Leyla Gencer did a lot of roles early on in her career that she dropped as soon as she could. She did not sing Puccini often so this Tosca is a rarity from her vast repertoire. She is in top form with exciting top notes and a wonderfully flamboyant characterization. Her "Vissi d'arte" is beautifully poised and garners an ovation from the audience, her reaction to Mario's death at the end is chilling with a convincing scream. Some of the details in her portrayal are hard to hear (see below). Vittorio De Santis sings Cavaradossi extremely well and Giuseppe Taddei, as always, is a frightening Scarpia. Melchiorre Luise and Piero De Palma are great in their supporting roles. Vincenzo Bellezza leads a harrowing, well-paced performance undermined by mediocre sound. The mic placement is poor, sometimes the voices are frustratingly covered by the orchestra. Moreover the pitch of the tape veers sharp though everyone still sounds like themselves.For fans of the opera or the singers; listeners just getting to know the opera should look elsewhere before indulging in this performance.