TOLEDO – Toledo Opera will bring a timeless tale of love, lust, violence, and political intrigue to life
in Giacomo Puccini’s "Tosca" Friday at &:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Valentine
Theatre.
Led by James Meena with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the production will include performers from top
international opera houses.
Leading the cast will be Jill Gardner as the singer Floria Tosca, whose jealous love of the painter Mario
Cavaradossi is at the center of the opera’s story.
Gardner has portrayed Tosca and many other Puccini heroines at opera companies throughout the United
States.
Adam Diegel, from the Metropolitan Opera, will sing the role of Cavaradossi.
The evil Baron Scarpia will be sung by baritone Michael Chioldi. Scarpia is a signature role for Chioldi,
who has performed at nearly every major American opera house, including the Metropolitan Opera, San
Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Opera.
Sean Cooper, a bass-baritone and assistant professor of voice at Bowling Green State University, will
appear as Cesare Angelotti, the political prisoner whose frantic escape kicks the opera’s dramatic story
into motion.
Recent Bowling Green State University graduate and Toledo Opera Resident Artist Madeline Harts will sing
the role of the young shepherd.
Michigan tenor Drake Dantzler and Toledo baritone Eric Graber will portray Scarpia’s henchmen Spoletta
and Sciarrone.
A revival of a Seattle Opera production "Tosca was first brought to Toledo for the inaugural season
of the Valentine Theatre in 1999. The sets incorporate large, painted backdrops depicting 19th-century
Rome.
Michael Capasso, a Puccini specialist who directed "La bohème" for Toledo Opera in 2012,
directs.
Tickets range in price from $40 to $90. Call 419-255-7464 or contact www.toledoopera.com
