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Stories   >   Puccini's 'Tosca' starring Sir Bryn Terfel, set for Abu Dhabi Festival / The National

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Puccini's 'Tosca' starring Sir Bryn Terfel, set for Abu Dhabi Festival / The National

Posted: March 15, 2019

When it comes to the opera Tosca, there is only one way to play it, and that's to give it your all. Composed by Giacomo Puccini, with the opera's premiere taking place in Rome in 1900, the production remains one of the most popular in the genre because of its thrilling mix of romance and political intrigue. With such a heady stew, Welsh baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, who will star in Tosca tomorrow night when it is performed at the Emirates Palace Auditorium as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival, says the production remains a popular masterpiece, despite the initial misgivings of critics who found it too pulpy.

"When it premiered, I believe there was even an Italian critic who described it as ‘a shabby little shocker'. I believe he would have eaten his words," he says. "Nearly every opera house now has it. Tosca is the kind of spectacular opera that people enjoy and it would be one that you could instigate as the first opera you should go and see. Like other productions such as The Barber of Seville, Carmen and The Magic Flute, Tosca is part of the staple diet of any opera house, and they're the ones that sell."

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