The COC Presents Tosca

By Galegirl

One of the most popular operas of all time, Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, opens the Canadian Opera Company’s 2011/2012 winter season. The COC brings back its lavish 2008 production by director Paul Curran, showcasing renowned Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka in her COC role debut as Tosca.

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  2. Adrianne Pieczonka, most recently with the COC last spring in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos, calls Tosca her “dream role” and has drawn high praise for her portrayal since making her role debut in 2008: “She was radiant,” says the Los Angeles Times, and “Pieczonka’s Tosca is the quintessential diva, rendering her signature arias with ease and verve” describes SF Weekly.  Sharing opera’s hallmark “diva” role is American soprano Julie Makerov, whose vocalism and dramatic intensity as Tosca has made her “every inch the imperious diva, moving from flashing-eyed jealous lover to abused woman to penitent murder,” says the Florida Sun Sentinel.  Makerov returns to the COC following outstanding acclaim for lead performances in 2010’s The Flying Dutchman and 2008’s Rusalka.

    Making their COC debuts as Tosca’s lover, Mario Cavaradossi, are two tenors recognized by the world’s leading opera companies for their dramatic and vocal prowess: Uruguayan Carlo Ventre and AmericanBrandon Jovanovich.  The opera’s evil chief of police, Baron Scarpia, is sung by American baritone Mark Delavan, making his company debut in a role that he’s imbued with “leering lust and the total technical control of a vocal palette that could paint as many colors as the drama demands.” (Associated Press)

  3. Photos

  4. Photos from the COC's 2008 production of Tosca. First two photos by Gary Beechey, remaining photos by Michael Cooper.
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  13. Adrianne Pieczonka as Tosca

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    Interview with Adrianne Pieczonka starring as Tosca at San Francsico Operasfoperamedia2 years ago
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    Tosca preview from San Francisco Operasfoperamedia3 years ago

  16. About the Opera

  17. Tosca’s fast-paced plot is full of romance and intrigue.  Set in Rome in 1800, Tosca is a famed opera singer whose lover has revolutionary sympathies.  In trying to protect the man she loves from a blood-thirsty chief of police, Tosca finds herself caught in a web of corruption, lust and betrayal and ultimately commits an act of murder.  The title role is one of the composer’s most complex and fascinating heroines, fit for great operatic actresses.  

    Tosca premiered to mixed reviews in 1900, but has since become one of the most performed operas in the world. A staple of the operatic repertoire, Tosca is an unforgettable theatrical experience and features some of the composer’s most deeply felt and dramatic melodies.


    This production of Tosca is a COC co-production with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet.
    Tosca runs for 14 performances on Jan. 21, 25, 29, 31, Feb. 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 21, 23 and 25, 2012 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™.