09-10 Season Opens with Puccini's Immortal Tosca

Florentine to present an all-new production of a classic masterwork

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin—October 22, 2009—The Florentine Opera opens its upcoming season with a beloved opera favorite: Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, performed November 20, 21 and 22 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Milwaukee.  Filled with familiar and moving melodies, Tosca tells the fiery tale of a celebrated soprano in love with a handsome painter, Mario Cavaradossi. When Cavaradossi’s political activism finds him in the crosshairs of the evil Baron Scarpia, a fierce battle of wills ensues in this famed opera of cruelty and deception. With its riveting themes of political intrigue, abuse of power and love gone wrong, this scandalous saga could be ripped straight from today’s headlines. A new, stylized production built by the Florentine brings Puccini’s melodies and the story’s dramatic turn of events to the forefront in a refreshed take on this classic masterwork.

A powerhouse cast, directed by Dean Anthony, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Joseph Rescigno, bring Puccini’s dramatic score to life. Cynthia Lawrence (who most recently appeared with the Florentine in May 2009’s 75th Anniversary Concert) will star as Tosca. Renzo Zulian (last seen as Radames in Aida, 2005) will portray Tosca’s doomed lover and baritone Todd Thomas makes his Florentine Opera debut as Scarpia.