About this event
High-spirited, devout, a tad jealous and above all a true diva — that’s Floria Tosca! With her captivating voice and undeniable star qualities, she triumphs on the Roman stages, while the city groans under Baron Scarpia’s reign of terror. The corrupt chief of police is infatuated with the singer and so has two reasons to eliminate her lover Mario Cavaradossi, a sympathiser with the city’s political rebels. He offers Tosca the choice: if she gives herself to him, Mario will not be executed the next morning… Giacomo Puccini’s hit opera is a thriller that has you by the throat from the first note to the last. In this electrifying La Monnaie production, director Rafael R. Villalobos addresses a theme that could hardly be more topical: the instrumentalization of religion as a means to political oppression. With parallels drawn between Cavaradossi and the figure of film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, Villalobos puts the spotlight on the pressure the Vatican exerted on society in Rome at the time. In the orchestra pit, Jordan de Souza unleashes all the power and intensity of Puccini’s compelling score, whose expressive vocal lines and cinematic orchestrations have made it one of the world’s favourite operas. Are you under 30? Then attend this opera on the Young Opera Night (18.6.2026) and we treat you to a personal welcome, a free drink, a free programme book and an after-event.
