Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It depicts graphic scenes of torture, murder and suicide, yet it contains some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias, and has inspired memorable performances from many of opera's leading singers. Tosca premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances. Despite indifferent reviews from the critics, the opera was an immediate success with the public. While critics have frequently dismissed the opera as a facile melodrama with confusions of plot—musicologist Joseph Kerman famously called it a "shabby little shocker"—the power of its score and the inventiveness of its orchestration have been widely acknowledged. The dramatic force of Tosca and its characters continues to fascinate both performers and audiences, and the work remains one of the most frequently performed operas.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1461:

Ming Chinese general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the Tianshun Emperor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin

1679:

Le Griffon, a brigantine by René-Robert de LaSalle , became the first sailing ship to navigate the upper Great Lakes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Griffon

1933:

Many of an estimated 3,000 Assyrians were slaughtered by Iraqi troops during the Simele massacre in the Dahuk and Mosul districts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simele_massacre

1942:

World War II: U.S. Marines initiated the first American offensive of the Guadalcanal campaign with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tulagi_and_Gavutu%E2%80%93Tanambogo

1998:

Car bombs simultaneously exploded at the United States embassies in the East African capital cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, killing over 200 people and injuring over 4,500 others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_United_States_embassy_bombings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

almondine (adj): Garnished with almond slices http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/almondine

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car. --Garrison Keillor http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor