Set in the grit and glamour of 1960s Rome, Stephen Barlow’s acclaimed 2008 production of Tosca returns to Opera Holland Park for the centenary of Puccini’s death. Feared throughout the city, Scarpia, the corrupt chief of police, meets his match in the diva Floria Tosca, who must try to prevent the execution of her lover, Mario Cavaradossi, as a member of the resistance. 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, Sydney and New York. 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.