Stage set design always plays an important role in the general impression a viewer receives from what he/she watches. In the case of Opera Tosca stage set design is particularly important because initially the opera is a very specific performance at large and Opera Tosca in particular. The main reason is that it is necessary to convey the epoch, the situation and events that develops that is impossible without professional stage set design of the highest quality.
As for me, when I watched Opera Tosca I was really impressed and the general impression about stage set, costumes and other elements of design is rather positive. What I would like to underline from the very beginning is the fact that everything was harmonious. I mean that the stage set was attempted to be as close to what was supposed to be by the opera’s creators, in other words the setting was close to the epoch of the creation of the opera. The same may be said about the costumes, which also seem to be taken from the epoch of the creation of the opera. In such a way costumes serve as a supplementary means to enforce the impression that the action takes place in the past.
At this respect songs and music play an important role. Actually I would like to remark that opera is in fact quite a specific genre but in Opera Tosca music and songs sounds quite logical and natural, especially in the context of such stage set and costumes.
Naturally, such a stage set design is very thought provoking and influences a viewer’s emotions because it is impossible to watch the opera and remain untouched. At least I could not help from imagining myself living in the epoch where the opera took place. In fact I, unexpectedly for myself, found that what I saw on the stage is so realistic and as if it was a part of Italy of that epoch.
But what probably impressed me the most is the beginning of the opera when everything stage and music seemed to darken and I really felt that something tragic should actually happen and this feeling was practically personal as if it was me who was playing, or to put it more precisely, living the main part in the opera. And this fact only emphasizes what I have just said about a kind of harmony typical for stage set, costumes, music and other elements that create the general image of the opera and produce a definite influence on me as a viewer and as a constituent part of the performance.
Thus, in conclusion, I would just like to say that such performances as Opera Tosca permit us to realize the importance and significance of art and it is due to such performances we can really agree with Shakespeare’s that our life is just a theatre and all of us are actors playing our own parts in it. This is why this opera made me think about art and life and how tragic they may be and how closely they are intertwined.