Act 1

Rome, 1800.

The Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. 

Early morning. Cesare Angelotti, the former consul of the Roman Republic and now a political prisoner sneak into the church. With the help of his sister, Marchesa Attavanti, he has managed to escape from the Sant'Angelo prison and hide in the Attavanti private chapel.

‘Ah! Finalmente!’. 

The sacristan enters. Grumbling and grouching, he is in search of Mario Cavaradossi, the painter who is working in the church on a picture of Mary Magdalene.

‘E sempre lava!’

Cavaradossi enters and discloses the picture. The sacristan is struck by the resemblance of Mary Magdalene and the Marchesa Attavanti, who is often seen in the chapel.

‘Sante ampolle! Il suo ritratto!’ 

The painter gets down to work. Speculating on the variety of beauty, comparing the Marchesa with his beloved one, the famous singer Floria Tosca, Cavaradossi speaks about his passionate love to her…

‘Ah! il mio sol pensier sei tu! Tosca, sei tu!’ 

Suddenly Angelotti emerges from his hiding place. Tosca’s voice is heard. Cavaradossi promises to help the escapee and hides him in the chapel. Tosca enters. The lovers arrange a rendezvous in the evening at Cavaradossi’s villa not far from Rome.

‘Non la sospiri la nostra casetta che tutta ascosa nel verde ci aspetta?’ 

About to leave, Tosca sees the painting. She recognizes the Marchesa in the picture and jealously reproaches the painter. But Mario manages to calm her down – his passionate love for Tosca is endless!

“Mia vita, amante inquieta, dirò sempre, ‘Floria, t`amo!” 

When Tosca has left, Cavaradossi suggests that Angelotti change his clothes, leave the church and hide at Mario’s villa. The thought of Angelotti having escaped from Scarpia makes Mario utterly determined to help the ex-prisoner: the painter hates the deceitful and dissolute baron. A cannon shot is heard signalling that the escape has been discovered. Excited, Cavaradossi decides to accompany Angelotti to a safe place.

‘Se ci assalgon, battaglia!’ 

The sacristan re-enters with choristers and clerics; they all rejoice at the news of Napoleon’s defeat. In the evening there will be celebrations in the Palazzo Farnese where Tosca herself will sing a cantata.

‘Si festeggi la vittoria!’ 

Suddenly Baron Scarpia, chief of the police, enters the church. With the help of the sacristan, he finds Angelotti’s traces. This makes him suspect of his detestable rival Cavaradossi’s complicity.

‘Lui! L`amante di Tosca! Un uom sospetto! Un volterrian!’ 

Tosca comes back. She has to tell Mario that she cannot come to the rendezvous. She meets Scarpia who shows her the Marchesa Attavanti’s fan, found in the chapel. Tosca is overcome with jealousy. She decides to go to Mario’s villa and catch him and the Marchesa unawares.

‘Dove son? Potessi coglierli, i traditori!’

Scarpia orders his agents to follow her. The cruel baron anticipates double triumph: Tosca will surely turn to him when Cavaradossi is arrested and put to death. To the sound of the magnificent Te Deum, he dives into the most daring and passionate dreams.

‘Tosca, mi fai dimenticare iddio!’ 

Act 2

Scarpia's study in the Palazzo Farnese.

The baron is waiting for Tosca, who is to sing in the evening in the Palace. He is confident that she will do anything for Cavaradossi. ‘Per amor del suo Mario... al piacer mio s`arrenderà. Tal dei profondi amori, è la profonda miseria.’ Scarpia’s henchman Spoletta enters the study and announces that Tosca has not stayed long at the villa, Angelotti has not been found, and only Cavaradossi has been arrested. Interrogated by Scarpia, the painter denies everything. Tosca enters. Condemned to torture, Mario tells her to say nothing about Angelotti. At first, Scarpia tries to talk the singer into giving away the secret. ‘Ed or fra noi da buoni amici.’ But Tosca is very careful and self-controlled. Then the torture of Cavaradossi begins. Floria, having no power to bear the screams of her beloved, reveals the escapee’s hiding place. ‘Nel pozzo... nel giardino...’ Scarpia triumphantly sends his agents to the villa; Cavaradossi angrily reproaches Floria for the betrayal. Then the news of the French victory at Marengo arrives. Cavaradossi gloats, telling Scarpia that the revenge is close. ‘Il tuo cor trema, o Scarpia, carnefice!’ Infuriated, the chief of the police orders to execute the painter. When Mario is led out of the room, Tosca begs Scarpia to pardon her lover: she can give up everything she has to save Mario. But the only thing the baron needs is Tosca’s love. ‘Già mi struggea l`amor della diva!’ Disgusted, she pushes the besotted Scarpia away. He threatens her that Mario will soon be shot, and reproaches the singer for being indifferent. Exhausted, heartbroken, Tosca raises her hands to the sky… ‘Vissi d`arte, vissi d`amore…’ Spoletta comes back and says that Angelotti has killed himself when faced with capture. Cavaradossi will soon be executed. Tosca begs Scarpia to have mercy on her beloved, this time pretending to agree to Scarpia’s proposition. Having signed a false order of granting a pardon to the painter and a safe-conduct, the baron triumphantly approaches Tosca. She stabs him with a knife. ‘È morto! Or gli perdono!..’ 

