Tosca & Religion
by Wendy Neikirk
Boston Lyric Opera
From the suspenseful opening scene in the Attavanti chapel to Floria Tosca's final declamation of, "Scarpia we meet before God," Tosca is a work steeped in religion. While the plot of Tosca is not overtly religious, religion is an ever-present element winding through the opera appearing again and again in setting, characters, props and music. How is it that Tosca came to have such integral and dramatic religious elements?
Puccini and Religion
Although Puccini's religious views were skeptical, there is no doubt that he had been fully versed in the beliefs, traditions and pageantry of the Roman Catholic church. Puccini's family tree boasted a large number of church musicians. He was brought up in the church and as an adolescent served as organist in Lucca's Cathedral of San Martino from 1872-1880. In addition to his early experiences in the church, as an adult Puccini had several close friends who were very devout in their faith, including Father Pietro Panichelli and Father Dante Del Fiorentino. Puccini affectionately refered to Panichelli as il pretino , the little priest, because of his stature and called Del Fiorintino gonnellone , or big skirts, due to the large Cossack that he always wore. These men, both close friends of Puccini, commented on his cynicism towards religion. In addition, the Catholic authorities in Rome considered Puccini a dangerous heretic. Thus, while Puccini was knowledgeable about the Church, it is doubtful that he ascribed to its beliefs.
Sardou's Tosca
Puccini's Tosca is based on a play by French playwright and political satirist, Victorien Sardou (1831-1908), entitled Le Tosca . Sardou's play, with five acts and twenty-three characters, is quite lengthy. In it Sardou masterfully creates a story with substantial historical and political overtones. Sardou's work includes many allusions to historical events like the Battle of Marengo and individuals such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Caroline of Naples. Sardou is not content with simply alluding to events or glossing over characterizations, his characters are well-developed and he establishes their background information as the plot unfolds. Tosca is one such character.
Sardou's play takes care to inform the audience of Tosca's past. He answers the question, "How did she come to be Le Tosca , the diva?" Sardou explains that as a child Tosca herded goats in the Roman countryside. Her nomadic lifestyle ended when Benedictine nuns who sympathetically took her in and raised her in the convent, where she began to sing. The girl's singing earned her local fame and she was "discovered" by the composer Cimerosa who desperately desired for her to become an opera singer. The nuns just as desperately wanted her to become a nun. Tosca's singing was so remarkable that she was eventually taken to sing for the Pope at the Vatican. The Pope was greatly touched by her singing and released her from the convent, pronouncing, "You will soften all hearts as you have softened mine. You will make people shed gentle tears, and that is also a way of praying to God."
Religion in Puccini's Tosca
Not surprisingly then, Puccini presents Tosca as a very religious woman. He depicts her leaving flowers on the alter of the Attavanti chapel and refusing to kiss Mario before the picture of the Madonna. She is devout in her prayers and her piety is noted by the Sacristan. In Puccini's story, after Tosca has killed Scarpia, she places a crucifix on his chest and lights candles for him. In fact, her final cry while leaping from the parapet is a challenge to Scarpia that they will meet before God, revealing her unwavering faith in eternal retribution. Puccini clearly establishes that Tosca is a devout woman, but he never explains why.
While Puccini may be vague regarding Tosca's background, he is scrupulously detailed in many of the other religious elements of his opera. The intoning of church bells is often heard in Tosca , and Puccini wanted the sound to accurately reflect the bells of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the setting of Tosca . To insure this, Puccini arranged a special trip to Rome for the sole purpose of determining the pitch, timbre and pattern of the bells. He even climbed to the top of the tower at the Castel Sant'Angelo to clearly experience the Matin bells, rung in the morning by all the area churches and heard in Act Three of Tosca.
The Te Deum utilized by Puccini is an actual liturgical melody. In his quest for accuracy, Puccini wrote to his friend, Father Pietro Panichelli and requested a suitable text to be intoned during the Cardinal's traditional procession before the Te Deum . In his letter Puccini stated, "I know that it is not usual to say or sing anything before the solemn Te Deum ?but I repeat that I should like to find something to be murmured during the procession?" Panichelli was not able to locate a text for Puccini, but did send him the actual plainsong melody used for the Te Deum in the Roman diocese and included a detailed description of both the order of the Cardinal's processional and the uniforms of the Swiss Guard. Puccini continued his search for an appropriate text, and soon found one in an old Latin prayer book.
While there are clear religious overtones in the music of Tosca, the elements of religion in the plot and Puccini's stage direction are perhaps more obvious and dramatic. The entire first act is set in the Attavanti chapel of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. Religious icons and a large, partially completed, portrait of the Madonna fill the stage, emphasizing the ecclesiastical setting.
While the second act is in the secular setting of Scarpia's residence at the Palazzo Farnese, the act concludes with highly dramatic religious imagery. Tosca, who moments before emphasized her commitment to love, beauty, compassion, music and faith in her aria Vissi d'arte , kills the villianous Scarpia, scoffing, "may your sins now devour you!" Once Scarpia is dead, Tosca triumphantly declares, "Now I forgive him!" She takes time to wash her hands and arrange her hair, grabs the paper that will ensure her and Mario's safe-conduct out of Rome, and then begins to run from the room; however, Tosca's faith stops her. She is compelled to show a measure of compassion and respect for the dead. She takes two candles from the candelabra and lights them, one on each side of Scarpia's head, reverently places a crucifix, taken from the wall, on his chest and quietly leaves the room.
The third act takes place on the platform of the Castel Sant'Angelo. Although the act is dominated by Tosca and Cavaradossi's declarations of love and Cavaradossi's subsequent execution, Tosca's final exclamation reflects the strong religious overtones of this work. As she leaps to her death from the parapet, Tosca challenges, "O Scarpia, we meet before God!" The struggle between the vivacious singer and the villainous Chief of Police is not over, Tosca believes she is and will continue to be the eternal victor.
Puccini's Tosca is a strong dramatic work, combining lush melodies and a gripping plot with the color, pageantry and power of the nineteenth century Roman Catholic Church. While Puccini was not a devout believer, Tosca is full of religious icons, melodies and traditions that he uses to create dramatic contrasts and suspense. Floria Tosca's faith is central to her character and enhances the contrast with Baron Scarpia's lechery, greed and cruelty. The sacred and peaceful setting of the Attavanti chapel is incongruous with Angelotti's desperate and fearful discussions with Cavaradossi. The pastoral sounds of the Matin bells contrast sharply with Tosca and Cavaradossi's passionate declarations of love and the solemn military precision of the execution. Indeed, while the plot is full of political suspense and ardent love, it can be argued that the dramatic impetus of Tosca comes from Puccini's use of powerful and contrasting religious imagery.
