Set in the grit and glamour of late 1960s Rome, Stephen Barlow’s acclaimed 2008 production of Tosca returns to Opera Holland Park for the centenary of Puccini’s death. With the city in his grip, Scarpia meets his match with the diva Floria Tosca, who must try to prevent the execution of her lover, Mario Cavaradossi, an artist opposed to Scarpia’s politics. Taut and terrifying, Puccini’s drama contains some of his most impassioned and original music for voice and orchestra.

South African soprano Amanda Echalaz returns to the role and staging that launched her international career, having since played Floria Tosca in Berlin, Dresden, Santa Fe, Salzburg, Strasbourg and Sydney. Portuguese tenor José de Eça makes his company debut as Mario Cavaradossi. Matthew Kofi Waldren conducts in his fourteenth engagement with the company since he joined the inaugural cohort of Opera Holland Park Young Artists.

For those who are partially sighted or blind and attending the audio described performance and Discovery Matinee on Sunday 9 June, listen below to the introduction to Tosca