A NOTE FROM DR. BARKER:

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Welcome to the world of the singer Floria Tosca!!! She is the star of Rome, a diva of the 1800 cultural set, and in love!!! What could go wrong?! EVERYTHING!!! Rome is an unstable city in the center of a disunited Italy and political events are disrupting the lives of Puccini’s characters with violent vehemence. Based on the 1887 play “La Tosca” by the French playwright Victorien Sardou, Puccini’s 1900 masterpiece demands, along with the appreciation of some of his greatest arias, an understanding of the historical moment that informed the events of both the play and the opera. 

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Tosca is one of the most date specific operas ever created - the action takes place in 1800, in the afternoon and evening of June 17 and morning of June 18 and Napoleon is pursuing his relentless march on Rome!!! Yes, THE Napoleon!!! He just won the Battle of Marengo (June 14, 1800) in northern Italy (yes, Marengo, Iowa is named after this battle) and is about to take over Italy!!! This singular event precipitates cataclysmic changes in the lives of the characters who are caught up in an unprecedented and transformative geopolitical power shift. 

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Please join us on Thursday, January 11, 2024, 7-8:30 PM, for our online discussion of “Tosca's Rome: The Play and the Opera in Historical Perspective” by Susan Vandiver Nicassio and explore the historical and political background of Puccini’s masterpiece prior to the Cedar Rapids Opera production of Tosca on January 19 and 21, 2024. In addition, I will conduct a pre-opera talk one hour prior to both performances.

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- Dr. Anna Barker