Monte-Carlo Opera has celebrated the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini – who died in November 1924 – with a series of performances of his work.

Last month, the Company staged a concert version of his opera La rondine, and this month has seen a production of La bohème, the final performance of which will be on November 19th, by invitation of the Royal Palace. A concert performance of Puccini’s opera, Tosca, takes place on November 15th, and the celebrations culminate on November 17th with Viva Puccini!, starring German-Austrian tenor Josef Kaufmann.

Puccini’s Tosca is an historical melodrama set in Rome in 1800, when the control of Rome by the Kingdom of Naples was threatened by Napoleon’s invasion of Italy. A story of love, lust, treachery and corruption, it recounts the story of artist Mario Cavaradossi and the woman he loves, singer Floria Tosca, as they try to evade the corruption which was rife in the city of Rome at that time.

The libretto, by Luigi Illica and Guiseppe Giacosa, was based on Victorien Sardou’s 1887 play, La Tosca, which featured the actress Sarah Bernhard in the title role. The opera – which featured some of Puccini’s most beautiful and best known arias – premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14th, 1900.

In this concert version of Tosca, the title role of the passionate diva Floria Tosca is sung by Urugyan soprano Maria José Siri, whom MTG Lirica describes as having a “Sumptuous, torrential voice ….”. Tosca’s lover, the idealistic painter Mario Cavaradossi, is sung by French-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna, regarded as the world’s most famous French tenor. Baritone Luca Salsi is the menacing Baron Scarpia, the evil chief of police who employs brutal tactics to ensnare both criminals and sexual conquests.

Marco Armiliato conducts the Choir of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo (Director Stefano Visconti), the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Children’s choir of the Académie de musique Rainier III, at the Grimaldi Forum on November 15th.

Viva Puccini! is a gala lyrique featuring some of the composer’s most beautiful arias. Jonas Kaufmann, the star of this tribute to the great Italian composer, is known as one of the finest interpreters of Puccini’s Cavaradossi in Tosca, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Calaf in Turandot. The Telegraph refers to him as “the world’s greatest tenor”, and The New York Times has described him as having “clarion top notes, the blend of virility and tenderness in his singing,” and has praised his “refined musicianship”. Kaufmann has appeared on the world’s greatest stages – including Teatro alla Scala, The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Opéra national de Paris, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Salzburg Easter Festival. He also has an impressive repertoire as a concert and recording artist.

In this homage to Puccini, Kaufmann appears with soprano Valeria Sepe, described by Totalita as having “a clear voice, with a beautiful clear timbre and considerable perfection in the high notes and coloratura”. She has performed with major Italian opera companies in cities such as Florence, Palermo, Parma, Verona, Naples and Rome, and in roles which include Princess Liù in Turandot at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Mimì in La bohème at Opera Australia in Sydney and Teatro Regio in Parma, Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at the Verona Arena and Rome Opera House, Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Bunka Kaikan Theater in Tokyo.

Kaufmann says: “Puccini’s music is so effective, it never goes out of fashion despite the passage of a century …. This is why I believe that Puccini will remain for the public the key to the magical world of opera.”

Marco Armiliato once again leads the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in Viva Puccini! with Jonas Kaufmann and Valeria Sepe, at the Grimaldi Forum, on November 17th.

Further information and tickets for all Puccini performances can be found on the Monte-Carlo Opera website.

Lead image courtesy Opéra de Monte-Carlo