Puccini: Tosca - 2-DVD Set

Puccini: Tosca - 2-DVD Set (DVD) (*)

$59.99

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
Italian ( Mono )
Italian ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/NTSC/Region 0 )

Running Time:
208 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
2-DVD Set
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1960 and produced in:
Italy ( Italy, Greece )

Directed By:
Fulvio Vernizzi

Written By:
Fulvio Vernizzi

Actors:
Magda Olivero
Alvinio Misciano
Giulio Floravanti

Synopsis:

The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias. Music by Giacomo Puccini (A film of the opera, produced by Gallone, 1956, in color) Magda Olivero, Alvinio Misciano and Giulio Floravanti are the featured soloists in this 1961 DVD feature film of Puccini's opera. The Chorus & Orchestra of RAI Torino are conducted by Fulvio Vernizzi. The second disc features Magda Olivero in a recital.

Since its premiere at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900, Tosca has been one of the most popular operas in the great lyric repertory, and one of the most popular of Puccini's operas. Its powerful theatrical impact, the recognized melodic and dramatic drive of its music, and the triple starring roles-soprano, tenor, baritone-are the successful ingredients of a work that in its original theatre version by Sardou could never have hoped for so much success even though the great Sarah Bernhardt-the star of the play-had made it one of her great roles. And it was she, the French actress, who first brought Tosca to the cinema, in a film made in 1908, a film that, predictably, did not satisfy her (at the time, the divine Sarah was already 64 years old) but nonetheless showed-as did the success of Puccini's opera-that Tosca could reach an audience beyond the theatrical stage. In 1940 the great Jean Renoir took up the subject of Tosca for a film in which the young Luchino Visconti, then at the very start of his cinema career, was Renoir's assistant director. They didn't simply present Sardou's play on film; instead, they wrote a screenplay based on Sardou (Cavaradossi was played by Rossano Brazzi) and prepared a soundtrack that utilized Puccinian themes and some vocal passages by two celebrated singers of the time, Mafalda Favero and Ferruccio Tagliavini.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 14 April, 2016.