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112-506: Puccini saw Sardou's play when it was touring Italy in 1889 and, after some vacillation, obtained the rights to turn the work into an opera in 1895. Turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his librettists and publisher. Tosca premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances. Despite indifferent reviews from

224-512: A "shabby little shocker"—the power of its score and the inventiveness of its orchestration have been widely acknowledged. The dramatic force of Tosca and its characters continues to fascinate both performers and audiences, and the work remains one of the most frequently performed operas. Many recordings of the work have been issued, both of studio and live performances. The French playwright Victorien Sardou wrote more than 70 plays, almost all of them successful, and none of them performed today. In

336-500: A Jesu Christo in 1821. Pius VII asserted that Freemasons must be excommunicated and it linked them with the Carbonari, an anti-clerical revolutionary group in Italy. All members of the Carbonari were also excommunicated. His concerns about the work of non-Catholic bible societies were acknowledged by Pope Gregory XVI in the latter's 1844 encyclical letter Inter Praecipuas . Pius VII

448-507: A Roman premiere for the opera, even though this meant that Arturo Toscanini could not conduct it as Puccini had planned—Toscanini was fully engaged at La Scala in Milan. Leopoldo Mugnone was appointed to conduct. The accomplished (but temperamental) soprano Hariclea Darclée was selected for the title role; Eugenio Giraldoni , whose father had originated many Verdi roles, became the first Scarpia. The young Enrico Caruso had hoped to create

560-451: A collection of songs interrupted by recitative or spoken dialogue . Examples of the modern trend towards through-composed works in musical theater include the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Claude-Michel Schönberg . In musical theater, works with clear delineations between songs yet no spoken dialogue – such as Les Misérables or Hamilton – are usually instead referred to by the term " through-sung ". While through-composed form

672-473: A compromise candidate. On 14 March 1800, Chiaramonti was elected pope, certainly not the choice of die-hard opponents of the French Revolution , and took as his pontifical name Pius VII in honour of his immediate predecessor. He was crowned on 21 March, in the adjacent monastery church , by means of a rather unusual ceremony, wearing a papier-mâché papal tiara . The French had seized the tiaras held by

784-572: A fall in the papal apartments and was bedridden from that point onward. In his final weeks he would often lose consciousness and would mutter the names of the cities that he had been ferried away to by the French forces. With the Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi at his side, Pius VII died on 20 August at 5 a.m. He was briefly interred in the Vatican Grottoes but was later buried in

896-560: A friend to have a "good romanesco poet" write some words; eventually the poet and folklorist Luigi "Giggi" Zanazzo  [ it ] wrote the verse which, after slight modification, was placed in the opera. In October 1899, Ricordi realized that some of the music for Cavaradossi's act 3 aria, "O dolci mani" was borrowed from music Puccini had cut from his early opera, Edgar and demanded changes. Puccini defended his music as expressive of what Cavaradossi must be feeling at that point, and offered to come to Milan to play and sing act 3 for

1008-435: A gondola, and that she is asking the gondolier for silence. Sardou refused to consider this change, insisting that as in the play, Tosca must throw herself from the parapet to her death. Puccini agreed with Sardou, telling him that the mad scene would have the audiences anticipate the ending and start moving towards the cloakrooms. Puccini pressed his librettists hard, and Giacosa issued a series of melodramatic threats to abandon

1120-460: A knife from the supper table. Scarpia triumphantly strides toward Tosca. When he begins to embrace her, she stabs him, crying "this is Tosca's kiss!" Once she's certain he's dead, she ruefully says "now I forgive him." She removes the safe-conduct from his pocket, lights candles in a gesture of piety, and places a crucifix on the body before leaving. The upper parts of the Castel Sant'Angelo , early

1232-485: A large amount of dialogue and exposition. While the broad details of the play are present in the opera's plot, the original work contains many more characters and much detail not present in the opera. In the play the lovers are portrayed as though they were French: the character Floria Tosca is closely modelled on Bernhardt's personality, while her lover Cavaradossi, of Roman descent, is born in Paris. Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa ,

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1344-656: A monument in St. Peter's Basilica after his funeral on 25 August. An application to commence beatification proceedings were lodged to the Holy See on 10 July 2006 and received the approval of Cardinal Camillo Ruini (the Vicar of Rome ) who transferred the request to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints . The Congregation - on 24 February 2007 - approved the opening of the cause responding to

1456-665: A new staging, which premiered with Angela Gheorghiu . Callas had first sung Tosca at age 18 in a performance given in Greek, in the Greek National Opera in Athens on 27 August 1942. Tosca was also her last on-stage operatic role, in a special charity performance at the Royal Opera House on 7 May 1965. Among non-traditional productions, Luca Ronconi , in 1996 at La Scala, used distorted and fractured scenery to represent

1568-1073: A saint, and he was granted the title Servant of God . Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti was born in Cesena in 1742, the youngest son of Count Scipione Chiaramonti (30 April 1698 – 13 September 1750). His mother, Giovanna Coronata (d. 22 November 1777), was the daughter of the Marquess Ghini. Though his family was of noble status, they were not wealthy but rather, were of middle-class stock. His maternal grandparents were Barnaba Eufrasio Ghini and Isabella de' conti Aguselli. His paternal grandparents were Giacinto Chiaramonti (1673–1725) and Ottavia Maria Altini; his paternal great-grandparents were Scipione Chiaramonti (1642–1677) and Ottavia Maria Aldini. His paternal great-great-grandparents were Chiaramonte Chiaramonti and Polissena Marescalchi. His siblings were Giacinto Ignazio (19 September 1731 – 7 June 1805), Tommaso (19 December 1732 – 8 December 1799) and Ottavia (1 June 1738 – 7 May 1814). Like his brothers, he attended

