When
the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens was issued
in Paris in 1789, the scope of applicability was not limited
to France. The declaration was intended to apply to the entire
world, or at least to Europe. When Napoleon Bonaparte conscripted
Frenchmen into the army, the objective was to topple the monarchs
of Europe, who had been responsible for frivolous wars and
heinous denials of human rights, in order to install democratic
republics in their place. Among the countries eventually liberated
was Italy, where a Roman Republic was established when he
was merely commander of the French army in Italy. After overthrowing
the Directory and establishing the Consulate in 1799, Napoleon
defeated the Austrians in 1800 at the Battle of Marengo, Italy.
With this historical background, Victorien Sardou published
a play in 1887 about an opera singer in love with a painter
named Mario Cavaradossi. Mario in turn seeks to aid a Republican,
Angelotti, who escapes from prison and thus eludes the Baron
Scarpia, the counterrevolutionary chief of police who is purging
Rome of all dissident Republicans. Giacomo Puccini, while
working on La Bohème, was invited by librettist
Ferdinando Fontana to make an opera out of the play, Tosca,
about fictional events taking place in June 1800, and his
masterpiece premiered in 1900. Although there have been several
films of Tosca over the years, most
recently in the 1970s, French film producer Daniel Toscan
du Plantier followed up his production of Madama
Butterfly (1995) and Carmen
(2001) by entrusting the adaptation of Tosca to director Benoît
Jacquot, whose version has now been released commercially.
Those expecting a pure operatic version should be informed
that the performing singers and orchestra are occasionally
presented in black and white, and the actors lip sync the
singing. The actual sites in the opera are reproduced in some
cases through antiqued photographs, with sets erected as background
for the actors. MH
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