Original subtitles

The music tells us

that the male character, Cavaradossi,

is a 19th-century man.

He's a man of his time,

who would like to be a new man, an enlightened man.

Tosca encourages him.

It's nothing to do with the revolution,

because Tosca is not concerned by that.

He is very open-minded.

He's a pure, honest and upright man.

A man who doesn't yield to power.

Quite the opposite. He scorns it,

in rather a childish manner sometimes,

but with sincerity and determination.

He's always very romantic.

Even during the conspiracy in the first act,

he is led on by Tosca's passion and love,

in a loving duet with his acolyte, in the church.

This lyrical and romantic outburst

is a distant feeling,

different to other characters.

They are either very strong, like Tosca,

or extremely self-centred,

as if they were all that mattered, like Scarpia.

In the second act, there are five statues.

These statues have a precise iconographic reference.

These are famous statues made by famous sculptors.

They have slight variations

but they should still be recognized.

This is a sculpture of Michelangelo.

We reproduced one of his sculptures.

See if you can recognize it.

When you see it,

you must think of its iconographic reference,

know that it's by Michelangelo and recognize it as such.

The White Voices feature prominently in the first act.

They're the chorus.

The most wonderful thing about this chorus is its spontaneity

and its desire to make music.

At the beginning of the third act,

there is an impression of daybreak

by a kind of bell concert.

To do so,

we place the bells in diferent positions

while following the score.

There's a faraway sound

that comes from San Pietro nel Montorio,

one closer, to the right, from Sant'Onofrio

and one even closer, on the left, from the church of dei Miracoli.

3 of the 4 bells are the original ones.

They come from Pistoia, where they were made

for Puccini.

It's a lovely challenge.

It was a rather experimental idea for the time.

It's our tribute to the writer.