1680-666: A total of five saints. On 24 May 1807, Pius VII canonized Angela Merici , Benedict the Moor , Colette Boylet , Francis Caracciolo and Hyacintha Mariscotti . He beatified a total of 27 individuals including Joseph Oriol , Berardo dei Marsi , Giuseppe Maria Tomasi and Crispin of Viterbo . Pius VII created 99 cardinals in nineteen consistories including notable ecclesial figures of that time such as Ercole Consalvi, Bartolomeo Pacca , and Carlo Odescalchi . The Pope also named his two immediate successors as cardinals: Annibale della Genga and Francesco Saverio Castiglioni (the latter of whom it

1792-437: A woman, using clothes left in the chapel by his sister. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti a key to his villa, suggesting that he hide in a disused well in the garden. The sound of a cannon signals that Angelotti's escape has been discovered. He and Cavaradossi hasten out of the church. The Sacristan re-enters with choristers, celebrating the news that Napoleon has apparently been defeated at Marengo. The celebrations cease abruptly with

1904-525: Is brought in, and an interrogation ensues. As the painter steadfastly denies knowing anything about Angelotti's escape, Tosca's voice is heard singing a celebratory cantata elsewhere in the Palace. She enters the apartment in time to see Cavaradossi being escorted to an antechamber. All he has time to say is that she mustn't tell them anything. Scarpia then claims she can save her lover from indescribable pain if she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. She resists, but

2016-472: Is especially characteristic of the literature of the art-song, where such works are contrasted with strophic settings.) Many examples of this form can be found in Schubert 's lieder , in which the words of a poem are set to music, and each line is different. In his lied " Erlkönig ", in which the setting proceeds to a different musical arrangement for each new stanza and whenever the piece comes to each character,

2128-471: Is most noticeable in musical settings of poems, in contrast to the often used strophic form (AAA). Through-composed songs have different music for each stanza of the lyrics . The German word durchkomponiert is also used to indicate this concept. Musicologist James Webster defines through-composed music in the following manner: In general usage, a 'through-composed' work is one based on run-on movements without internal repetitions. (The distinction

2240-399: Is said Pius VII and his successor would refer to as "Pius VIII"). In addition, Pius VII named 12 cardinals whom he reserved " in pectore ". One died before his nomination could ever be published (he was originally nominated in the 1804 consistory), Marino Carafa di Belvedere resigned his cardinalate on 24 August 1807 upon citing a lack of family descendance, and Carlo Odescalchi resigned

2352-566: Is very uncommon in popular music, several notable examples do exist: Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( Italian : Pio VII ; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti ; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again from 1814 to his death. Chiaramonti

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2464-548: The Angelus sounds. The painter Mario Cavaradossi arrives to continue work on his picture of Mary Magdalene . The Sacristan identifies a likeness between the portrait and a blonde-haired woman who has been visiting the church recently (unknown to him, it is Angelotti's sister the Marchesa). Cavaradossi describes the "hidden harmony" (" Recondita armonia ") in the contrast between the blonde beauty of his painting and his dark-haired lover,

2576-662: The College of Cardinals and to the office of Cardinal Secretary of State . Consalvi immediately left for France, where he was able to negotiate the Concordat of 1801 with the First Consul Napoleon . While not effecting a return to the old Christian order, the treaty did provide certain civil guarantees to the Church, acknowledging "the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion" as that of

2688-565: The Concordat of 1801 , through which he succeeded in guaranteeing religious freedom for Catholics living in France, and was present at his coronation as Emperor of the French in 1804. In 1809, however, during the Napoleonic Wars , Napoleon once again invaded the Papal States , resulting in his excommunication through the papal bull Quum memoranda . Pius VII was taken prisoner and transported to France . He remained there until 1814 when, after

2800-530: The French Revolutionary Army invaded Italy in 1797, Cardinal Chiaramonti counseled temperance and submission to the newly created Cisalpine Republic . In a letter that he addressed to the people of his diocese, Chiaramonti asked them to comply "... in the current circumstances of change of government (...)" to the authority of the victorious general Commander-in-Chief of the French army. In his Christmas homily that year, he asserted that there

2912-497: The French Revolutionary Wars , French troops under Louis-Alexandre Berthier invaded Rome and captured Pope Pius VI , taking him as a prisoner to France, where he died in 1799. The following year, after a sede vacante period lasting approximately six months, Chiaramonti was elected to the papacy, taking the name Pius VII. Pius at first attempted to take a cautious approach in dealing with Napoleon. With him he signed

3024-492: The Papal States in 1809 and took Pius VII as their prisoner, exiling him to Savona . On 15 November 1809 Pius VII consecrated the church at La Voglina, Valenza , Piedmont with the intention of the Villa La Voglina becoming his spiritual base whilst in exile. Unfortunately his residency was short lived once Napoleon became aware of his intentions of establishing a permanent base and he was soon exiled to France. Despite this,

3136-621: The Pincian Hill . The pope also made sure Rome was a place for artists and the leading artists of the time like Antonio Canova and Peter von Cornelius . He also enriched the Vatican Library with numerous manuscripts and books. It was Pius VII who adopted the yellow and white flag of the Holy See as a response to the Napoleonic invasion of 1809. Throughout his pontificate, Pius VII canonized

