Tosca: “I lived for the art”

We are exploring timeless arias from Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. 

Here’s “Vissi d’arte” (“I lived for the art”)

I once stayed in a wonderful hotel in Montenegro called Vissi D’Arte. The owner’s daughter was an opera singer and the family loved opera. The whole hotel, which had maybe eight rooms, was dedicated to opera. It had beautiful, stunning views of the marina and the ocean. 

But what really stunned me was discovering the meaning (translation) of Vissi d’arte – “I lived for the art.” The first two lines of this aria define Tosca’s character and her innocence: “I lived for my art, I lived for love, I never did harm to a living soul!”

#TimelessArias

You can watch the full opera with English subtitles here:

Or this one with Placido Domingo: