the story behind the story...
The composition |
A psychological drama |
Historical background
The realism of Tosca |
Scarpia: an historical figure? |
Cavaradossi has been shot!
Puccini had seen a performance of Sardou's drama as early as 1889
when he was working on Manon Lescaut, and wrote about it to his publisher Giulio Ricordi. It is known that Verdi himself was interested
in the subject ("vi sarebbe un dramma di Sardou, che, se io fossi ancora
in carriera, musicherei con tutta l'anima, e sarebbe Tosca").
Puccini went no further until 1896, when he knew that Illica was already writing a libretto based on Tosca for Alberto Franchetti.
He applied to Ricordi, the publisher for both composers, and obtained
the subject for himself. Franchetti's docile attitude was probably based
on the results of an earlier competition between Puccini and Leoncavallo,
when they each composed simultaneously a
Bohème. Leoncavallo's work
was outclassed and had no chance of entering the repertoire.
Puccini visited Sardou twice in Paris (in April 1898 and January 1899)
to discuss the adaptation. They had two major differences regarding Act 3.
Sardou gave in on the first point and allowed Puccini to replace a
patriotic hymn of the imprisoned Cavaradossi with a love song.
He did not acquiesce on the second matter: he wanted an abrupt,
thundering finale, while Puccini had in mind a more elaborated
setting of Tosca's death.
Let Puccini describe the difference between Tosca and his previous
work (Bohème): "Il colore non è più
romantico e lirico, ma sensuale, appassionato e torbido. Non persone
buone e amabili, ma individui loschi come Scarpia e Spoletta.
E gli eroi non sono docili come Rodolfo e Mimì, ma attivi e
coraggiosi". The plot plays with passions rather than feelings.
In Bohème the villain was fate, represented by illness,
and the characters had to accept it while moving toward an unavoidable
ending (there is minimal action on stage). In Tosca both heros and
villains are humans who struggle on stage, and you can expect a
coup de théâtre at any moment.
The clashes are always between single individuals. History, politics,
ideals are in the background and sometimes serve as pretexts, but the
real motivations are strictly personal. The action has the structure
of a series of duos: in the first act Tosca, Cavaradossi, the sacristan,
Scarpia and Angelotti appear
always in pairs. In the 2nd act Tosca and Scarpia struggle on stage
while Roberti tortures Cavaradossi in another room. The authors steadily
focus on the psychology of the individuals to delineate the characters.
Tosca arouses and then observes Mario to confirm her suspicions,
Scarpia plays with her feelings and reactions in order to gradually
subdue her, etc.
Tosca is a story of cheating and doubt. Nothing seems honest and
direct: even love is troubled by jealousy. Cavaradossi's torture forces
Tosca, not himself, to confess. Scarpia is killed with a table knife by
"sweet and innocent" hands. And even the marginal characters like the
sacristan and the prison guard lie or act dishonestly. At least Angelotti
seems a direct, idealistic figure, but he takes a woman's disguise when he
goes to his hiding place in a fake well... The inappropriate use of objects
and situations is used systematically to create a suffocating atmosphere
of doubt and suspicion. Even something as definitive as Mario's death is
just a "faked simulation" and causes joy and relief to Tosca.
The maniacal realism coupled with systematic counterfeit make Tosca
seem close to Pirandello's theatre: daily reality can be more bizarre than
the wildest fantasy, so extreme theatrical inventions become convincing in
an everyday context. Puccini's aesthetics at the time were those of Verismo
and bourgeois turn-of-the-century culture: an aesthetic of daily matters
(the drift to D'Annunzio and art-nouveau themes would come later with
Turandot ). By these means
Puccini made an effort to accommodate an hyperbolic plot to ordinary
events, such as would appear realistic on that day, 100 years before...
Sardou specifies the time of the events exactly: between Wednesday,
June 17, 1800 and the dawn of the following day. In February 1798 French
troops had occupied the Vatican State and proclaimed the Roman Republic.
Angelucci was one of the republican leaders and consul of Rome. The Pope
had to flee to Tuscany: Ferdinando IV of Bourbon, King of Naples, tried
to rescue him but was himself defeated. In January 1799 the Parthenopean
(Neapolitan) Republic was proclaimed. In April 1799, while Napoleon was
in Egypt, an Austrian-Russian army under General Suvorov crossed into
northern Italy and defeated the French republics. In June Cardinal Ruffo
occupied Naples in the name of King Ferdinand, and in September the
Bourbon troops entered Rome. The reactionary party was inspired by
Maria Carolina of Austria, the wife of Ferdinando IV and sister of
Marie Antoinette. Pope Pius IV being dead, she assumed the regency and
started a "cleansing" action against republicans, liberals or simply
people who had compromised themselves under French rule. There were
thousands of victims, including many artists, scientists and intellectuals.
The following spring, Napoleon crossed the Alps with an army and met
the Austrians (commanded by general Mélas) at Marengo.
The Austrians outnumbered the enemy and, after fierce fighting,
took control of the locality in the morning of June 14 1800.
The battle seemed over when Marshal Desaix, at the cost of his life,
managed to reverse the situation. By evening the victory had been won
by the French army.
The events of Tosca take place in the brief time when the news
of the battle was reaching Rome. During the 1st act the Sacristan announces
the Austrian victory and Tosca is abruptly engaged to sing at the
celebration (beginning of act 2). During the torture of Cavaradossi
(2nd act) comes the news of Napoleon's victory. After the tragic ending
of Act 3 it seems that Angelotti and Cavaradossi will have their
posthumous revenge. But Napoleon preferred to make an agreement with
the Spanish monarchy that ensured the survival of both the Bourbons in
Naples and of the Pope in Rome. In July 1800, the new Pope (Pius VII)
entered Rome as head of the Vatican State.
Puccini looked at even the smallest details in order to achieve a near
perfect correspondence between stage action and historic reality.
For Bohème he needed to set his subject in the past because
he wanted realism. Tosca, with its escapes, tortures and executions,
needed an exact definition of the historical time in order to concentrate
attention on the personal dramas of the characters. The surrounding events
have no degree of freedom.
We have seen that every reference to historic figures, places and events
such as General Mélas and the Battle of Marengo is exact. That was
not enough. Puccini researched the liturgical practices at Rome for the
Te Deum of the first finale. The morning bells of Act 3 required a list of
all the churches surrounding Castel Sant'Angelo and their bells, including
the respective pitches.
The search for accuracy continued during the preparation of the premiere.
Puccini insisted that the costume designs (particularly the sacred vestments)
be based on research of historical documentation. The designs for the
scenes were made by Adolfo Hohenstein, the leading artist at the
publishing house of Ricordi (he designed the scenery for all
important premieres of Ricordi's scores in the period from Falstaff
to Madama Butterfly). The drawings (see
pictures page) were made from photos of the
actual settings provided by Puccini.
The authors' attention to realistic detail requires a similar attitude
in the staging of Tosca. Even minor license (like having the
Cardinal conduct the service from the painter's scaffolding) is simply
unacceptable. As the ultimate in realistic representation one should recall
the live broadcast by Italian television: Tosca "from the real places
at the real times".
There is one apparent anachronism, however. Tosca is a professional
singer ("celebre cantante"), while it is well known that in the early 1800s
in the Papal states it was forbidden for women to sing in churches or in
the theatre. At the time of Tosca's premiere there was still a
castrato (Domenico Mustafà) serving as director of the Vatican
chapel, which still employed "natural soprani": the best known was
Alessandro Moreschi, who made some recordings. But in fact the ban was
strictly respected only in the church. During Carnival, "exceptional
permissions" were possible for the theatre, and the "Roman Carnival" was
known for its duration. In Rossini's times the problem seemed to have
disappeared, even though there was still a strict censorship (for example
Cenerentola was not allowed to remove her shoe, which was considered
too intimate an item of clothing). Returning to Tosca: we know that she
sings at the theatre and on private stages. It is said several times that
she "prays" in the church - never that she sings there!
Barone Scarpia, capo della polizia. Did he really exist? Was Scarpia
born a baron, or was he a policeman granted the title because he had to
meet daily with cardinals who, being aristocrats, did not like to deal with
plebeians?
The Roman chief of police in June 1800 was Trojano Marulli, Duke of Ascoli.
An aristocrat - but hardly the historical model for Scarpia.
The figure who may have inspired Sardou's character was very likely a
recently-appointed Bourbon officer: Baron Sciarpa. The shift of a vowel
may have been intended to give more bite to the name.
When Cardinal Ruffo fled to Calabria to organize an army against the
Republicans, he allied himself with outlaw bands active in the country.
The most famous of the brigands was Michele Pezza, known as Fra Diavolo.
But the most powerful among them was a mercenary soldier: Gherardo Curci,
known as Sciarpa. He had been a Bourbon officer, the chief of the palace
guard. After having been dismissed he raised his own mercenary army.
He offered his
services to the French: when they refused he began to pillage the country in
the region of Salerno "in the name of the King". He was a natural ally
for Ruffo, and was instrumental in the crushing of the Parthenopean
Republic.
When Ferdinand IV was restored to the throne he purged the army officers who
had been defeated in 1798. At the same time he granted a general pardon
to those who had contributed to his victory.
The chiefs of the bands were breveted "colonels" and any of their followers
who had fought heroically were made "officers".
Sciarpa was rewarded with the title of "Baron", estates and a rich annuity.
Immediately thereafter Baron Sciarpa led his troops in an attack on
the Roman Republic, backed by Fra Diavolo and other irregular troops,
in advance of the Bourbon army.
We do not know what happened to him after the French evacuated Rome in
September 1800. Very likely he was banished, like his mentor Cardinal
Ruffo. King Ferdinand did not like men who were too efficient ...
Tosca's popularity, its realism, and its high-voltage finale provide
the perfect background for a tradition of (in)famous accidents.
There are plenty of anecdotes about the theatre: but where Tosca is
concerned they become mythical.
From the front-page headlines in Italian newspapers: "Cavaradossi has
been shot!"... At the Macerata summer festival on 30 July 1995, the
tenor (Fabio Armiliato) was shot in the 3rd act - as usual.
But this time when Tosca (Raina Kabaivanska) rushed to him she heard
a whisper: "Call an ambulance!...", and then she fainted at the sight
of his blood. Because of a blank charged with too much powder, the tow
had pierced Cavaradossi's boot and hurt his leg. It is possible that the
gun was overcharged because of another accident at the same festival,
some years before, when the headlines read: "Cavaradossi dies from
heart attack" (the guns did not go off!). Armiliato, after an hour of
surgery, said he "had been lucky that the soldier did not aim at the
right height". But he should have been grateful to the stage director
for not sticking to the realism Puccini wanted: he staged the shooting
on a staircase, with the soldier's head at the level of Cavaradossi's feet.
(5 days later, going on stage at the beginning of act 2, Armiliato's
crutch slipped, causing a double fracture of the other leg...)
An even more realistic execution supposedly took place in the first
years of Tosca's stage history: in the title role was Lina
Cavalieri, known as the "world's most beautiful woman" and known also
for her courage and boldness: actually she did not faint when
Cavaradossi was really shot to death!
Tosca's finale seems to be prone also to less lethal accidents. The tales
are apocryphal, and you can hear them told of many theatres and
productions. The most popular is the the bouncing Tosca:
Tosca as usual jumps from the walls of Castel Sant'Angelo.
But the stage workers had improved her security by replacing the
mattress with a trampoline, so that Tosca appeared 2 or 3 times from
behind the wall... And the collective suicide: the stage director
was giving last-minute instruction to the supers hired as soldiers.
There had been no stage rehearsal, and he gave them the usual instruction
"exit with the principals". When Tosca leapt from the parapet, seeing
no other principals left on stage, they all dutifully jumped after her,
giving a Shakespearean greatness to the final tragedy.
Of course it is necessary to report an anecdote from Tito Gobbi's memoires:
Maria Callas was Tosca, and during the 2nd act she came too near the
candles burning on Scarpia's desk and ignited her hair (or wig).
Gobbi immediately improvised a raptor-like motion: he jumped on Tosca,
embraced her and extinguished the flames. Tosca rejected him with disgust,
but then whispered him a "thank you, Tito"... just before killing him.
Also memorable is Placido Domingo's headlong fall while rushing down from
the scaffolding during Act 1 of "Tosca live at the real times & places":
he smashed into the bottom of the fence of the real Cappella Attavanti,
giving a definite hint of realism to the broadcast.
copyright Giovanni Christen,
1997
See Also
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