The Italian tenor, Roberto Alagna, is relentlessly ardent as her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi (if their endless embraces seem remarkably natural, it may be because the two singers are married to each other).

NEWYORKER: Tosca

The specifics are not insignificant, but at its core the opera is about the competing forces of good (personified by Tosca and the freedom-loving painter Mario Cavaradossi) and evil (evoked by the villainous Baron Scarpia) writ large.

WSJ: Maria Callas | Puccini's Tosca | The Measure of a Diva | Masterpiece by David Mermelstein

Cavaradossi is shot without suspense.

NEWYORKER: Fiasco