Tosca

In this new production of Tosca, director Kasper Holten stages a Puccini opera for the first time and turns the work into a gripping political thriller. The relationship between art and politics is at the heart of the interpretation, creating a performance that is tense, emotionally charged and driven by Puccini’s intensely dramatic music.

The painter Cavaradossi is at work on a painting of Mary Magdalene in one of Rome’s churches. His artwork is modern and unconventional, and it provokes the conservative and narrow-minded chief of police, Scarpia. From this single image unfolds a broader conflict. In Holten’s staging, the painting becomes a symbol of art’s ability to challenge authority, while also exposing how those in power attempt to use art to strengthen and legitimize their rule.

At the center of the drama stands the opera singer Floria Tosca. She realizes too late that, as an artist, she is being manipulated and exploited by a brutal regime. Her personal tragedy reflects a larger political reality, where creativity becomes both a weapon and a vulnerability. Tosca’s struggle gives the opera its emotional core and underlines its timeless relevance.

At the same time, Tosca remains a powerful love triangle. Tosca and Cavaradossi see their lives and their love torn apart by Scarpia, who stops at nothing in his pursuit of the beautiful singer. Desire, jealousy and political cruelty collide, driving the drama forward with relentless intensity.

Set designer Philipp Fürhofer, himself an acclaimed painter, places artworks at the center of the stage picture. Using the Opera’s advanced stage technology, he creates striking contrasts between the polished public façade and the brutal reality of Scarpia’s prison cellar. The visual world mirrors the opera’s themes of illusion and truth, beauty and violence.

The lavish costumes, rich in color and detail, are designed by Anja Vang Kragh and contribute to a sensory experience that matches the emotional weight of the music. Together with the Royal Danish Orchestra and chorus, the production highlights Puccini’s great arias and sweeping orchestral writing, reminding the audience that Tosca is not only a political drama but also one of opera’s most passionate and tragic love stories.

In this staging, Tosca emerges as both a thrilling narrative and a reflection on the role of the artist in times of oppression, making it a resonant and visually striking event on the stage of Det Kongelige Teater.