public eye puts them at risk.
When the chief of police, Scarpia, takes a fancy to Tosca and suspects her lover Cavaradossi of harbouring a rebel, glamorous surroundings conceal terrible acts and outcomes.
Packed with soaring tunes and underpinned by terrific orchestral effects, musically it is one of the most powerful operas in the repertoire.
Tosca is sung in Italian, with English surtitles, Michael Rosewell conducts.
| What | Tosca, English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire |
| Where | Hackney Empire, 291 Mare Street, London, E8 1EJ | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Hackney Central (overground) |
| When |
04 Mar 17 – 09 Mar 17, 7:30 PM – 10:15 PM |
| Price | £10 - £35 |
| Website | Click here for more information and booking |