3248-541: The Royal Opera House , Covent Garden, on 12 July, with Milka Ternina and Fernando De Lucia as the doomed lovers and Antonio Scotti as Scarpia. Puccini wrote that Tosca was "[a] complete triumph", and Ricordi's London representative quickly signed a contract to take Tosca to New York. The premiere at the Metropolitan Opera was on 4 February 1901, with De Lucia's replacement by Giuseppe Cremonini

3360-749: The United States ' undertaking of the First Barbary War to suppress the Muslim Barbary pirates along the southern Mediterranean coast, ending their kidnapping of Europeans for ransom and slavery , Pius VII declared that the United States "had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages." For the United States, he established several new dioceses in 1808 for Boston , New York City , Philadelphia and Bardstown . In 1821, he also established

3472-473: The "Grand Tune" concept, Puccini retains a limited number of set-pieces, distinguished from their musical surroundings by their memorable melodies. Even in the passages linking these "Grand Tunes", Puccini maintains a strong degree of lyricism and only rarely resorts to recitative. Budden describes Tosca as the most Wagnerian of Puccini's scores, in its use of musical leitmotifs . Unlike Wagner, Puccini does not develop or modify his motifs, nor weave them into

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3584-594: The "majority of French citizens". The main terms of the concordat between France and the pope included: As pope, he followed a policy of cooperation with the French Republic and subsequently Empire. He was present at the coronation of Napoleon in 1804. However, he was reluctant to align the Papal States trade law with that of the Continental System, and as tensions inflamed, France later occupied and annexed

3696-746: The Benedictine San Giorgio Monastery in Venice. There were three main candidates, two of whom proved to be unacceptable to the Habsburgs , whose candidate, Alessandro Mattei , could not secure sufficient votes. However, Carlo Bellisomi also was a candidate, though not favoured by Austrian cardinals; a "virtual veto" was imposed against him in the name of Francis II and carried out by Cardinal Franziskus Herzan von Harras . After several months of stalemate, Jean-Sifrein Maury proposed Chiaramonti as

3808-768: The Collegio dei Nobili in Ravenna but decided to join the Order of Saint Benedict at the age of 14 on 2 October 1756 as a novice at the Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte in Cesena. Two years after this on 20 August 1758, he became a professed member and assumed the name of Gregorio . He taught at Benedictine colleges in Parma and Rome , and was ordained a priest on 21 September 1765. A series of promotions resulted after his relative, Giovanni Angelo Braschi,

3920-408: The French are marching on Rome. Cavaradossi, unable to contain himself, gloats to Scarpia that his rule of terror will soon be at an end. This is enough for the police to consider him guilty, and they haul him away to be executed. Scarpia, now alone with Tosca, proposes a bargain: if she gives herself to him, Cavaradossi will be freed. She is revolted, and repeatedly rejects his advances, but she hears

4032-718: The French authorities to re-arrest many of the opposing prelates. Their confinement, however, lasted only a matter of weeks, as Napoleon abdicated on 11 April of that year. As soon as Pius VII returned to Rome, he immediately revived the Inquisition and the Index of Condemned Books . Cardinal Bartolomeo Pacca , who was kidnapped along with Pope Pius VII, took the office of Pro-Secretary of State in 1808 and maintained his memoirs during his exile. His memoirs, written originally in Italian, have been translated into English (two volumes) and describe

4144-422: The French were defeated, he was permitted to return to Rome, where he was greeted warmly as a hero and defender of the faith. Pius lived the remainder of his life in relative peace. His papacy saw a significant growth of the Catholic Church in the United States , where Pius established several new dioceses. Pius VII died in 1823 at age 81. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI began the process towards canonizing him as

4256-452: The Holy See when occupying Rome and forcing Pius VI into exile. The new pope then left for Rome, sailing on a barely seaworthy Austrian ship, the Bellona , which lacked even a galley . The twelve-day voyage ended at Pesaro and he proceeded to Rome. One of Pius VII's first acts was appointing the minor cleric Ercole Consalvi , who had performed so ably as secretary to the recent conclave, to

4368-422: The act 1 love duet. In August, Puccini removed several numbers from the opera, according to his biographer, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz , "cut[ting] Tosca to the bone, leaving three strong characters trapped in an airless, violent, tightly wound melodrama that had little room for lyricism". At the end of the year, Puccini wrote that he was "busting his balls" on the opera. Puccini asked clerical friends for words for

4480-445: The action. This production updates the story to a modern Mafia scenario, with special effects "worthy of a Bond film". In 1992 a television version of the opera was filmed at the locations prescribed by Puccini, at the times of day at which each act takes place. Featuring Catherine Malfitano , Plácido Domingo and Ruggero Raimondi , the performance was broadcast live throughout Europe. Luciano Pavarotti , who sang Cavaradossi from

4592-522: The afternoon, evening, and early morning of 17 and 18 June 1800. Italy had long been divided into a number of small states, with the Pope in Rome ruling the Papal States in Central Italy . Following the French Revolution , a French army under Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, entering Rome almost unopposed on 11 February 1798 and establishing a republic there. Pope Pius VI was taken prisoner, and

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4704-525: The agreement, which Ricordi then assigned to the composer Alberto Franchetti . Illica wrote a libretto for Franchetti, who was never at ease with the assignment. When Puccini once again became interested in Tosca , Ricordi was able to get Franchetti to surrender the rights so he could recommission Puccini. One story relates that Ricordi convinced Franchetti that the work was too violent to be successfully staged. A Franchetti family tradition holds that Franchetti gave

