Rome through Tosca’s eyes

Day 1 – Arrival in Rome

Arrival by own means. Accomodation at a 3*/4* or 5* hotel in Rome. Rooms available in the afternoon.

Free dinner.

Overnight.

Day 2 – Rome 

Morning: Breakfast at the hotel.
Transfer by own means to Teatro dell’Opera. During the visit the architectural and artistic history will be illustrated in detail together with the great names of music and politic related to the theater. The path touches the main areas: entrance foyer, stalls, royal box, stage mechanisms, gallery, frescoes of the vault, museum.  

Visits will be made from an internal guide of the Theatre with an English speaking tour.  

After the visit, meeting with the guide (speaking the chosen language) outside the Teatro dell’Opera for the first visit part of the walking tour of Tosca's places. The drama revolves around the three main characters, Tosca, Cavaradossi and Scarpia. Three acts of the opera, three as the places in which it is set. The first act has as its background the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle, and it is from here that we will begin our visit today. The church takes its name from the Palazzo della Valle, which stands nearby. The construction started at the end of the 16th century involving the architects Della Porta, Grimaldi and Maderno, but the Gothic facade was added later, in the second half of 1600. Inside we find the Cappella Barberini, one of the three chapels in the basilica, to which it seems that Puccini has been inspired by.                                

Free Lunch.  

Afternoon: We reach Piazza Farnese by foot and then Palazzo Farnese where the second act of the opera takes place. Guided visit inside the historic building in english. One of the most beautiful buildings of the 16th century Rome. It was started in 1517, designed by Antonio da Sangallo and commissioned by the Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paolo III. After the death of Sangallo, work continued supervised first by Michelangelo, followed by Vignola (back facade) and then by Giacomo Della Porta.  The palace was finished in 1589. Property of the Italian State, its use is granted to France since 1936 and it’s still today the home of the French Embassy.  

Note about Palazzo Farnese:  It the Home of the French Embassy. Visits will be made from an internal guide of the Embassy with an English or french speaking tour.                                   

At the end, transfer by own means to the hotel.                                

First Act   

Here the painter Cavaradossi, while he is painting a picture of the Madonna, meets CesarAngelotti, former consul of the Roman Republic, fled from Castel Sant’Angelo, where he was being held Prisoner. Always in the same place, we saw Tosca, lover of Cavaradossi, meeting Baron Scarpia, chief of police and in love with Tosca, who will provoke the jealousy of the woman to discover the secret place where Cavaradossi is hiding the fugitive Angelotti.

Second Act  

Scarpia resides in Palazzo Farnese. Here Cavaradossi is tortured and then sentenced to death; Tosca is willing to do anything to save him and Scarpia takes advantage of it, granting pardon and a safe conduct for the two lovers as long as Tosca gives herself to him. Although horrified, Tosca is forced to surrender, but the moment Scarpia pounces on her, she stabs him to death with her knife.

Day 3 – Rome

Morning: Breakfast at the hotel. Meeting with the guide at the hotel and transfer by own means to Castel San’Angelo for a guided tour in the chosen language (third act). Built as a sepulcher wanted by the emperor Hadrian in a peripheral area of ancient Rome, it fulfills this original function up to 403 AD. Throughout history its function changed many times: starting from the fifth century it was a fortress beyond the Tiber in defense of Rome, from the first mid-10th century it was used as a prison, a function it kept until 1901. Towards the end of 13th century Pope Nicholas III decided to transfer part of its apostolic see there, considering it a very safe structure. In the following centuries the papal rooms were built inside, while it was equipped on the outside with further fortifications, especially under the papacy of Alexander VI, so much so that, in 1527, the castle withstood the sack of Rome by the Landsknechts . In the 19th century it was used as a political prison, but from the early 20th century it became a museum, a function it still retains today. After the visit, end of guided service. Transfer by own means back to the hotel.  

Free lunch.  

Afternoon: Walk till the square of the Teatro dell’Opera for a pre-opera appetizer at “Maestro”, just in front of the theatre.      

08.00 pm: TOSCA at Teatro dell’Opera 2025
Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. 

Saturday, March 01st, 2025 - 20:00 - Premiere
Tuesday, March 04th, 2025 - 20:00
Thursday, March 06th, 2025 - 20:00   

Conductor: Daniel Oren
Director: Alessandro Talevi  

Cast

ANNA NETREBKO, YUSIF EYVAZOV, AMAERTUVSHIN ENKBATH, GABRIELA SAGONA, DOMENICO COLAIANNI, SAVERIO FIORE   
Orchestra & Choir: Orchestra E Coro Del Teatro Dell’Opera Di Roma  

Return to the hotel by own means.

Third Act   

It is dawn and Cavaradossi awaits the hour when he will be executed, singing the melancholy and poignant air " E lucevan le stelle". Tosca suddenly enters the scene and he tells his beloved that they are finally safe: she shows him the safe conduct and she tells him of the simulated shooting, agreed with Scarpia before his death. But, as many know, the ending will go differently: Cavaradossi will be really shot and Tosca, shocked and chased by guards who discovered Scarpia's murder, climbs on the parapet and shouting "O Scarpia, before God!", throws himself from the bastion.

Day 4 – Departure

Breakfast at the hotel.                                 

Check-out and transfer by own means to the airport.

End of services.

 The visits order may change for operational needs without changing the content of the programme.

INCLUDED IN THE OFFER: 

• 3 night with breakfast at 3* or  4* or 5* hotel
• Authorized guide in the chosen language  for the visits of Sant’Andrea Della Valle church and walking tour and of Castel Sant’Angelo
• Guided visit of Palazzo Farnese (in English or french) with internal guide of the Embassy
• Guided visit of Teatro dell’Opera  (in english) with internal guide of the Theatre
• Entrance fee to Sant’Andrea della Valle Church, to Castel Sant’Angelo and to Palazzo Farnese
• Ticket for the Opera Tosca
• Pre-opera appetizer close to the theatre
• Earphones for 2 days    

NOT INCLUDED IN THE OFFER:

• city tax per person/ night to be paid on spot
• Tips
• Travel to/from Rome
• Tour Leader
• Bus-Transfers
• Everything not mentioned in the section “included in the offer”    

OPTIONAL:

• Tour leader
• Bus-Transfers
• Eventual extra meals
• Eventual extra entrances/ visits