When he realizes what has happened, he angrily confronts Tosca, just as the officer Sciarrone rushes in to announce that Napoleon actually has won the battle, a defeat for Scarpia’s side. Henchmen bring in Cavaradossi, who is badly hurt and hardly conscious. Frightened by Scarpia’s questions and Cavaradossi’s screams, Tosca reveals Angelotti’s hiding place. Scarpia sends for her, and she appears just as Cavaradossi is being taken away to be tortured. Scarpia interrogates the defiant painter while Tosca sings at a royal gala in the palace courtyard. The spy Spoletta arrives with news that he was unable to find Angelotti. That evening in his chambers in the Palazzo Farnese, Scarpia anticipates the pleasure of having Tosca in his power. While the congregation intones the Te Deum, Scarpia declares that he will bend Tosca to his will. Scarpia sends his men to follow her to Cavaradossi, with whom he thinks Angelotti is hiding. She vows vengeance and leaves as the church fills with worshippers. Seemingly confirming her suspicions about her lover’s infidelity, Tosca is devastated. When Tosca comes back looking for Cavaradossi, Scarpia shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest that he has just found. At the height of their excitement, Baron Scarpia, chief of the secret police, arrives, searching for Angelotti. The sacristan enters with choirboys who are preparing to sing in a Te Deum celebrating the recent victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Marengo.

A cannon signals that the police have discovered the escape, and he and Cavaradossi flee to the painter’s home. When Tosca has left, Angelotti again comes out of hiding. Suddenly recognizing the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting, she accuses him of being unfaithful, but he assures her of his love. When he lets her into the church, she jealously asks Cavaradossi to whom he has been talking and reminds him of their rendezvous that evening. Cavaradossi recognizes him and promises help, then hurries him back into the chapel as the singer Floria Tosca, his lover, calls from outside. Angelotti, who was a member of the former Bonapartiste government, emerges from his hiding place. The painting has been inspired by Angelotti’s sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, whom Cavaradossi had seen praying in the church.

Soon, the painter Mario Cavaradossi arrives to work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene. After finding the key his sister has hidden for him, he hides in his family’s private chapel. Rome, June 1800. Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner, rushes into the Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

Synopsis of tosca opera