4816-449: The bullets were real. Heartbroken, she clasps her lover's lifeless body and weeps. The voices of Spoletta, Sciarrone, and the soldiers are heard, shouting that Scarpia is dead and Tosca has killed him. As the men rush in, Tosca rises, evades their clutches, and runs to the parapet. Crying "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!" ("O Scarpia, we meet before God!"), she flings herself over the edge to her death. Sardou's five-act play La Tosca contains

4928-719: The call of the Ligurian bishops. On 15 August 2007, the Holy See contacted the diocese of Savona-Noli with the news that Pope Benedict XVI had declared " nihil obstat " (nothing stands against) the cause of beatification of the late pontiff, thus opening the diocesan process for this pope's beatification. He now has the title of Servant of God . The official text declaring the opening of the cause was: " Summus Pontifex Benedictus XVI declarat, ex parte Sanctae Sedis, nihil obstare quominus in Causa Beatificationis et Canonizationis Servi Dei Pii Barnabae Gregorii VII Chiaramonti ". Work on

5040-579: The cardinalate on 21 November 1838 to enter the Society of Jesus . In 1801, according to Remigius Ritzler , Pius VII nominated Paolo Luigi Silva as a cardinal in pectore , however, he died before his name could be published. As a result, Pius VII added the Archbishop of Palermo Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte in his place. In the March 1816 consistory, the former bishop of Saint-Malo Gabriel Cortois de Pressigny

5152-523: The cause commenced the following month in gathering documentation on the late pope. He has since been elected as the patron of the Diocese of Savona and the patron of prisoners. In late 2018 the Bishop of Savona announced that the cause for Pius VII would continue following the completion of initial preparation and investigation. The bishop named a new postulator and a diocesan tribunal which would begin work into

5264-460: The cause. The formal introduction to the cause (a diocesan investigation into the late pontiff's life) was held at a Mass celebrated in the Savona diocese on 31 October 2021. The first postulator for the cause was Father Giovanni Farris (2007–18) and the current postulator since 2018 is Fr. Giovanni Margara. Pope Pius VII's monument (1831) in St. Peter's Basilica , adorning his tomb, was created by

5376-514: The character portrays its own voice register and tonality. Another example within instrumental music is Haydn 's ' Farewell Symphony '. The term "through-composed" is also applied to opera and musical theater to indicate a work that consists of an uninterrupted stream of music from beginning to end, as in the operas of Wagner . This stands in contrast to the practice, as for example occurs in Mozart's Italian - and German-language operas, of having

5488-623: The church of Sant'Andrea della Valle Cesare Angelotti, former consul of the Roman Republic and now an escaped political prisoner , runs into the church and hides in the Attavanti private chapel – his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, has left a key to the chapel hidden at the feet of the statue of the Madonna . The elderly Sacristan enters and begins cleaning. The Sacristan kneels in prayer as

5600-566: The church singing the Te Deum ; exclaiming 'Tosca, you make me forget even God!', Scarpia joins the chorus in the prayer. Scarpia's apartment in the Palazzo Farnese , that evening Scarpia, at supper, sends a note to Tosca asking her to come to his apartment, anticipating that two of his goals will soon be fulfilled at once. His agent, Spoletta, arrives to report that Angelotti remains at large, but Cavaradossi has been arrested for questioning. He

5712-724: The community, as monastic communities generally felt it was not in keeping with the Rule of St. Benedict . He served as librarian at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls . In December 1782, the pope appointed Dom Gregory as the Bishop of Tivoli , near Rome . Pius VI soon named him, in February 1785, the Cardinal-Priest of San Callisto , and as the Bishop of Imola , an office he held until 1816. When

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5824-583: The congregation to mutter at the start of the act 1 Te Deum ; when nothing they provided satisfied him, he supplied the words himself. For the Te Deum music, he investigated the melodies to which the hymn was set in Roman churches, and sought to reproduce the cardinal's procession authentically, even to the uniforms of the Swiss Guards . He adapted the music to the exact pitch of the great bell of St. Peter's Basilica , and

5936-444: The critics, the opera was an immediate success with the public. Musically, Tosca is structured as a through-composed work, with arias , recitative , choruses and other elements musically woven into a seamless whole. Puccini used Wagnerian leitmotifs to identify characters, objects and ideas. While critics have often dismissed the opera as a facile melodrama with confusions of plot—musicologist Joseph Kerman famously called it

6048-412: The day after the premiere, "the great fuss and the large amount of money for the bells have constituted an additional folly, because it passes completely unnoticed". Nevertheless, the bells provide a source of trouble and expense to opera companies performing Tosca to this day. In act 2, when Tosca sings offstage the cantata that celebrates the supposed defeat of Napoleon, Puccini was tempted to follow

6160-401: The dioceses of Charleston , Richmond and Cincinnati . On 3 June 1816, Pius VII condemned the works of Melkite bishop Germanos Adam . Adam's writings supported conciliarism , the view that the authority of ecumenical councils was greater than that of the papacy. In 1822, Pius VII reached his 80th birthday and his health was visibly declining. On 6 July 1823, he fractured his hip in

6272-688: The drama". Other motifs identify Tosca herself, the love of Tosca and Cavaradossi, the fugitive Angelotti, the semi-comical character of the sacristan in act 1 and the theme of torture in act 2. Through-composed#Opera and musicals In the theory of musical form , through-composed music is a continuous, non- sectional , and non- repetitive piece of music. The term is typically used to describe songs, but can also apply to instrumental music. While most musical forms such as ternary form (ABA), rondo form (ABACABA), and sonata form (ABA') rely on repetition, through-composed music does not re-use material (ABCD). This constant introduction of new material

