SEJONG CENTER

In June of 1800, in Rome, Cavaradossi, a painter who paints the Virgin Mary, hides his friend Angelotti who was a former Roman republic's official. However, he is wanted as a political prisoner and fleds to the cathedral. At that time, Tosca, who is the lover of Cavaradossi and prima donna, enters the cathedral to see the circumstances and suspects that Cabaradossi has an affair.
Scarpia, the superintendent of the metropolitan police agency, suddenly storms into the cathedral where the choir is training hard and calls Cavaradossi to tell where the fugitive is. But Cavaradossi closes his mouth. Scarpia, who has indecent desires for Tosca tells her that her lover has an affair with a woman to keep away from Cavaradossi. Tosca runs out of despair and Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi on charge of sheltering a criminal...

The harmony of verismo and dramatic music
Puccini cannot be said the composer of Verismo. But stimulated by the Verismo movement, Puccini used parts of realism in many works. Among them, opera <Tosca> used Rome's famous buildings such as the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Palazzo Farnese, and Castel Sant'Angelo as Rome in 1800 in the background during the political upheaval since the French Revolution. On the realistic stage Puccini colored the tragic subject with a beautiful and elegant melody. He had a great ability to describe the inner human with music, connected music to the cast and coordinated details of music according to a directional plan to unify drama and music.