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Rating: 
Summary: An opera lover's delight!
Review: This book is wonderful! The author is a former opera singer who has sung the role of Tosca; now she is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. In the book, she discusses the historical background of the opera and the play on which it was based, emphasizing the importance of the Church in Rome, and the conflict between Church and State. Then, in three chapters called "The Painter's Rome", "The Singer's Rome", and "The Policeman's Rome", she talks about Rome as each of the main characters of the opera would have seen it, and she also discusses real people who served as "models" for each character. Then she discusses each act of the opera, with a short chapter on the events that take place between Acts 1 and 2. She talks about earlier versions of the libretto, and things that were left out of the final version of the opera, as well as the arguments between Puccini and his librettists over certain parts of the opera. The author also discusses the differences between the play and the opera; in an appendix, she gives side-by-side summaries of the play and the opera. The book is also beautifully illustrated, and at the beginning of the book, there is a map that shows all the locations mentioned in the play.The detail that the author goes into is incredible! She has figured out, for example, which operas were playing in the 1800 season in Rome, and which opera Tosca would have been singing in! And she really fills in all the "gaps" in the plot of the opera. I love the opera anyway, but when I listened to it again after reading this book, I felt I was listening to it with a completely new understanding.
Rating:
Summary: An opera lover's delight!
Review: This book is wonderful! The author is a former opera singer who has sung the role of Tosca; now she is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. In the book, she discusses the historical background of the opera and the play on which it was based, emphasizing the importance of the Church in Rome, and the conflict between Church and State. Then, in three chapters called "The Painter's Rome", "The Singer's Rome", and "The Policeman's Rome", she talks about Rome as each of the main characters of the opera would have seen it, and she also discusses real people who served as "models" for each character. Then she discusses each act of the opera, with a short chapter on the events that take place between Acts 1 and 2. She talks about earlier versions of the libretto, and things that were left out of the final version of the opera, as well as the arguments between Puccini and his librettists over certain parts of the opera. The author also discusses the differences between the play and the opera; in an appendix, she gives side-by-side summaries of the play and the opera. The book is also beautifully illustrated, and at the beginning of the book, there is a map that shows all the locations mentioned in the play. The detail that the author goes into is incredible! She has figured out, for example, which operas were playing in the 1800 season in Rome, and which opera Tosca would have been singing in! And she really fills in all the "gaps" in the plot of the opera. I love the opera anyway, but when I listened to it again after reading this book, I felt I was listening to it with a completely new understanding.
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