Two operas will be featured in performances at the Jerusalem Theatre.
The Jerusalem Opera and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra are presenting a double bill of Puccini – Act II of the opera Tosca and the one-act opera Il Tabarro (The Cloak) on October 25 and October 27 at the Jerusalem Theatre’s Henry Crown Hall.
The performances feature Romanian baritone Florin Estefan, Israeli soprano Yasmine Levi-Ellentuck, and Italian tenor Ivan Defabiani.
Il Tabarro is a short, dark, and deeply moving opera depicting the lives of ordinary people aboard a barge on the Seine. Beneath the surface lie pain, loneliness, and forbidden desire – until its chilling and tragic end.
Act II of Tosca stands as a self-contained, shattering drama, portraying the fateful confrontation between the singer Tosca and Baron Scarpia – a struggle where power, passion, loyalty, and courage collide.
THE JERUSALEM Symphony Orchestra. (credit: David Winaker)
Artistic choices
The Jerusalem Opera and music director and conductor Omer Arieli chose to present Tosca’s second act as an independent piece – a rare but established artistic choice. Structurally, this act forms a complete dramatic arc, with conflict, development, and a climactic resolution, offering a full theatrical and musical experience even outside the opera’s full context.
Pairing it with Il Tabarro is no coincidence. Despite their contrasts – one a political drama in Rome, the other an intimate tragedy on the Seine – the two share profound thematic parallels. Both unfold within confined spaces and compressed time frames, and both place their protagonists before impossible moral choices.
The performances will be sung in Italian, with Hebrew and English subtitles.
Information and tickets: jso.co.il and jerusalemopera.com