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24 May - 7 June 2023

Opening performance

Tosca

with Lise Davidsen, Freddie De Tommaso & Bryn Terfel

Past events:

​Artist in Residence Lise Davidsen sings the title role in Puccini’s incisive opera.

Rebellion. Corruption. Jealousy. Torture. A mislaid dagger. And most of all, love. 

The ingredients in Puccini's opera are enough for an entire television series, but actually take place in the course of one intense day in Rome in June 1800. When Mario Cavaradossi, a painter, is suspected of harbouring a political refugee, Scarpia, the sadistic chief of police, sees his chance, not only to catch the rebel but also to win Cavaradossi's lover, the famous opera singer Floria Tosca. Neither Scarpia nor Tosca spare any means to get what they want. 

The Bergen International Festival opens with a concert version of the opera, with moving duets and some of the world's best-known arias, including Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore (Tosca's Prayer) and E lucevan le stelle (And the stars were shining). 

Artist in Residence Lise Davidsen, soprano, makes her stage debut in the title role. Her revolutionary lover is portrayed by the British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso, while the evil Roman police chief is played by the Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel

In the opening performance of the Bergen International Festival this fatal trefoil takes the stage accompanied by Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Edvard Grieg Kor and Edvard Grieg Boys Choir

Image: Lise Davidsen (photo: Morten Krogvold), Freddie De Tommaso (photo: Craig Gibson), Bryn Terfel (photo: Johannes Ifkovits)

Information

Wednesday 24 May at 17:50–18:10: Introduction in English by John Allison, editor of Opera Magazine, in the foyer Spissen.

Friday 26 May at 18:00–18:50: Introduction in Norwegian by writer and lecturer Sverre Gunnar Haga in the foyer Spissen.

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Performance programme (pdf)

​Read about soprano and artist in residence Lise Davidsen here.

Watch: Freddie De Tommaso and Lise Davidsen singing Non la sospiri la nostra casetta from Tosca on Freddie's new album Il Tenore.


  • Opera

Venue

  • Grieghallen
    Accessible with wheelchair Designed for hearing impaired The venue has serving

Duration

​2 h 25 min incl. interval

Tickets

Standard: 260/720/890
Senior: 234/648/801
Under 30/student: 200 
FiB Fordel: 182/504/623
BT Fordel: 195/540/667

Sold out? Unclaimed tickets for performances are continuously put up for sale.


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Language

​Performed in Italian, surtitles in Norwegian and English.

Contributors

    • Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
    • Edward Gardner conductor
    • Jesper Kongshaug lighting design
    • Nicolai Riise concert staging

    • Lise Davidsen Floria Tosca
    • Freddie De Tommaso Mario Cavaradossi
    • Bryn Terfel Baron Scarpia
    • Ashley Riches Cesare Angelotti
    • Christian Valle A Sacristan
    • Kjetil Støa Spoletta
    • Ludvig Lindström Sciarrone
    • Olav  Frøyen Sandvik A Shepherd boy
    • David Hansford A Jailer

    • Edvard Grieg Choir
    • Edvard Grieg Boys Choir
    • Bergen Philharmonic Choir
    • Collegium Musicum's Choir
    • Håkon Matti Skrede chorus master

Produced by

​Bergen International Festival in collaboration with Bergen National Opera and Musikkselskapet Harmonien

Music by

    • Puccini

    Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)
    Text: Luigi Illica (1857–1919), Giuseppe Giacosa (1847–1909) libretto
    Tosca

    • Act 1
    • Interval
    • Act 2 
    • Act 3

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