Il bacio di Tosca

 

"Il bacio di Tosca" is an amazing and deeply touching movie directed by Daniel Schmid in 1984.

"Before he died in 1902, Giuseppe Verdi inaugurated a home for retired artists in Milan, a project he had worked on for some time. This home is maintained by the Friends of the Casa Verdi, after Verdi's royalties that supported the home ran out in the 1960s. Director Daniel Schmid interviews several of the operatic stars living there in 1984: Sara Scuderi, Giuseppe Manachini, Leonida Bellon, and the composer and conductor Puligheddu. The singers reminisce about their past and display an independent, extroverted spirit that does not need rehearsing to come alive. Both Verdi fans and opera aficionados will especially enjoy this "off-stage" look at a group of performers in retirement." 

Eleanor Mannikka