Tosca

Lead Donor of the GNO

Tribute to Nikos S. Petropoulos sponsor

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini, with stage direction, sets, and costumes by Nikos S. Petropoulos, returns to the Greek National Opera on 27 November 2025, for nine exceptional performances at the Stavros Niarchos Hall. Tosca’s revival opens the tribute to Nikos S. Petropoulos, who has been collaborating with the Greek National Opera since 1971. As a set and costume designer, and/or director, he has left a significant mark on more than twenty productions of opera, operetta, and dance drama, which have been performed repeatedly with enormous success over the last five decades.

Tosca, a unique operatic thriller, had its world premiere in Rome in 1900. It is rightly considered one of the most famous operas in the repertoire, showcasing passionate emotions underscored by Giacomo Puccini’s highly evocative music. The first time it was presented by the GNO was in 1942 at the Summer Theatre on Klafthmonos Square, featuring the nineteen-year-old Maria Kalogeropoulou (who would later be known as Callas) in the title role. Since then, it has been performed very frequently due to strong popular demand.

This particular production of Tosca made its debut at the Olympia Theatre in 2007, following a proposal from the then Artistic Director of the GNO, Stefanos Lazaridis, to Nikos S. Petropoulos, who set the opera’s plot against the backdrop of the Second World War in Rome. The performance highlights elements of violence and sadism while allowing for extreme emotions to be expressed with even greater intensity. In Act II, the protagonist’s intimidation by the lustful officer Scarpia, along with the scene in which Tosca kills him, take on thriller dimensions. The production’s black-and-white aesthetic and evocative lighting create a cinematic atmosphere, reminiscent of Italian neorealism films.

The director, Nikos S. Petropoulos, notes: “In February 1944, in a Rome that seems like a travesty of an Unfortified City, overrun with refugees, spies, double spies, informers, collaborators of the Germans, traitors, torturers, and fugitives, amidst the barrage of Allied bombings, the constant movement of German troops, and widespread panic, Tosca weaves a perfect thread to lead us into a 20th-century realist historical drama.”

Making her highly anticipated debut at the Greek National Opera in the title role will be the international opera star and sought-after soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, who has recently received widespread acclaim for her performance in Tosca at the New York Metropolitan Opera, as well as at venues in Berlin, Barcelona, and Verona. Immediately before Athens, she will also perform Tosca in a new production at the Royal Opera House in London. On the 7th of December, she will be joined on stage by her husband and distinguished opera superstar, Roberto Alagna, a tenor with a remarkable career spanning nearly four decades, who will also make his GNO debut. The world-class cast includes the renowned soprano Cellia Costea from the GNO, the internationally acclaimed tenor Marcelo Puente, and the globally celebrated Greek baritones Dimitri Platanias and Tassis Christoyannis.

The performance on the 30th of November 2025 is dedicated to the late Ulysses Kyriacopoulos, former President of the Board of the Greek National Opera and is made possible by the support of the Kyriakopoulos family.