Editing Tosca (section)

== Reception and performance history ==

=== Premiere ===
[[File:Caruso as Cavaradossi Kobbe.jpg|thumb|upright|alt= Man, with dark hair and a curling moustache, standing in a posed position. He is wearing a long coat, with lace at the throat and cuffs.|[[Enrico Caruso]] as Cavaradossi. Passed over for the role at the premiere, he sang it many times subsequently.]]
By December 1899, ''Tosca'' was in rehearsal at the [[Teatro Costanzi]].<ref name="arturo">Budden, p. 197</ref> Because of the Roman setting, Ricordi arranged a Roman premiere for the opera,<ref name="Fisher-23" /> 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]], [[Leone Giraldoni|whose father]] had originated many [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]] roles, became the first Scarpia. The young [[Enrico Caruso]] had hoped to create the role of Cavaradossi, but was passed over in favour of the more experienced [[Emilio De Marchi (tenor)|Emilio De Marchi]].<ref name="arturo" /> The performance was to be directed by Nino Vignuzzi, with stage designs by [[Adolfo Hohenstein]].<ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=14-01-1900|match=Tosca}}</ref>

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 the theatre, and instructed Mugnone (who had survived a theatre bombing in Barcelona),<ref name="staging" /> that in an emergency he was to strike up the [[Marcia Reale|royal march]].<ref name="reale">Budden, p. 198</ref> The unrest caused the premiere to be postponed by one day, to 14&nbsp;January.<ref name="opening">Ashbrook, p. 77</ref>

By 1900, the premiere of a Puccini opera was a national event.<ref name="reale" /> Many Roman dignitaries attended, as did [[Margherita of Savoy|Queen Margherita]], though she arrived late, after the first act.<ref name="staging">Phillips-Matz, p. 118</ref> The [[Prime Minister of Italy]], [[Luigi Pelloux]] was present, with several members of his cabinet.<ref name="opening" /> 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.<ref name="staging" /> A few moments later the opera began again, and proceeded without further disruption.<ref name="staging" />

The performance, while not quite the triumph that Puccini had hoped for, was generally successful, with numerous encores.<ref name="staging" /> 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.<ref>Greenfeld, pp. 122–123</ref> Nevertheless, any public doubts about ''Tosca'' soon vanished; the premiere was followed by twenty performances, all given to packed houses.<ref name="packed">Budden, p. 199</ref>

=== Subsequent productions ===
The Milan premiere at La Scala took place under Toscanini on 17&nbsp;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.<ref name="house">Phillips-Matz, p. 120</ref>

[[File:Scotti as Scarpia Kobbe.png|thumb|upright|left|alt= Right profile of stern-faced man in dark clothing with lacy shirt and cuffs, wearing a wig|[[Antonio Scotti]], an early exponent of the role of Scarpia]]

The first known performance of ''Tosca'' outside Italy was in [[Buenos Aires]]. The opera was produced at the Teatro de la Opera on 16 June 1900.<ref name="stanford" />

Puccini travelled to London for the British premiere at the [[Royal Opera House]], Covent Garden, on 12&nbsp;July, with [[Milka Ternina]] and [[Fernando De Lucia]] as the doomed lovers and [[Antonio Scotti]] as Scarpia. Puccini wrote that ''Tosca'' was "<nowiki>[a]</nowiki> 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&nbsp;February 1901, with De Lucia's replacement by [[Giuseppe Cremonini]] the only change from the London cast.<ref name="Bud225">Budden, p. 225</ref> For its French premiere at the [[Opéra-Comique]] on 13&nbsp;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;<ref name=GreenfieldH-pp-138-139>Greenfeld, pp. 138–139</ref> by the outbreak of [[World War I|war in 1914]] it had been performed in more than 50 cities worldwide.<ref name="stanford" />

