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Classical Source |
William Yeoman |
Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, London May 2005
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La Clemenza di Tito
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Shortly before this performance it was announced
that both Vesselina Kasarova (who was to play Sesto) and Liliana Nikiteanu
(Annio) were unwell and unable to perform. And while both are superb
artists, the audience was in no way short-changed by their replacements,
Susan Graham and Hana Minutillo.
Pietro Metastasio’s libretto had already been set more than 60 times before
the poet Caterino Mazzolà revised it for Mozart’s setting. Although the new
version was considerably tighter than the original, it still retained a
rather static quality, in part due to the underlying didacticism manifested
by a plot in which a benevolent Caesar proves that forgiveness creates more
loyal subjects than terror. Mozart’s solution to this lack of drama in the
text was to utilise accompanied recitative, ensemble pieces and choral
interjections to create an underlying ‘musical’ drama.
In this performance, Franz Welser-Möst provided substantial interpretational
support to Mozart’s intentions through the use of subtle cadential
acceleration, affective accents within the texture of the orchestration and
a reliance on natural ‘speech’ patterns in both the recitatives and arias.
The orchestra responded to his unambiguous conducting as leaves to the wind,
resulting in a highly buoyant and attractive sound that provided ideal
support for both chorus and soloists. The use of natural horns and trumpets
further added to the pleasing orchestral timbre.
Of the vocal soloists, Susan Graham shone the brightest (though, to be fair,
her character has some of the best arias), with her "Parto, ma tu" and "Deh,
per questo istante solo" drawing cheers and extended applause from the
audience. Not only was she in fine voice, with a rich, even mezzo that
projected well, but Graham’s acting abilities ensured her spoken parts and
recitatives were as compelling as her arias. Eva Mei, too, was very fine as
the (temporarily!) wronged Vitellia – her big aria "Non più di fiori"
drawing as much applause as Graham’s equivalents. Jonas Kaufmann’s Tito
was absolutely convincing, so relaxed and natural did he seem in the part,
and with singing to match. Malin Hartelius was also good in what is the
relatively small part of Servilia, however Hana Minutillo’s Annio was a
little wooden, particularly in the spoken dialogues. Nothing wrong with the
voice, but she didn’t seem as comfortable in the part (which she is
currently preparing for Paris Opera) as one might have expected. Günter
Groissböck, by contrast, was good in the spoken parts but his voice wasn’t
open enough in the recitatives, sounding a little pushed at the top. The
chorus complemented rge soloists and orchestra perfectly, with a rich,
uniform sound and good balance.
Overall, this was a very satisfying performance of an opera which, although
not up there among Mozart’s masterpeices, is still full of some exciting and
original music. Zürich Opera managed to capture just the right tone, both
musically and dramatically, so that any overt didacticism was well and truly
relegated to the background.
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