6384-450: The drums outside announcing an execution. As Scarpia awaits her decision, she prays, asking why God has abandoned her in her hour of need: " Vissi d'arte " ("I lived for art"). She tries to offer money, but Scarpia is not interested in that kind of bribe: he wants Tosca herself. Spoletta returns with the news that Angelotti has killed himself upon discovery, and that everything is in place for Cavaradossi's execution. Scarpia hesitates to give

6496-518: The early 1880s Sardou began a collaboration with actress Sarah Bernhardt , whom he provided with a series of historical melodramas. His third Bernhardt play, La Tosca , which premiered in Paris on 24 November 1887, and in which she starred throughout Europe, was an outstanding success, with more than 3,000 performances in France alone. Puccini had seen La Tosca at least twice, in Milan and Turin. On 7 May 1889 he wrote to his publisher, Giulio Ricordi , begging him to get Sardou's permission for

6608-453: The entry of Scarpia, his henchman Spoletta and several police agents. They have heard that Angelotti has sought refuge in the church. Scarpia orders a search, and the empty food basket and a fan bearing the Attavanti coat of arms are found in the chapel. Scarpia questions the Sacristan, and his suspicions are aroused further when he learns that Cavaradossi has been in the church; Scarpia mistrusts

6720-424: The field of battle. Their commander, Michael von Melas , sent this news south towards Rome. However, fresh French troops arrived in the late afternoon, and Napoleon attacked the tired Austrians. As Melas retreated in disarray with the remains of his army, he sent a second courier south with the revised message. The Neapolitans abandoned Rome, and the city spent the next fourteen years under French domination. Inside

6832-474: The final libretto, relatively minor in the first two acts but much more appreciable in the third, where the description of the Roman dawn that opens the third act is much longer, and Cavaradossi's tragic aria, the eventual "E lucevan le stelle", has different words. The 1896 libretto also offers a different ending, in which Tosca does not die but instead goes mad. In the final scene, she cradles her lover's head in her lap and hallucinates that she and her Mario are on

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6944-453: The firing squad shoots at him with blanks. He promises he will fall "like Tosca in the theatre". Cavaradossi is led away, and Tosca watches with increasing impatience as the firing squad prepares. The men fire, and Tosca praises the realism of his fall, "Ecco un artista!" ("What an actor!"). Once the soldiers have left, she hurries towards Cavaradossi, urging him, "Mario, su presto!" ("Mario, up quickly!"), only to find that Scarpia betrayed her:

7056-637: The first step in the restoration of the order. On 31 July 1814, he signed the papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum which universally restored the Society of Jesus to its previous provinces, and the Jesuits began to resume their work in those countries. He appointed Tadeusz Brzozowski as the Superior General of the order . Pius VII joined the declaration of the 1815 Congress of Vienna , represented by Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi , and urged

7168-465: The following morning A shepherd boy is heard offstage singing (in Romanesco dialect ) "Io de' sospiri" ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound for matins . The guards lead Cavaradossi in and a jailer informs him that he has one hour to live. He declines to see a priest, but asks permission to write a letter to Tosca. He begins to write, but is soon overwhelmed by memories: " E lucevan le stelle " ("And

7280-452: The grasp of Scarpia. This was a great success, and Jeritza sang the aria while on the floor thereafter. Of her successors, opera enthusiasts tend to consider Maria Callas as the supreme interpreter of the role, largely on the basis of her performances at the Royal Opera House in 1964, with Tito Gobbi as Scarpia. This production, by Franco Zeffirelli , remained in continuous use at Covent Garden for more than 40 years until replaced in 2006 by

7392-579: The human person. In his letter to the king of Portugal, he wrote: "the pope regrets that this trade in blacks, that he believed having ceased, is still exercised in some regions and even more cruel way. He begs and begs the King of Portugal that it implement all its authority and wisdom to extirpate this unholy and abominable shame." Under Napoleonic rule, the Jewish Roman Ghetto had been abolished and Jews were free to live and move where they would. Following

7504-412: The instrumental texture becomes completely supple, the gradations of sonority are innumerable, the blend unfailingly grateful to the ear." However, one critic described act 2 as overly long and wordy; another echoed Illica and Giacosa in stating that the rush of action did not permit enough lyricism, to the great detriment of the music. A third called the opera "three hours of noise". The critics gave

7616-403: The late 1970s, appeared in a special performance in Rome, with Plácido Domingo as conductor, on 14 January 2000, to celebrate the opera's centenary. Pavarotti's last stage performance was as Cavaradossi at the Met, on 13 March 2004. Early Cavaradossis played the part as if the painter believed that he was reprieved, and would survive the "mock" execution. Beniamino Gigli , who performed

7728-471: The music symphonically, but uses them to refer to characters, objects and ideas, and as reminders within the narrative. The most potent of these motifs is the sequence of three very loud and strident chords which open the opera and which represent the evil character of Scarpia—or perhaps, Charles Osborne proposes, the violent atmosphere that pervades the entire opera. Budden has suggested that Scarpia's tyranny, lechery and lust form "the dynamic engine that ignites

7840-492: The only change from the London cast. For its French premiere at the Opéra-Comique on 13 October 1903, the 72-year-old Sardou took charge of all the action on the stage. Puccini was delighted with the public's reception of the work in Paris, despite adverse comments from critics. The opera was subsequently premiered at venues throughout Europe, the Americas, Australia and the Far East; by the outbreak of war in 1914 it had been performed in more than 50 cities worldwide. Among