Among the prominent early Toscas was [[Emmy Destinn]], who sang the role regularly in a long-standing partnership with the tenor [[Enrico Caruso]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Emmy Destinn (1878–1930) | url = http://www.kapralova.org/EMMY.htm | publisher = The Kapralova Society | access-date = 3 July 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110515010135/http://www.kapralova.org/EMMY.htm | archive-date = 15 May 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref> [[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.<ref name="Neef" /> Jeritza was the first to deliver "Vissi d'arte" from a prone position, having fallen to the stage while eluding the grasp of Scarpia. This was a great success, and Jeritza sang the aria while on the floor thereafter.<ref>Phillips-Matz, p. 121</ref> 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.<ref name="Neef">Neef, pp. 462–467</ref> This production, by [[Franco Zeffirelli]], remained in continuous use at Covent Garden for more than 40 years until replaced in 2006 by a new staging, which premiered with [[Angela Gheorghiu]]. Callas had first sung Tosca at age&nbsp;18 in a performance given in Greek, in the [[Greek National Opera]] in [[Athens]] on 27&nbsp;August 1942.<ref>Petsalēs-Diomēdēs, pp. 291–293</ref> Tosca was also her last on-stage operatic role, in a special charity performance at the Royal Opera House on 7&nbsp;May 1965.<ref name=Hamilton>{{cite web | last = Hamilton | first = Frank | year = 2009 | title = Maria Callas: Performance Annals and Discography | url = http://frankhamilton.org/mc/c5.pdf | website = frankhamilton.org | access-date = 3 July 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110626021308/http://frankhamilton.org/mc/c5.pdf | archive-date = 26 June 2011| url-status = live }}</ref>

Among non-traditional productions, [[Luca Ronconi]], in 1996 at La Scala, used distorted and fractured scenery to represent the twists of fate reflected in the plot.<ref name="Neef" /> [[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.<ref>Girardi, pp. 192–193</ref> In {{ill|Philipp Himmelmann|de|lt=Philipp Himmelmann's}} 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 [[Surrealism|surreal]] scenes beyond the action. This production updates the story to a modern [[Sicilian Mafia|Mafia]] scenario, with special effects "worthy of a [[James Bond in film|Bond]] film".<ref>{{cite journal | title = Tosca, Bregenzer Festspiele – Seebühne | date = 30 July 2007 | journal = The Financial Times | url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e0aba5ee-3eb8-11dc-bfcf-0000779fd2ac.html | access-date = 12 July 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110608215702/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e0aba5ee-3eb8-11dc-bfcf-0000779fd2ac.html | archive-date = 8 June 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref>
[[File:Alagna as Cavaradossi.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Roberto Alagna]] as Cavaradossi, [[Royal Opera House]], 2014]]
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.<ref name="O'Connor 1 January 1993">{{cite news
 |last         = O'Connor
 |first        = John J.|author-link=John J. O'Connor (journalist)
 |title        = A ''Tosca'' performed on actual location
 |newspaper    = [[The New York Times]]
 |date         = 1 January 1993
 |url          = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/01/news/tv-weekend-a-tosca-performed-on-actual-location.html?scp=2&sq=tosca%20in%20the%20settings%20and%20at%20the%20times&st=cse
 |access-date   = 4 July 2010
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140825005107/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/01/news/tv-weekend-a-tosca-performed-on-actual-location.html?scp=2&sq=tosca%20in%20the%20settings%20and%20at%20the%20times&st=cse
 |archive-date = 25 August 2014
 |url-status     = live
}}</ref> [[Luciano Pavarotti]], who sang Cavaradossi from the late 1970s, appeared in a special performance in Rome, with Plácido Domingo as conductor, on 14&nbsp;January 2000, to celebrate the opera's centenary. Pavarotti's last stage performance was as Cavaradossi at the Met, on 13&nbsp;March 2004.<ref>{{cite news | last = Forbes | first = Elizabeth|author-link=Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist)| date = 7 September 2007 | title = Luciano Pavarotti (Obituary) | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/luciano-pavarotti-401608.html | newspaper =[[The Independent]]| access-date = 3 July 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101224135012/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/luciano-pavarotti-401608.html | archive-date = 24 December 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Early Cavaradossis played the part as if the painter believed that he was reprieved, and would survive the "mock" execution. [[Beniamino Gigli]], who performed 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".<ref name="gigli">Nicassio, pp. 241–242</ref> Domingo, the dominant Cavaradossi of the 1970s and 1980s, concurred, stating in a 1985 interview that he had long played the part that way.<ref name="gigli" /> 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."<ref name="gigli" />

=== 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>