Tosca

Is AWESOME! And now that I"m getting good at the Italian language it's even more awesome cause I can understand most of it, without reading the subtitles. I think Puccini is a genius. He uses motives to represent each character and presents them in a very subtile way. Which rocks! My favorite part musically and dramatically is when Tosca kills Scarpia. There is this gorgeous dramtic music that just swells and takes over the drama. I love when music and drama can match so well. Music can create such mood swings too. For instance: At the end of the opera Tosca thinks that her lover Cavodossi is going to be fakely executed, but he is really killed. At first the music is all hopefully and rather casual, but as Tosca realizes that Cavadossi is really dead the music quicly changes with the realization. It is a beautiful and horrific moment in the opera.