7952-477: The opera began again, and proceeded without further disruption. The performance, while not quite the triumph that Puccini had hoped for, was generally successful, with numerous encores. Much of the critical and press reaction was lukewarm, often blaming Illica's libretto. In response, Illica condemned Puccini for treating his librettists "like stagehands" and reducing the text to a shadow of its original form. Nevertheless, any public doubts about Tosca soon vanished;

8064-405: The order, looking to Tosca, and despairingly she agrees to submit to him. He tells Spoletta to arrange a mock execution, both men repeating that it will be "as we did with Count Palmieri", and Spoletta exits. Tosca insists that Scarpia must provide safe-conduct out of Rome for herself and Cavaradossi. He easily agrees to this and heads to his desk. While he's drafting the document, she quietly takes

8176-690: The painter, and believes him complicit in Angelotti's escape. When Tosca arrives looking for her lover, Scarpia artfully arouses her jealous instincts by implying a relationship between the painter and the Marchesa Attavanti. He draws Tosca's attention to the fan and suggests that someone must have surprised the lovers in the chapel. Tosca falls for his deceit; enraged, she rushes off to confront Cavaradossi. Scarpia orders Spoletta and his agents to follow her, assuming she will lead them to Cavaradossi and Angelotti. He privately gloats as he reveals his intentions to possess Tosca and execute Cavaradossi. A procession enters

8288-444: The part that way. Gobbi, who in his later years often directed the opera, commented, "Unlike Floria, Cavaradossi knows that Scarpia never yields, though he pretends to believe in order to delay the pain for Tosca." The enduring popularity of Tosca has not been matched by consistent critical enthusiasm. After the premiere, Ippolito Valetta of Nuova antologia wrote, "[Puccini] finds in his palette all colours, all shades; in his hands,

8400-453: The piece. Nonetheless, Ricordi reached terms with Sardou and assigned the librettist Luigi Illica to write a scenario for an adaptation. In 1891, Illica advised Puccini against the project, most likely because he felt the play could not be successfully adapted to a musical form. When Sardou expressed his unease at entrusting his most successful work to a relatively new composer whose music he did not like, Puccini took offence. He withdrew from

8512-484: The playwright who joined the project to polish the verses, needed not only to cut back the play drastically, but to make the characters' motivations and actions suitable for Italian opera. Giacosa and Puccini repeatedly clashed over the condensation, with Giacosa feeling that Puccini did not really want to complete the project. The first draft libretto that Illica produced for Puccini resurfaced in 2000 after being lost for many years. It contains considerable differences from

8624-467: The political element", but still hails the work as "a triumph of pure theatre". Music critic Charles Osborne ascribes Tosca' s immense popularity with audiences to the taut effectiveness of its melodramatic plot, the opportunities given to its three leading characters to shine vocally and dramatically, and the presence of two great arias in "Vissi d'arte" and "E lucevan le stelle". The work remains popular today: according to Operabase , it ranks as fifth in

8736-505: The pope continued to refer to Napoleon as "my dear son" but added that he was "a somewhat stubborn son, but a son still". This exile ended only when Pius VII signed the Concordat of Fontainebleau in 1813. One result of this new treaty was the release of the exiled cardinals, including Consalvi, who, upon re-joining the papal retinue, persuaded Pius VII to revoke the concessions he had made in it. This Pius VII began to do in March 1814, which led

8848-572: The pope from naming him to the Sacred College. On 15 August 1811 - the Feast of the Assumption - it is recorded that the pope celebrated Mass and was said to have entered a trance and began to levitate in a manner that drew him to the altar. This particular episode aroused great wonder and awe among attendants which included the French soldiers guarding him who were in disbelief of what had occurred. On

8960-455: The premiere was followed by twenty performances, all given to packed houses. The Milan premiere at La Scala took place under Toscanini on 17 March 1900. Darclée and Giraldoni reprised their roles; the prominent tenor Giuseppe Borgatti replaced De Marchi as Cavaradossi. The opera was a great success at La Scala, and played to full houses. Puccini travelled to London for the British premiere at

9072-495: The prominent early Toscas was Emmy Destinn , who sang the role regularly in a long-standing partnership with the tenor Enrico Caruso . Maria Jeritza , over many years at the Met and in Vienna, brought her own distinctive style to the role, and was said to be Puccini's favorite Tosca. Jeritza was the first to deliver "Vissi d'arte" from a prone position, having fallen to the stage while eluding

9184-486: The publisher. Ricordi was overwhelmed by the completed act 3 prelude, which he received in early November, and softened his views, though he was still not completely happy with the music for "O dolci mani". In any event time was too short before the scheduled January 1900 premiere to make any further changes. By December 1899, Tosca was in rehearsal at the Teatro Costanzi . Because of the Roman setting, Ricordi arranged

9296-686: The real-life consul Liborio Angelucci . In September 1799 the French, who had protected the republic, withdrew from Rome. As they left, troops of the Kingdom of Naples occupied the city. In May 1800 Napoleon, by then the undisputed leader of France, brought his troops across the Alps to Italy once again. On 14 June his army met the Austrian forces at the Battle of Marengo (near Alessandria ). Austrian troops were initially successful; by mid-morning they were in control of

9408-547: The restoration of Papal rule, Pius VII re-instituted the confinement of Jews to the Ghetto, having the doors closed at nighttime. Pius VII issued an encyclical Diu satis in order to advocate a return to the values of the Gospel and universalized the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows for 15 September. He condemned Freemasonry and the movement of the Carbonari in the encyclical Ecclesiam