Act 3

The tower of the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Dawn. The secret police agents bring in Cavarodossi and leave him to the jailer. Waiting for the execution and having refused to see the priest, Cavaradossi thinks of what to write in his last letter to Tosca. ‘E lucevan le stelle... e olezzava la terra...’ Tosca enters and brings happy news: Cavaradossi has been granted a pardon, and it will be a mock execution. Mario is puzzled: it is Scarpia’s first granting a pardon ever! Tosca says that it is also the last one because she has killed the butcher. ‘N`ebbi le man tutte lorde di sangue!..’ Now Cavaradossi must play his part in the mock execution and fake his death convincingly. And then freedom awaits them! ‘Al colpo egli è mestiere che tu subito cada...’ After the shot, Tosca hurries towards Mario. Cavaradossi is dead. Spoletta rushes in: they have found Scarpia’s body and are now searching for the singer. As the agents approach Tosca, she leaps from the battlement with the words, ‘O Scarpia, Avanti a Dio!’   

Act 1

Inside the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle

Scene depicting a church interior with high stained-glass windows and heavy ornamental columns. The central figure is a high dignatory around whom several figures are kneeling, while in the background can be seen the tall pikes of the Swiss Guard.
Cesare Angelotti, former consul of the Roman Republic and now an escaped political prisoner, runs into the church and hides in the Attavanti private chapel – his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, has left a key to the chapel hidden at the feet of the statue of the Madonna. The elderly Sacristan enters and begins cleaning. The Sacristan kneels in prayer as the Angelus sounds.

The painter Mario Cavaradossi arrives to continue work on his picture of Mary Magdalene. The Sacristan identifies a likeness between the portrait and a blonde-haired woman who has been visiting the church recently (unknown to him, it is Angelotti's sister the Marchesa). Cavaradossi describes the "hidden harmony" ("Recondita armonia") in the contrast between the blonde beauty of his painting and his dark-haired lover, the singer Floria Tosca. The Sacristan mumbles his disapproval before leaving.

Angelotti emerges and tells Cavaradossi, an old friend who has republican sympathies, that he is being pursued by the Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia. Cavaradossi promises to assist him after nightfall. Tosca's voice is heard, calling to Cavaradossi. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti his basket of food and Angelotti hurriedly returns to his hiding place.

Tosca enters and suspiciously asks Cavaradossi what he has been doing – she thinks that he has been talking to another woman. Cavaradossi reassures her and Tosca tries to persuade him to take her to his villa that evening: "Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta" ("Do you not long for our little cottage"). She then expresses jealousy over the woman in the painting, whom she recognises as the Marchesa Attavanti. Cavaradossi explains the likeness; he has merely observed the Marchesa at prayer in the church. He reassures Tosca of his fidelity and asks her what eyes could be more beautiful than her own: "Qual'occhio al mondo" ("What eyes in the world").

After Tosca has left, Angelotti reappears and discusses with the painter his plan to flee disguised as a woman, using clothes left in the chapel by his sister. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti a key to his villa, suggesting that he hide in a disused well in the garden. The sound of a cannon signals that Angelotti's escape has been discovered. He and Cavaradossi hasten out of the church.

The Sacristan re-enters with choristers, celebrating the news that Napoleon has apparently been defeated at Marengo. The celebrations cease abruptly with the entry of Scarpia, his henchman Spoletta and several police agents. They have heard that Angelotti has sought refuge in the church. Scarpia orders a search, and the empty food basket and a fan bearing the Attavanti coat of arms are found in the chapel. Scarpia questions the Sacristan, and his suspicions are aroused further when he learns that Cavaradossi has been in the church; Scarpia mistrusts the painter, and believes him complicit in Angelotti's escape.

When Tosca arrives looking for her lover, Scarpia artfully arouses her jealous instincts by implying a relationship between the painter and the Marchesa Attavanti. He draws Tosca's attention to the fan and suggests that someone must have surprised the lovers in the chapel. Tosca falls for his deceit; enraged, she rushes off to confront Cavaradossi. Scarpia orders Spoletta and his agents to follow her, assuming she will lead them to Cavaradossi and Angelotti. He privately gloats as he reveals his intentions to possess Tosca and execute Cavaradossi. A procession enters the church singing the Te Deum; exclaiming 'Tosca, you make me forget even God!', Scarpia joins the chorus in the prayer.

