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Rome groans under the violent hand of police chief Scarpia. The city’s former consul, Cesare Angelotti, is hiding from him in a chapel, where the painter Mario Cavaradossi is working on a painting of the Madonna. His lover, the celebrated opera singer Floria Tosca, visits him there and accidentally discovers Angelotti’s hiding place. The painter adjures her not to betray his friend. Scarpia has set his sights on Tosca. He captures Cavaradossi and tortures him to discover Angelotti’s hiding place. Cavaradossi manages to hold on, but when Tosca hears her lover groaning under the abuse, she breaks down and tells Scarpia everything. Scarpia promises to spare Cavaradossi if she will be his for one hour. Cavaradossi will then only be executed for appearances, to save Scarpia from losing face. Tosca agrees to his proposal, but when Scarpia demands his reward, she stabs him with a dagger.
Cavaradossi awaits the execution squad at Castel Sant’Angelo. Tosca looks forward to the consummation with confidence – after all, it’s just an appearance, isn’t it? But when Cavaradossi remains lifeless on the ground after the gunfire, it becomes clear to Tosca that Scarpia has horribly betrayed her: her lover is dead. When the guards arrive to arrest her for Scarpia’s murder, she sees only one way out. She jumps from the castle wall to certain death.
