Soprano
A woman sits awake in a screen-lit room, awaiting news about her mother’s imminent passing. Tuning into the tides of electrical hum around her, she wonders about the parallels between this power and the force that gives life to the body.
Love, lust and political intrigue fill the world of a passionate singer. When her lover is imprisoned by a police chief, Tosca takes matters into her own hands with dramatic consequences. Puccini’s timeless opera never ceases to provoke great emotions. Starring Orla Boylan as Tosca and Simon O’Neill as Cavaradossi, New Zealand Opera’s acclaimed production filmed for cinema release transposes the famous plot to Italy in the 1950s, shadowed by the mafia and post WWII politics.
Female Chorus
Sarah Connolly's 'outstanding' (The Guardian) portrayal of the wronged Roman noblewoman, written originally for Kathleen Ferrier, lies at the hear of David McVicar's powerfully stark production for English National Opera as 'an everyday sort of woman who could be living at any time or place'. Her nemesis is the arrogant Tarquinius of Christopher Maltman, 'who made the air tingle with danger' (Financial Times). Sung in English.
