Mozart's final opera: murder, mercy, and mezzo-soprano trousers roles.
The 1791 La Clemenza di Tito (or 'The Clemency of Titus') marked Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's final opera seria. With a libretto by Metastasio (edited slightly by Caterino Mazzolà), the work dramatizes the palace intrigues surrounding emperor Titus's attempts to coronate a new bride and the envious Vitellia's attempts to have Titus assassinated (with the help of Titus's friend Sextus) following the deposition of Vitellia's emperor father. Stage director Martin Kušej mounted Tito in August 2003, at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg; a film of that live performance now appears in this home video release. The cast includes Michael Schade as Titus, Vesselina Kasarova as Sextus and Dorothea Roschmann as Vitellia. The Wiener Staatsopernchor, under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, provides musical accompaniment; Jens Kilian designed the sets.
Acting
Vesselina Kasarova's haunted Sextus will wreck you.
Direction
Kušej's modern-dress staging makes ancient Rome feel dangerously current.
Score
Harnoncourt's historically-informed conducting crackles with tension.
Director
Brian Large
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mozart dashed this off in 18 days while finishing The Magic Flute and dying. Show-off.
Kušej's staging controversially implied the Capitol fire was 9/11 imagery, sparking heated Salzburg debates.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
US
AT
