A magnificent production by Nuria Espert, in which Daniela Dessí plays Puccini’s heroine, with Fabio Armiliato as Cavaradossi and Ruggero Raimondi as the villainous Scarpia.

A newspaper once asked, in reference to Rinaldo, why anti-heroes were so fascinating to audiences. We might ask the same about Scarpia, who thrills opera fans the world over when he sings “Più forte! Più forte!” while he tortures Cavaradossi. Or when we hear Tosca sing beside his corpse, “E avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma!”, we feel she could have loved this villain had she not met her painter. But Tosca lives for art and love, so she tells Cavaradossi to give his painting of Mary Magdalene black eyes. She also wants the Virgin as witness when she kisses her lover. It’s hard to imagine a more assured tearjerker than in these scenes by Sardou, accompanied by the sweeping score of the great Giacomo Puccini.