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Details
PUCCINI, Giacomo. Autograph manuscript sketchleaf for Tosca, signed and dated 'Finito l'atto Io a di 4 9embre 1898 G. Puccini', a draft in short score of 13 bars (from 2 bars before figure 75) of Act I (Scarpia's lines 'O che v'offende, dolce signora? ...'), some indications of orchestration ('archi', 'legni'), inscribed at head in another hand 'Tosca', four systems of three staves on one page, folio (378 x 260mm), (browned and spotted, some wear to margins, one puncture from ink acidification, some wear and short tears to margin, one tear affecting signature).
The passage occurs towards the end of Act I, when Scarpia, in a monologue over a characteristically obsessive pattern of alternating chords, accompanied by bells, organ, drum beats to simulate cannon fire and growling bassoons, gloats at the prospect of capturing Angelotti and enjoying Tosca's favours. Puccini's note of the date of completion of Act I indicates that he discarded drafting material at the conclusion of each section of the opera. The opera as a whole was not completed until October 1899, receiving its premier on 14 January 1900.
The passage occurs towards the end of Act I, when Scarpia, in a monologue over a characteristically obsessive pattern of alternating chords, accompanied by bells, organ, drum beats to simulate cannon fire and growling bassoons, gloats at the prospect of capturing Angelotti and enjoying Tosca's favours. Puccini's note of the date of completion of Act I indicates that he discarded drafting material at the conclusion of each section of the opera. The opera as a whole was not completed until October 1899, receiving its premier on 14 January 1900.
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