OPERA San Antonio: Tosca

OPERA San Antonio’s latest production stages Giacomo Puccini’s famous tale of political intrigue and shocking violence. Against the backdrop of the Napoleonic conquest of Italy, Tosca’s eponymous protagonist, a soprano who lives for art, is thrust into the conflict between her lover, the painter and revolutionary Mario Cavaradossi, and the scheming chief of police Baron Scarpia. The through-composed opera makes liberal use of the Wagnerian leitmotif technique, in which musical cues are assigned to certain characters and themes — think “The One Ring” melody from the Lord of the Rings films — and features notable arias including “Vissi d’arte,” “Recondita armonia,” and “E lucevan le stelle.” OPERA San Antonio’s production of the enduringly popular opera is directed by E. Loren Meeker, who was behind the company’s productions of Giaochino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and another Puccini favorite, La bohème.