Robert Clements wrote:
>If it makes you feel any better, even contemporaneously, Tosca was
>described as a shabby little shocker... it's biggest appeal appears to
>have been the audience's love of Grand Dames of the Grande Theatre doing
>epic death scenes.
>
>Puccini set it to music in the tradition of verisimo...
As I have remarked in an earlier post,
"For me, this is an opera that has everything an opera is supposed
to have: love, jealousy, intrigue, oppression, rebellion, liberation,
torture, blackmail, attempted rape, cathartic vengeance, betrayal
beyond the grave, and suicide. All to consistently fine music,
punctuated with memorable arias and duets."
Walter Meyer
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