News - Tosca

Scottish Opera’s 2019/20 Season begins next month with Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, a revival of the much-loved 1980 production by director Anthony Besch and designer Peter Rice...

Press Release

Last performed by the Company in 2012, Tosca opens at Theatre Royal Glasgow on October 16th, and tours to Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh (see below for tour dates).

Conducted by Scottish Opera Music Director Stuart Stratford, Besch’s production is set in 1940s Rome, in the shadow of Mussolini’s tyrannical rule. It tells the story of a passionate and ill-fated love, played out against a backdrop of political corruption and intrigue. Besch’s production of Tosca has been a huge hit with Scottish Opera audiences, and has toured to London, Liverpool and Newcastle. It has also been taken up by companies in Boston, Lisbon, Murcia, New Zealand and Oviedo.

Revival Director Jonathan Cocker directs an internationally renowned cast including Natalya Romaniw (Eugene Onegin 2018) and Sinéad Campbell-Wallace (who is appearing in Scottish Opera’s Lammermuir Festival double bill this September) as tragic opera diva Floria Tosca. Tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones (Il trovatore 2015) is Cavaradossi and baritone Roland Wood (Pelléas and Mélisande 2017) is Scarpia, the corrupt Chief of Police. They are joined by Scottish Opera favourites Dingle Yandell (The Magic Flute 2019) Aled Hall (Rigoletto 2018) Paul Carey Jones (The Trial 2017) and Lancelot Nomura (Ariadne auf Naxos 2018).

Stuart Stratford said: ‘Puccini’s Tosca really needs no introduction. It is one of the composer’s finest masterpieces and greatest achievements in terms of musical drama and orchestration. We are delighted that for the first time audiences in the UK have the chance to hear Natalya Romaniw in the title role, performing alongside Gwyn Hughes Jones and Roland Wood. Natalya was last on the Scottish Opera stage in our 2018 production of Eugene Onegin and has risen to prominence following her recent successes at English National Opera and Opera Holland Park, so we are thrilled to welcome her back.’

There are also three Dementia Friendly Performances of Tosca in Glasgow, Aberdeen (for the first time) and Edinburgh. With a running time of approximately one hour 45 minutes, these specially abridged performances are carefully designed to make the theatrical experience more accessible to people living with dementia. Sound and lighting levels are adjusted for the comfort of the audience, and the cast is joined on stage by a narrator. Audiences will also be able to go in and out of the auditorium during the performance and see the show in the foyer areas on TV screens.

Those who wish to discover more about how the production was created can attend Tosca Unwrapped, one-hour tasters delving further into the show, as well as Pre-show Talks. Audience members with a visual impairment can enjoy the full opera experience at audio-described performances, which have a live commentary describing the action on stage without compromising the music.

Here's a look behind the scenes from the 2012 production



Tosca is supported by The Scottish Opera Syndicate.

Find out more and book tickets here - https://www.scottishopera.org.uk/shows/tosca/

Cast List
Tosca - Natalya Romaniw & Sinéad Campbell-Wallace*
Cavaradossi - Gwyn Hughes Jones
Scarpia - Roland Wood
Angelotti - Dingle Yandell
Spoletta - Aled Hall
Sacristan - Paul Carey Jones
Sciarrone - Lancelot Nomura

Creative Team
Conductor - Stuart Stratford & Derek Clark**
Original Director - Anthony Besch
Revival Director - Jonathan Cocker
Designer - Peter Rice
Lighting - Robert B. Dickson

Performance Diary

Theatre Royal Glasgow, 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA
Wed 16 Oct, 7.15pm
*Fri 18 Oct, 7.15pm
Sun 20 Oct, 3pm
Tue 22 Oct, 7.15pm
Thu 24 Oct, 3pm (Dementia Friendly Performance)
Sat 26 Oct, 7.15pm

Tosca Unwrapped - Mon 21 Oct, 6pm
Tosca Pre-show Talk - Sat 26 Oct, 6pm
Tosca Touch Tour - Sat 26 Oct, 6pm
Tosca Audio-described performance - Sat 26 Oct, 7.15pm

His Majesty’s Theatre, Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen AB25 1GL
**Thu 31 Oct, 7.15pm
Fri 1 Nov, 3pm (Dementia Friendly Performance)
Sat 2 Nov, 7.15pm

Tosca Pre-show Talk - Sat 2 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Touch Tour - Sat 2 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Audio-described performance - Sat 2 Nov, 7.15pm

Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness IV3 5SA
Tue 5 Nov, 7.15pm
Thu 7 Nov, 7.15pm
Sat 9 Nov, 7.15pm

Tosca Unwrapped - Fri 8 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Pre-show Talk - Sat 9 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Touch Tour - Sat 9 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Audio-described performance - Sat 9 Nov, 7.15pm


Festival Theatre, 13–29 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9FT
Thu 14 Nov, 7.15pm
Sun 17 Nov, 3pm
Tue 19 Nov, 3pm (Dementia Friendly Performance)
Thu 21 Nov, 7.15pm
Sat 23 Nov, 7.15pm

Tosca Unwrapped - Mon 18 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Pre-show Talk - Sat 23 Nov, 6pm
Tosca Touch Tour - Sun 17 Nov, 1.45pm
Tosca Audio-described performance - Sun 17 Nov, 3pm 

Image & info Scottish Opera