Tosca Highlights
Tosca Highlights is a guided tour and concert that offers a unique journey into one of Giacomo Puccini's most famous operas at an elegant venue in the pulsating heart of the Eternal City. Art meets the history of opera at this extravaganza, as it takes place at the majestic Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle, where the opening act of Tosca is set. Enjoy a guided tour of the church followed by a performance of some of the most memorable and best-loved arias drawn from Puccini's masterpiece. This unmissable event provides a total sensory and emotional experience that combines history, musicianship and soaring melodies that have stood the test of time.
The event starts with a self-guided audio tour of the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle located on the historic Corso Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome's city centre. All concertgoers can take advantage of this tour before the concert to learn more about its rich history and architecture. Construction on the church began as far back as the late 16th century and its interior was largely completed by 1650. It houses the tombs of two popes and features a Baroque facade as well as an ornately decorated vault among many other noteworthy features. While discovering the artistic treasures, wonderful chapels and other ornate secrets contained in one of Rome's most historic sites, attendees will eventually reach the magnificent Sacristy of the Basilica, where the concert takes place. This is a fine setting, where Puccini – and his two Italian librettists, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa – envisioned some of the opening events in Tosca would unfold.
The concert itself includes some of the greatest arias drawn from Tosca, performed by a soprano, a tenor, a baritone and a pianist, featuring elegant period costumes. Attendees will enjoy, for example, highlights such as Recondita armonia, sung by Mario Cavaradossi, a painter at work in the church during the opening scenes and the main tenor role in Tosca. Audiences can also expect a rendition of the heartfelt Vissi d'arte, an aria sung by Floria Tosca in Act II. The ever-popular tenor aria E lucevan le stelle, sung by Cavaradossi in the third act, also features. Although not all of the action and theatrical storytelling of Tosca are presented – this is a concert of musical highlights, not an operatic performance – attendees will be able to delight in Puccini's undisputed mastery of the operatic form in a venue that has close ties to the tragic story of Tosca.
Explore all of the jealousy, betrayal and passionate love of early 19th-century Rome in a truly remarkable setting for a guided tour and concert like no other. The Tosca Highlights event at Rome's Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle provides visitors to this wonderful sacred place with an experience they will never forget.