Act 2

The body of a man lies supine, with a woman, crucifix in hand, kneeling over him. A candle is placed to each side of his head.
Scarpia's apartment in the Palazzo Farnese, that evening

Scarpia, at supper, sends a note to Tosca asking her to come to his apartment, anticipating that two of his goals will soon be fulfilled at once. His agent, Spoletta, arrives to report that Angelotti remains at large, but Cavaradossi has been arrested for questioning. He is brought in, and an interrogation ensues. As the painter steadfastly denies knowing anything about Angelotti's escape, Tosca's voice is heard singing a celebratory cantata elsewhere in the Palace.

She enters the apartment in time to see Cavaradossi being escorted to an antechamber. All he has time to say is that she mustn't tell them anything. Scarpia then claims she can save her lover from indescribable pain if she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. She resists, but the sound of screams coming through the door eventually breaks her down, and she tells Scarpia to search the well in the garden of Cavaradossi's villa.

Scarpia orders his torturers to cease, and the bloodied painter is dragged back in. He's devastated to discover that Tosca has betrayed his friend. Sciarrone, another agent, then enters with news: there was an upset on the battlefield at Marengo, and the French are marching on Rome. Cavaradossi, unable to contain himself, gloats to Scarpia that his rule of terror will soon be at an end. This is enough for the police to consider him guilty, and they haul him away to be shot.

Scarpia, now alone with Tosca, proposes a bargain: if she gives herself to him, Cavaradossi will be freed. She is revolted, and repeatedly rejects his advances, but she hears the drums outside announcing an execution. As Scarpia awaits her decision, she prays, asking why God has abandoned her in her hour of need: "Vissi d'arte" ("I lived for art"). She tries to offer money, but Scarpia isn't interested in that kind of bribe: he wants Tosca herself.

Spoletta returns with the news that Angelotti has killed himself upon discovery, and that everything is in place for Cavaradossi's execution. Scarpia hesitates to give the order, looking to Tosca, and despairingly she agrees to submit to him. He tells Spoletta to arrange a mock execution, both men repeating that it will be "as we did with Count Palmieri," and Spoletta exits.

Tosca insists that Scarpia must provide safe-conduct out of Rome for herself and Cavaradossi. He easily agrees to this and heads to his desk. While he's drafting the document, she quietly takes a knife from the supper table. Scarpia triumphantly strides toward Tosca. When he begins to embrace her, she stabs him, crying "this is Tosca's kiss!" Once she's certain he's dead, she ruefully says "now I forgive him." She removes the safe-conduct from his pocket, lights candles in a gesture of piety, and places a crucifix on the body before leaving.

Act 3

The upper parts of the Castel Sant'Angelo, early the following morning

Roman panorama showing, centre, an arched bridge over a river with a domed building in the distance. To the right of the bridge is a large circular fortress.
A shepherd boy is heard offstage singing (in Romanesco dialect) "Io de' sospiri" ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound for matins. The guards lead Cavaradossi in and inform him that he has one hour to live. He declines to see a priest, but asks permission to write a letter to Tosca. He begins to write, but is soon overwhelmed by memories: "E lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars shone").

Tosca enters and shows him the safe-conduct pass she's obtained, adding that she has killed Scarpia and that the imminent execution is a sham. Cavaradossi must feign death, after which they can flee together before Scarpia's body is discovered. Cavaradossi is awestruck by his gentle lover's courage: "O dolci mani" ("Oh sweet hands"). The pair ecstatically imagines the life they will share, far from Rome. Tosca then anxiously coaches Cavaradossi on how to play dead when the firing squad shoots at him with blanks. He giddily promises he'll fall "like Tosca in the theatre."

Cavaradossi is led away, and Tosca watches with increasing impatience as the execution is prepared. The men fire, Cavaradossi falls, and Tosca exclaims "Ecco un artista!" ("What an actor!"). When the soldiers have all left, she hurries towards Cavaradossi, only to find that Scarpia betrayed her: the bullets were real. Heartbroken, she clasps her lover's lifeless body and weeps.

The voices of Spoletta, Sciarrone, and the soldiers are heard, shouting that Scarpia is dead and Tosca has killed him. As the men rush in, Tosca rises, evades their clutches, and runs to the parapet. Crying "O Scarpia, Avanti a Dio!" ("O Scarpia, we meet before God!"), she flings herself over the edge to her death.