Operas About Roman Emperors: TITO (79-81)

Speranza

The Met revives Mozart's last opera seria.

Giuseppe Filianoti (center) sings the title role in the Met's revival of La clemenza di Tito.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's La clemenza di Tito represents the composer's final effort in the genre of opera seria, the overwhelmingly popular style of the 18th century that drew thematic inspiration and its plots from the events and myths of classical antiquity -- notably Roman History.

Composed in a rush of notes (Mozart had less than three months) for the coronation of Holy ROMAN EMPEROR  Leopold II as the new king of Bohemia, the opera shares some parallels with Mozart's last opera, Il flauto magico

The story of Tito makes the Roman emperor Tito out to be a mensch.

Its source: an old libretto by Metastasio (first set by CALDARA), based on an incident mentioned in Suetonius's Lives of the Roman Emperors.

Tito (Giuseppe Filianoti) responds to a failed assassination attempt by forgiving the assassin. (Metastasio's other sources are tragic treatments of the 'clemency' motif, alla Seneca, by Racine and Corneille).

This was librettist Domenico Guardasoni's attempt to encourage Leopold to show similar clemency.

The opera was finished in three months, just in time for the coronation. its premiere took place one hour after Leopold took the throne.

Alas, Leopold died six months later, so history never got a chance to find out what a nice guy he might have been. But then TITO's reign was also short, and the arch in Rome testifies to his grandeur.

Although the part of the emperor requires a powerful tenor, the key role of this opera is Sesto, the would-be assassin.

The part, written for a virtuoso castrato, requires a mezzo-soprano of power and flexibility, capable of showing a wide range of emotion.

Elina Garanča rises to the challenge in a role she has sung to great acclaim in Vienna.

Also in on the plot: Vitellia, sung by soprano Barbara Frittoli.

This is yet another revival of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's sturdy staging.

Harry Bicket conducts.

La clemenza di Tito opens Nov. 16. The Met will broadcast this production as part of its Live in HD series on Dec. 1.

Recording Recommendations:
















Like most of the operas of Mozart's maturity, Tito has been lucky on disc, and is available with both 20th century orchestral instruments and in a period performance.

Here's one of each.

Dresden Staatskapelle cond. Karl Böhm (Deutsche Grammophon, 1978)
Tito: Peter Schreier
Sesto: Julia Varady
Vitellia: Teresa Berganza

Karl Böhm was the consummate old-school Mozart conductor.

This set, made under studio conditions as part of his complete cycle of the operas for DG comes in and out of print.

Peter Schreier is a moving, noble Tito. Julia Varady is a spirited Vitellia. Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza may seem like odd casting in the role of the enthusiastic Sesto, but she cuts a compelling figure.

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, cond. René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi, 2005)
Tito: Mark Padmore
Sesto: Bernarda Fink
Vitellia: Alexandrina Pendatchanska

René Jacobs' recordings of Mozart operas divide listeners. These deluxe, detailed recreations of historical performance practices do not always have the tightest ensemble belaying or the best casts but they represent an authentic effort to get in touch with the composer's original intentions. Of course, some would say that Mozart's intent in writing this opera was to get the thing finished and get paid, but that would just be cynicism, no?