Tosca's prism
Subtitle: three moments of western cultural history
By: edited by Deborah Burton, Susan Vandiver Nicassio and Agostino Ziino
Contributors: Burton, Deborah, 1954-; Nicassio, Susan Vandiver; Ziino, Agostino
Publisher: Northeastern University Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 326
Subjects: Puccini, Giacomo, -- 1858-1924.; Sardou, Victorien, -- 1831-1908.; Puccini, Domenico, -- 1772-1815; Music -- Social aspects -- Europe
Description: "Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, which premiered in Rome in 1900, is one of the most popular operas in the repertory. Based on Victorien Sardou's play La Tosca, the enduring tale of love, lust, jealousy, and politics takes place in the specific setting and time of the Eternal City in June 1800, and it draws on the historical events following the fall of the Roman republic." "In this collection, distinguished musicologists, historians, theater professionals, and luminaries of the operatic stage reflect on three diverse moments of European history - 1800, 1900, 2000 - through the refracting prism of Puccini's Tosca, providing multidimensional images of each period from a wide range of perspectives."--Jacket.
Notes: Proceedings of a conference, Tosca 2000, which took place in Rome at the Teatro dell'Opera

Includes bibliographical references and index
Table of contents: title: C. 1800. The Napoleonic legacy in Italy / Alexander Grab. The life and times of Domenico Puccini / Herbert Handt. The protaganists and the principal phases of the Roman republic of 1798-99 / Marina Formica; title: C. 1900. From one Tosca to another / Eugen Weber. Victorien Sardou and the legend of Marengo / William Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt. The two Toscas / Julian Budden. Fictional reality : musical and literary imagery in the Toscas of Sardou and Puccini / Dieter Schickling. The political and cultural worlds of Puccini's Tosca : anticlericalism in Italy at the turn of the century / John Anthony Davis. Tosca Act II and the secret identity of F# / Deborah Burton. Guide themes and "reminiscences" in Puccini's Tosca / Marcello Conati. "Ci sarà talamo guizzante gondola" : new sources for the history of the Tosca libretto / Pier Giuseppe Gillio. Puccini's music in the theoretical Italian literature of its day / Giorgio Sanguinetti; title: C. 2000. The eternal politics of Tosca / Susan Vandiver Nicassio. Tosca : bivalent harmony and vocal calculations (not respected) / Alfredo Mandelli. "Who is Tosca?" : a discussion among modern interpreters / moderated by William Weaver with Magda Olivero, Giuseppe di Stefano, Luigi Squarzina and Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi; title: Appendix : a comparative overview of the structures of the play and the opera / Susan Vandiver Nicassio