9520-406: The role many times in his forty-year operatic career, was one of the first to assume that the painter knows, or strongly suspects, that he will be shot. Gigli wrote in his autobiography: "he is certain that these are their last moments together on earth, and that he is about to die". Domingo, the dominant Cavaradossi of the 1970s and 1980s, concurred, stating in a 1985 interview that he had long played

9632-597: The role of Cavaradossi, but was passed over in favour of the more experienced Emilio De Marchi . The performance was to be directed by Nino Vignuzzi, with stage designs by Adolfo Hohenstein . At the time of the premiere, Italy had experienced political and social unrest for several years. The start of the Holy Year in December 1899 attracted the religious to the city, but also brought threats from anarchists and other anticlericals. Police received warnings of an anarchist bombing of

9744-819: The singer Floria Tosca. The Sacristan mumbles his disapproval before leaving. Angelotti emerges and tells Cavaradossi, an old friend who has republican sympathies, that he is being pursued by the Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia. Cavaradossi promises to assist him after nightfall. Tosca's voice is heard, calling to Cavaradossi. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti his basket of food and Angelotti hurriedly returns to his hiding place. Tosca enters and suspiciously asks Cavaradossi what he has been doing – she thinks that he has been talking to another woman. After Cavaradossi reassures her, Tosca tries to persuade him to take her to his villa that evening: "Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta" ("Do you not long for our little cottage"). She then expresses jealousy over

9856-415: The sound of screams coming through the door eventually breaks her down, and she tells Scarpia to search the well in the garden of Cavaradossi's villa. Scarpia orders his torturers to cease, and the bloodied painter is dragged back in. He is devastated to discover that Tosca has betrayed his friend. Sciarrone, another agent, then enters with news: there was an unexpected turn on the battlefield at Marengo, and

9968-495: The stars shone"). Tosca enters and shows him the safe-conduct pass she has obtained, adding that she has killed Scarpia and that the imminent execution is a sham. Cavaradossi must feign death, after which they can flee together before Scarpia's body is discovered. Cavaradossi is awestruck by his gentle lover's courage: "O dolci mani" ("Oh sweet hands"). The pair ecstatically imagine the life they will share, far from Rome. Tosca then anxiously coaches Cavaradossi on how to play dead when

10080-403: The subtleties of Sardou's original plot are handled "very lamely", so that "much of what happens, and why, is unintelligible to the spectator". Overall, however, Newman delivered a more positive judgement: "[Puccini's] operas are to some extent a mere bundle of tricks, but no one else has performed the same tricks nearly as well". Opera scholar Julian Budden remarks on Puccini's "inept handling of

10192-456: The suppression of the Atlantic slave trade . This pertained particularly to places such as Spain and Portugal where slavery was economically very important. The pope wrote a letter to King Louis XVIII of France dated 20 September 1814 and to King John VI of Portugal in 1823 to urge the end of slavery. He condemned the slave trade and defined the sale of people as an injustice to the dignity of

10304-529: The text of Sardou's play and use the music of Giovanni Paisiello , before finally writing his own imitation of Paisello's style . It was not until 29 September 1899 that Puccini was able to mark the final page of the score as completed. Despite the notation, there was additional work to be done, such as the shepherd boy's song at the start of act 3. Puccini, who always sought to put local colour in his works, wanted that song to be in Roman dialect . The composer asked

10416-494: The theatre, and instructed Mugnone (who had survived a theatre bombing in Barcelona), that in an emergency he was to strike up the royal march . The unrest caused the premiere to be postponed by one day, to 14 January. By 1900, the premiere of a Puccini opera was a national event. Many Roman dignitaries attended, as did Queen Margherita , though she arrived late, after the first act. The Prime Minister of Italy , Luigi Pelloux

10528-607: The twists of fate reflected in the plot. Jonathan Miller , in a 1986 production for the 49th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , transferred the action to Nazi-occupied Rome in 1944, with Scarpia as head of the fascist police. In Philipp Himmelmann's  [ de ] production on the Lake Stage at the Bregenz Festival in 2007 the act 1 set, designed by Johannes Leiacker, was dominated by a huge Orwellian "Big Brother" eye. The iris opens and closes to reveal surreal scenes beyond

10640-501: The ups and down of their exile and the triumphant return to Rome in 1814. Pius VII's imprisonment did in fact come with one bright side for him. It gave him an aura that recognized him as a living martyr, so that when he arrived back in Rome in May 1814, he was greeted most warmly by the Italians as a hero. From the time of his election as pope to the fall of Napoleon in 1815, Pius VII's reign

10752-472: The woman in the painting, whom she recognises as the Marchesa Attavanti. Cavaradossi explains the likeness; he has merely observed the Marchesa at prayer in the church. He reassures Tosca of his fidelity and asks her what eyes could be more beautiful than her own: "Qual'occhio al mondo" ("What eyes in the world"). After Tosca has left, Angelotti reappears and discusses with the painter his plan to flee disguised as

10864-466: The work a generally kinder reception in London, where The Times called Puccini "a master in the art of poignant expression", and praised the "wonderful skill and sustained power" of the music. In The Musical Times , Puccini's score was admired for its sincerity and "strength of utterance." After the 1903 Paris opening, the composer Paul Dukas thought the work lacked cohesion and style, while Gabriel Fauré

