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Finding Power in Tosca: An Interview with Brittany Olivia Logan
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of opera performance is when an artist moves directly from the creation of new operatic worlds into one of the most deeply established roles in the repertoire. The cutting edge is cast with tradition. For soprano Brittany Olivia Logan, that transition comes from Persephone in Cincinnati Opera’s Lalovavi, a work grounded in Afrofuturism, mythology, and contemporary music, to Floria Tosca in Puccini’s Tosca—a character whose history on the operatic stage is inseparable from some of the greatest sopranos of the past century.
Yet the distance between these two characters may not be as great as it first appears. Both demand an artist willing to inhabit a woman confronting forces larger than herself, and both require more than vocal virtuosity. They demand physical presence, psychological commitment, and the ability to make a character’s choices feel immediate to a contemporary audience.
For Logan, this Nashville debut also carries a significance that extends beyond the role itself. As a Black woman performing one of opera’s most iconic heroines in the American South, she recognizes the historical circumstances that made such a moment impossible for generations of artists who came before her. Her approach to Tosca is consequently informed not only by the traditions surrounding Puccini’s opera, but by an awareness of the artists and cultural changes that have expanded who gets to stand at the center of the operatic stage.
In the following conversation with Music City Review, Logan discusses what Persephone taught her about fearlessness, the challenge of making Tosca her own, the importance of new opera, and what she hopes Nashville audiences will discover when they enter the theater.
MCR: Cincinnati Opera’s Lalovavi was such a remarkable theatrical and musical work, particularly in the way the production brought together Afrofuturism, mythology, and contemporary music to the operatic stage. What did creating Persephone in Lalovavi teach you about your own artistry that you’re bringing with you into Tosca?
BOL: Though Persephone is portrayed as a young girl, she has this incredible confidence and strength that a lot of people don’t find until later in life. Persephone taught me the value of believing in myself and believing that what I do in this life matters. She also taught me to be fearless not only on stage but also in the way I speak up for myself and others. I am bringing that fearlessness with me here to Nashville. Tosca, though naive in her own way, needs to have a strong, confident woman behind the character. The story of this opera is an emotional rollercoaster for any soprano who takes on this role, one must be fearless and truly give themselves to the story and the music.
MCR: There is a fascinating contrast between Persephone in Lalovavi and Floria Tosca. One is a character created for our own time, while the other has been interpreted by generations of singers. Do you approach a role like Tosca differently because of the enormous history and expectations surrounding her? Who are your favorite Toscas?
BOL: Well in a way we approach Tosca similarly in the sense that Puccini lays out every single detail of the plot in the score and stage directions. The tradition of the story is laid out but for me, I personally have tried to make her my own. This is my debut in the role so I give great respect to the great interpreters before me. I know like them, my view, approach and portrayal of Tosca will change over the many decades that I perform her. As for my favorite Tosca’s, they are Leonytne Price, Maria Callas, Shirley Verrett and star of today Ailyn Perez. Each performs the role with great vocal precision and vocal acting.
MCR: Tosca is often described primarily in terms of her passion and jealousy, but she is also a woman navigating political violence, sexual coercion, and an extraordinary imbalance of power. What aspects of Tosca’s character have become most important to you as you’ve developed your interpretation?
BOL:We see her full of passion and jealousy, she is truly living in her own little bubble. It isn’t until she finds out what is going on with her lover Cavarodossi that her bubble pops and she is snapped back into reality. I think it’s important to me that my Tosca, even through the trials she faces, never loses her power. These men view her as an object in their political games but fail to realize she is a lot smarter than they think. So keeping her power throughout is really important to me.
MCR:Your work in Lalovavi and now in Tosca also puts you in two very different operatic worlds—one creating new repertoire and one engaging with a canonical work. What do you think opera gains when artists are able to move freely between those worlds?
BOL:Well, opera gains more work for the genre, keeping the repertoire ever growing but artists gain further musical knowledge in the sense that a lot of modern opera is very difficult. Opera also gains modern stories and artists have the chance to originate roles that are similar to the lives we live now and bring our modern selves to the piece. Opera gains the opportunity to have the composer and librettist in the room with us while we create these new works. Building a relationship with a composer or librettist can help to bring not only new operas but even new art songs to fruition. All in all opera gains high performing artists, fresh new stories where everyone can envision themselves onstage, and connections to keep the genre growing.
MCR: Tosca has one of the most psychologically and emotionally demanding trajectories in the operatic repertoire, culminating in that extraordinary final act. What are you hoping audiences in Nashville will understand—or perhaps reconsider—about Tosca through your performance?
BOL:If you have never seen Tosca or any opera in general, it takes a lot of physical, mental and vocal stamina to complete a show like this. I hope audiences realize that opera is honestly just like watching a movie. This show is fast paced, filled with love, drama and you might even experience a death or two (in the grandest operatic fashion). I hope they leave wanting to relieve the experience of coming to the opera.
You’re now bringing Tosca to Nashville, a city and region with a particularly complicated and evolving relationship to the arts, race, history, and cultural identity. Having worked in different parts of the country and in both traditional and contemporary opera, what does performing and making opera in Nashville—and in the American South more broadly—mean to you?
BOL:It wasn’t very long ago when people of color weren’t allowed to perform in these spaces. Here we are in 2026 I, a black woman, get to do what a lot of others before didn’t have the opportunity to do. I will take the stage with great pride and appreciation for the trailblazers who made it possible. Being here in Nashville performing one of the most iconic roles in opera is a great privilege that I don’t take lightly. I am excited to bring my voice and artistry here in a debut that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. I am happy to know that my performance of Tosca will be someone’s introduction to opera and I hope that I can inspire other artists of color, artists in general to go after their dreams.
MCR: Logan’s comments point toward one of the enduring strengths of opera: its ability to carry history while remaining open to reinterpretation. Tosca may be more than a century old, but the questions at its center—power, desire, political violence, coercion, love, and the struggle to retain agency in circumstances designed to strip it away—remain remarkably immediate.
That tension between tradition and the present seems particularly appropriate for Logan’s Nashville debut. She arrives at the role with an awareness of the singers who established Tosca as a defining soprano challenge, while also bringing the perspective of an artist whose recent work has been rooted in the creation of new stories and new operatic possibilities. Her insistence that Tosca never lose her power offers a particularly compelling way into Puccini’s heroine.
In Nashville, this is an opportunity to see one of opera’s most famous works, and to encounter it through a new artist at an important moment in her career. Logan’s debut also carries the larger significance she describes herself: a recognition of the trailblazers who opened doors before her and an invitation to imagine who might walk through those doors next.
Whether you are a longtime opera devotee or someone who has never experienced opera before, Tosca offers precisely the kind of theatrical experience Logan describes—passion, danger, romance, political intrigue, and, inevitably, death on a grand operatic scale. Nashville audiences should take the opportunity to see Brittany Olivia Logan make her mark on one of opera’s most iconic roles.
Tosca will be performed by Nashville Opera at TPAC’s Jackson Hall October 8 & 10. Tickets are available here: https://nashvilleopera.org/tosca/
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