La Clemenza di Tito

La Clemenza di Tito

November 16, 2012

Metropolitan Opera

The last time I went to the Met it was to see the production of Le Nozze di Figaro, which, as I wrote elsewhere, was total filth. Last night the Met restored the balance by presenting an absolute superb revival of Mozart's final opera. If you have a chance, run, don't walk, to see this revival.

La Clemenza di Tito is composed in the old-fashioned opera seria style, and the storyline fits that of the opera seria genre -- it celebrates an "enlightened monarch." It was a royal commission and composed within 18 days. It was also unusual for a Mozart opera in that he took a pre-existing libretto by Pietro Metastasio, had it modified by Caterino Mazzola, and delegated the recitatives to another composer, Franz Xavier Sussmayr. This all suggests that Tito was somewhat of a rush-job, and lacked the micromanaged care Mozart lavished on the famous da Ponte trilogies. Mozart died two months after the premiere. 

The final result is nevertheless one that shows Mozart's genius. The libretto is indeed "nothing special." There are also times when you can tell the recitatives were composed by another composer because the transition from recitative to "music" is jarring. But Mozart's music is beautiful. The most famous parts are probably Sesto's long aria "Parto, parto" and Vitellia's "Non piu di fiori." But the moment that really drove home Mozart's genius was the duet between Annio and Servilia ("Ah, pardon il primo affetto.") The lovers start by saying goodbye to each other in a rather sad, but formal way, the way lovers often will when they think a breakup is necessary. Then Annio and Servilia start to sing together. Mozart doesn't change the melody -- it's still the same one as the "breakup" melody. But when the voices join together, it becomes a tender love duet, and by the end of the duet it's clear that no breakup is possible. 

Another moment that highlighted Mozart's genius was the Act One finale. It ends suddenly -- there is no decisive "ending" chord -- the singers and stage just fall silent, as the characters ponder the enormity of their actions. Mozart's music, in other words, gave the opera much more depth and even ambiguity than it might otherwise have had. Sesto's painful aria "Deh, per questo istante solo" sounds more like a lovers' lament. Was Sesto in love with Tito and Tito with Sesto?

The musical values last night were on such a high value. Elina Garanca made a much-welcome return to the Met stage after having a baby. Her voice is really one of today's modern miracles -- a flawless, silvery column of sound that can seemingly do anything. I know a lot of people find her dramatically on the cool side but she was very engaging as Sesto, and completely believable in the travesti role. She had terrific chemistry with both Barbara Frittoli's Vitellia and Giuseppe Filianoti's Tito. The difficult runs of "Parto, parto" were dispatched with such cleanness (and such a flawless trill) that I could hardly imagine anyone singing it better. This is certainly a performance worth seeing and I'm glad it will be preserved in HD.

Barbara Frittoli took a little while to warm up. In fact, during the first act I was a little disappointed -- her voice sounded depressingly shrill. But in the second act she sang "Non piu di fiori" with total security and her voice settled. She's still one of the finest Mozart singers in the business, although her acting was a bit low-key for this fire-breathing villainess. No complaints here.

The secondary lovers Annio (Kate Lindsey) and Servilia (Lucy Crowe) deserve high praise. They were both absolutely enchanting. Their uncomplicated love is supposed to be a foil for the manipulative antics of Sesto and Vitellia, and indeed, both Lindsey and Crowe conveyed youthful, heart-tugging romance. These were lyric voices without a hint of the shrill scratchiness that unfortunately has become so common among singers of this kind of repertoire (cough, de Niese, cough, Erdmann). 

The men were not such a high level as the women. I hesitate to say anything too negative about Giuseppe Filianoti. I know he had cancer and endured painful chemotherapy treatments, and bravo to him for reviving his career. But his Tito was professional and nothing more. His voice has a strangulated quality that's unattractive, and his top seems to be more and more ... nonexistent. Owen Gradus was okay if not memorable as Publio. 

Harry Bicket led the Met Orchestra in a taut, sometimes even blustery account of the score. It's sort of the post-Levine era in the Met pit. The smooth, slow, elegant style Levine favored is now seemingly replaced by a fast, fleet orchestra that rarely goes over the projected time. 

Jean Pierre Ponnelle's 1984 production is stunning -- the single set evokes the Roman setting, while the costumes are set in Mozart's time. This was really an evening where everything came together to form a beautiful whole.