OPERA IN THREE ACTS BY GIACOMO PUCCINI
LIBRETTO BY LUIGI ILLICA AND GIUSEPPE GIACOSA
Stage Direction: Giorgio Madia
Set and Costume Design: Domenico Franchi
Light Design: Giorgio Madia
Directors of Choir: Rafał Wiecha, Agnieszka Lechocińska
Musical Direction: Rafał Janiak
Floria Tosca: Anna Patalong, Sarah Tisba, Małgorzata Trojanowska
Mario Cavaradossi: David Esteban, Dominik Sutowicz
Scarpia: Daniel Mirosław, Krzysztof Szumański
Cesare Angelotti: Rafał Pikała, Michał Romanowski, Robert Ulatowski
Il Sagrestano: Robert Iwankiewicz, Grzegorz Pelutis, Robert Ulatowski
Spoletta: Marcin Ciechowicz, Artur Mleko (
and Soloists, Choir, Childrens‘ Choir and Orchestra of Teatr Wielki Łodz
PREMIERE 4. October 2025
Teatr Wielki Lodz
Giacomo Puccini’s „Tosca“
A Note from the Stage Director
Giacomo Puccini’s „Tosca“ is often called an opera of passion and power, but for me it is first and foremost an opera of truth. Behind the grandeur of its melodies and the sweep of its drama lies a story of ordinary human beings trapped in extraordinary circumstances: an artist whose ideals collide head-on with tyranny, a woman whose love becomes her strength and her downfall, and a world where beauty, faith, cruelty—and political oppression—coexist on the same stage.
Tosca’s world may be set in Napoleonic Rome, yet its tensions echo unmistakably today. We, too, know of governments that weaponize fear, of artists silenced for their convictions. When Cavaradossi paints, he is not merely creating beauty—he is asserting freedom. When Tosca bargains with Scarpia, she does so in a world where power corrupts absolutely and truth is a dangerous currency.
As one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide, „Tosca“ presents every stage director with two challenges: respecting its rich tradition while proving that an old story can still feel urgent. Too often, opera productions are treated as pedestals on which directors elevate themselves by rearranging eras, locations, or even the essence of the characters. My perspective is the opposite: to remain in service of the music and to offer singers the most honest, supportive framework for their art.
When approaching a production, the libretto tells me what, but the music tells me how the work wishes to be staged. Puccini’s score is infused with political tension: the omnipresent fear of surveillance, the pressure of authoritarian power, and the quiet bravery of resistance. These themes resonate far beyond the Rome of 1800. In this production, I sought to honor the score’s cinematic pulse while revealing the fragile humanity beneath the politics. The settings you will see may feel familiar—echoes of a classical Rome—but look closely: the spaces breathe with suggestion rather than historical exactness. Oversized architectural elements dwarf the human figures, reflecting how oppressive power looms over individual freedom. Every gesture, glance, and silence is shaped to let Puccini’s music expose the soul beneath the surface.
This production is intentionally my most restrained in spectacle yet rich in intimacy. Much of the work happens in the private choices of the characters, in the quiet acts of resistance or survival that feel as relevant now as they did in 1800. „Tosca“ is not a museum piece: it lives only when its characters breathe, struggle, and love truthfully in their last urgent moments of their lives. And in its shattering finale, (spoiler alert!) there are no winners, there is no easy triumph of good over evil—only the devastating reminder that in oppressive times, even the most heroic acts can end in loss, and yet still illuminate the unbreakable human spirit.
Giorgio Madia
PHOTOS (c) Joanna Miklaszewska, Walendi Photo
