The Goddard Center is excited to present live in high-definition from New York’s Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Puccini’s peerless classic “Tosca” on Saturday, Nov. 23. Admission is $25 for the general public, $20 for Goddard Members and senior citizens, and $15 students. A light meal, included in the cost of admission, will be served one hour prior to the performance at 10:55 a.m. The show will start at 11:55 a.m. Members, sponsors and the general public alike must call and make reservations in advance to guarantee food service. At door ticket sales will not include a meal at a $5 reduced price.
Puccini’s melodrama about a volatile diva, a sadistic police chief, and an idealistic artist has offended and thrilled audiences for more than a century. Critics, for their part, have often had problems with Tosca’s rather grungy subject matter, the directness and intensity of its score, and the crowd-pleasing dramatic opportunities it provides for its lead roles. But these same aspects have made Tosca one of a handful of iconic works that seem to represent opera in the public imagination. Tosca’s popularity is further secured by a superb and exhilarating dramatic sweep, a driving score of abundant melody and theatrical shrewdness, and a career-defining title role.
Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) was immensely popular in his own lifetime, and his mature works remain staples in the repertory of most of the world’s opera companies. His operas are celebrated for their mastery of detail, sensitivity to everyday subjects, copious melody, and economy of expression.
The score of Tosca (if not the drama) itself is considered a prime example of the style of verismo, an elusive term usually translated as “realism.” The typical musical features of the verismo tradition are prominent in Tosca: short arias with an uninhibited flood of raw melody, ambient sounds that blur the distinctions between life and art, and the use of parlato—words spoken instead of sung—at moments of tension.
The Goddard Center’s 2024-25 Met Opera Season will continue with Verdi’s beloved classic “Aida” on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
The Goddard Center is located at 401 1st Ave SW in Ardmore. To make a reservation please come by or call the business office at (580) 226-0909. For more information on Met Opera programming visit our website at goddardcenter.org. National Sponsors for The Met Live: in HD series are The Neubauer Family Foundation, Bloomberg and the Toll Brothers.
