Puccini’s Tosca from Rome

There was a flurry of firsts on the opening night of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia’s 2024/25 season: not only was this Daniel Harding’s debut appearance in his new role as the orchestra’s Musical Director, but he and the Santa Cecilia forces were performing Puccini’s operatic thriller Tosca, “the Roman opera par excellence” for the very first time. With an all-star cast on board, led by star tenor Jonathan Tetelman (“His Cavaradossi is as languid and heroic as you could wish for” – BBC Music Magazine) and soprano Eleonora Buratto (“the Tosca of our dreams” Giornale della musica) as ill-fated lovers, their presentation of Puccini’s Tosca made a fitting tribute to the composer in the year of the centenary of his death. They were joined by French baritone Ludovic Tézier who sings Baron Scarpia, the brutal chief of police who proves their undoing. (“His Scarpia is still a bully, but there’s sinister charm and ironic humour here too” – Bachtrack).