(Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) This season’s premiere of Met Opera’s “Tosca” features Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, in the titular role, marking her 100th Met performance. Her Met debut was in 2004 as Olympia in Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” and her performances leading up to this season have all been unforgettable, especially Kurzak as Tosca. Her voice alongside tenor {…}
(Photo credit: Keith Saunders) The program booklet for Opera Australia’s new production at Sydney Opera House of “Tosca”, an Opera North production, says that “Puccini set each act of his opera in three very specific locations which you can still visit today: the Sant’Andrea della Valle church in Rome, the Palazzo Farnese and the Castel Sant-Angelo over the River Tiber”. {…}
Luigi Illica is a rather famous man in the world of opera. If you don’t believe me, then look at his body of work. “Manon Lescaut,” “La Bohème,” “Tosca,” “Madama Butterfly.” And those are just the Puccini selections. The librettist also authored such prominent opera works as “La Wally” and “Andrea Chénier.” But the majority of Illica’s output has been {…}
