Editing Tosca (section)

=== Critical reception ===
The enduring popularity of ''Tosca'' has not been matched by consistent critical enthusiasm. After the premiere, Ippolito Valetta of ''Nuova antologia'' wrote, "<nowiki>[Puccini]</nowiki> finds in his palette all colours, all shades; in his hands, the instrumental texture becomes completely supple, the gradations of sonority are innumerable, the blend unfailingly grateful to the ear."<ref name="packed" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Valetta|title=Rassegna Musicale|journal=Nuova Antologia|date=1900|volume=85 of 169}}</ref> However, one critic described act&nbsp;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".<ref name="noise">Phillips-Matz, p. 119</ref>

The critics gave 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.<ref name=GreenfieldH-pp-125-126>Greenfeld, pp. 125–126</ref> In ''[[The Musical Times]]'', Puccini's score was admired for its sincerity and "strength of utterance."<ref>{{cite journal
| title = The Royal Opera: Puccini's opera ''La Tosca''
| journal = [[The Musical Times]]
| pages = 536–537
| location = London
| date = 1 August 1900
}}</ref> After the 1903 Paris opening, the composer [[Paul Dukas]] thought the work lacked cohesion and style, while [[Gabriel Fauré]] was offended by "disconcerting vulgarities".<ref name=GreenfieldH-pp-125-126 /><ref name=GreenfieldH-pp-138-139 /> In the 1950s, the young musicologist [[Joseph Kerman]] described ''Tosca'' as a "shabby little shocker.";<ref name="Kerman, p. 205"/> in response the conductor [[Thomas Beecham]] remarked that anything Kerman says about Puccini "can safely be ignored".<ref>Carner, p. 468</ref> 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 the subtleties of Sardou's original plot are handled "very lamely", so that "much of what happens, and why, is unintelligible to the spectator".<ref>Newman, pp. 188, 230–231</ref> 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".<ref>Newman, p. 465</ref> Opera scholar [[Julian Budden]] remarks on Puccini's "inept handling of the political element", but still hails the work as "a triumph of pure theatre".<ref name="bud222" /> Music critic [[Charles Osborne (music writer)|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".<ref name="Os143">Osborne, p. 143</ref> The work remains popular today: according to [[Operabase]], it ranks as fifth in the world with 540 performances given in the five seasons 2009–10 to 2013–14.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002333/http://operabase.com/visual.cgi?lang=en&splash=t&go=go "Statistics 2013/14"], [[Operabase]]</ref>