10976-624: The work back as a grand gesture, saying, "He has more talent than I do." American scholar Deborah Burton contends that Franchetti gave it up simply because he saw little merit in it and could not feel the music in the play. Whatever the reason, Franchetti surrendered the rights in May 1895, and in August Puccini signed a contract to resume control of the project. According to the libretto, the action of Tosca occurs in Rome in June 1800. Sardou, in his play, dates it more precisely; La Tosca takes place in

11088-471: The work to be made into an opera: "I see in this Tosca the opera I need, with no overblown proportions, no elaborate spectacle, nor will it call for the usual excessive amount of music." Ricordi sent his agent in Paris, Emanuele Muzio , to negotiate with Sardou, who preferred that his play be adapted by a French composer. He complained about the reception La Tosca had received in Italy, particularly in Milan, and warned that other composers were interested in

11200-434: The work. The two librettists were finally able to give Puccini what they hoped was a final version of the libretto in 1898. Little work was done on the score during 1897, which Puccini devoted mostly to performances of La bohème . The opening page of the autograph Tosca score, containing the motif that would be associated with Scarpia, is dated January 1898. At Puccini's request, Giacosa irritably provided new lyrics for

11312-479: The world with 540 performances given in the five seasons 2009–10 to 2013–14. By the end of the 19th century the classic form of opera structure, in which arias , duets and other set-piece vocal numbers are interspersed with passages of recitative or dialogue, had been largely abandoned, even in Italy. Operas were " through-composed ", with a continuous stream of music which in some cases eliminated all identifiable set-pieces. In what critic Edward Greenfield calls

11424-428: Was also a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict in addition to being a well-known theologian and bishop. Chiaramonti was made Bishop of Tivoli in 1782, and resigned that position upon his appointment as Bishop of Imola in 1785. That same year, he was made a cardinal . In 1789, the French Revolution took place, and as a result a series of anti-clerical governments came into power in the country. In 1798, during

11536-513: Was among the cardinals created in pectore in the consistory, though he declined the promotion. Similarly, Giovanni Alliata declined the pope's offer for elevation in the same consistory. According to Niccolò del Re, the Vice-Camerlengo Tiberio Pacca would have been created a cardinal either in the March 1823 consistory, or a future one held by the pope. However, he suggests that a series of controversies beginning in 1820 prevented

11648-511: Was completely taken up in dealing with France. He and the Emperor were continually in conflict, often involving the French military leader's wishes for concessions to his demands. Pius VII wanted his own release from exile as well as the return of the Papal States, and, later on, the release of the 13 "Black Cardinals", i.e., the cardinals, including Consalvi, who had snubbed the marriage of Napoleon to Marie Louise , believing that his previous marriage

11760-452: Was elected Pope Pius VI (1775–99). A few years before this election occurred, in 1773, Chiaramonti became the personal confessor to Braschi. In 1776, Pius VI appointed the 34-year-old Dom Gregory, who had been teaching at the Monastery of Sant'Anselmo in Rome, as honorary abbot in commendam of his monastery. Although this was an ancient practice, it drew complaints from the monks of

11872-473: Was equally diligent when writing the music that opens act 3, in which Rome awakens to the sounds of church bells. He journeyed to Rome and went to the Castel Sant'Angelo to measure the sound of matins bells there, as they would be heard from its ramparts. Puccini had bells for the Roman dawn cast to order by four different foundries. This apparently did not have its desired effect, as Illica wrote to Ricordi on

11984-496: Was multilingual and had the ability to speak Italian, French, English and Latin . Pius VII was a man of culture and attempted to reinvigorate Rome with archaeological excavations in Ostia which revealed ruins and icons from ancient times. He also had walls and other buildings rebuilt and restored the Arch of Titus . He ordered the construction of fountains and piazzas and erected the obelisk on

12096-422: Was no opposition between a democratic form of government and being a good Catholic: "Christian virtue makes men good democrats.... Equality is not an idea of philosophers but of Christ...and do not believe that the Catholic religion is against democracy." Following the death of Pope Pius VI, by then virtually France's prisoner, at Valence in 1799, the conclave to elect his successor met on 30 November 1799 in

12208-466: Was offended by "disconcerting vulgarities". In the 1950s, the young musicologist Joseph Kerman described Tosca as a "shabby little shocker."; in response the conductor Thomas Beecham remarked that anything Kerman says about Puccini "can safely be ignored". Writing half a century after the premiere, the veteran critic Ernest Newman , while acknowledging the "enormously difficult business of boiling [Sardou's] play down for operatic purposes", thought that

12320-433: Was present, with several members of his cabinet. A number of Puccini's operatic rivals were there, including Franchetti, Pietro Mascagni , Francesco Cilea and Ildebrando Pizzetti . Shortly after the curtain was raised there was a disturbance in the back of the theatre, caused by latecomers attempting to enter the auditorium, and a shout of "Bring down the curtain!", at which Mugnone stopped the orchestra. A few moments later

12432-425: Was sent into exile on February 20, 1798. (Pius VI would die in exile in 1799, and his successor, Pius VII , who was elected in Venice on 14 March 1800, would not enter Rome until 3 July. There is thus neither a Pope nor papal government in Rome during the days depicted in the opera). The new republic was ruled by seven consuls ; in the opera this is the office formerly held by Angelotti, whose character may be based on

12544-457: Was still valid, and had been exiled and impoverished in consequence of their stand, along with several exiled or imprisoned prelates, priests, monks, nuns and other various supporters. On 7 March 1801, Pius VII issued the brief Catholicae fidei that approved the existence of the Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire and appointed its first superior general as Franciszek Kareu . This was

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