Giacomo Puccini

Tosca

Tosca is one of Puccini’s opera that I had the privilege to direct the most times. Among the different editions, I certainly remember my first, which was staged in August 2006 in the splendid setting of Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno and whose scenography boasted the signature of the Oscar-winning Gianni Quaranta. In September of the same year, this same production was chosen to inaugurate the eighth edition of Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance and Music.
Another edition that I remember with particular fondness is the one that marks my debut in the United States as well as the rebirth of the glorious New York City Opera in January 2016.

cast

conductor

Christopher Franklin

conductor

Pacien Mazzagatti

Floria Tosca

Maria Pia Ionata

Floria Tosca

Kristin Sampson

Floria Tosca

Latonia Moore

Floria Tosca

Viktoria Yastrebova

Mario Cavaradossi

Ivan Magrì

Mario Cavaradossi

James Valenti

Mario Cavaradossi

Raffaele Abete

Scarpia

Michael Chioldi

Scarpia

Carlo Guelfi

Cesare Angelotti

Alessandro Spina

Cesare Angelotti

Christopher Job

Il sagrestano

Romano Franceschetto

Spoletta

Blagoj Nacoski

creators

Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) was immensely popular in his own lifetime, and his mature works remain staples in the repertory of most of the world’s opera companies. His operas are celebrated for their mastery of detail, sensitivity to everyday subjects, copious melody, and economy of expression. Puccini’s librettists for Tosca, Giuseppe Giacosa (1847–1906) and Luigi Illica (1857–1919), also collaborated with him on his two other most enduringly successful operas, La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. Giacosa, a dramatist, was responsible for the stories, and Illica, a poet, worked primarily on the words themselves.

Composer

Giacomo Puccini

Stage director

Lev Pugliese

Costumes

Adolfo Hohenstein

Lev Pugliese

set

Adolfo Hohenstein

Gianni Quaranta

lighting designer

Susan Roth

Ernesto Fabbriziani

producers

Rose Theater is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The performing arts complex, Frederick P. Rose Hall, was designed by Rafael Viñoly and is the basement of Deutsche Bank Center (originally Time Warner Center). Rose Hall consists of three venues: Rose Theater, The Appel Room, and Dizzy’s Club, named after trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. The Hall also contains the Irene Diamond Education Center with rehearsal and recording rooms.
Gorgeous both sonically and visually, Rose Theater utilizes ambitious elements such as a retractable concert shell ceiling and a sophisticated acoustical curtain and banner system to help tailor the sound quality of the hall for individual performances.
It was designed with the audience in mind—with three tiers, the furthest seat is no more than 90 feet from the stage.

The Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú (Grand National Theater of Peru) is a multi-purpose theatre and concert hall in Lima, Peru. It is part of the Cultural Tridium, flanked by the National Library of Peru and the Museo de la Nación. The theatre was inaugurated on 23 July 2011 . It has a capacity of up to 1500 people, and uses the latest technology in acoustics and sound engineering to support performance genres ranging from opera, philharmonic orchestras, pop stars, Broadway shows and more. The building includes rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, restaurants, cafeteria, library and rooms for various types of events.

Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance & Music began in 1999 to commemorate the 6th cycle birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. From its inception in 1999 to 2004, H.R.H. Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra was the Honorary Chairperson and then from 2004 until Her demise was its Royal Patron. From May 2008 H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn took over as the Royal Patron. All performances take place at the Thailand Cultural Centre, which is a performing arts venue in Huai Khwang District, Bangkok, Thailand.
The Thailand Cultural Centre opened on 9 October 1987 as part of celebrations for King Bhumibol’s 60th birthday.
The venue consists of two auditoriums and one outdoor stage and is used for various live performances year round. The main hall is a 2,000-seat auditorium, and is used for stage presentations, concerts, and conferences.