For this analytical chapter I have chosen from all three acts scenes that seem important from either the musical or the dramatic point of view, or both. Before this, something must be said about the overall musico-dramatic structure of the work. We have noted the striking acceleration of the action in Act III, as compared with the leisurely exposition of the drama in Act I, yet any imbalance that might be felt is deceptive. For Act III makes up for its comparative shortness by the weight of its dramatic happenings – the shooting of Cavaradossi, the discovery of Scarpia's murder and Tosca's suicide. Moreover, there is a certain symmetry and correspondence between the musical structures of the two acts which, though not of the strict Bergian order, is marked enough to reinforce my view that Tosca is one of the best constructed operas in the repertory. Consider: both acts open, after preliminaries, with an aria for the tenor which is followed by a love duet for soprano and tenor, and both close with a coup de théâtre – the Te Deum scene of Act I and the execution and suicide of Act III. In the context of the drama the closely corresponding scenes stand worlds apart. Yet Cavaradossi's ‘Recondita armonia’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’ express in their different way the same thing – his all-consuming love for Tosca.