Sunday 17 September at 6.00pm on RNZ Concert
MOZART: La Clemenza di Tito, K621
The Clemency of Titus - an opera in two acts, composed by Mozart in the last year of his life, 1791.
Emperor Titus is a historical character: he ruled the Roman Empire for only two years from 79-81 AD.
Vitellia is the daughter of the Emperor Vitellius, who a few years earlier was deposed form the imperial throne. She’s infatuated with the new Emperor, Tito, who’s usurped the throne that’s rightly hers. But she’s discovered that he’s about to marry Berenice, the daughter of King Agrippa of Judaea. That puts an end to her own hopes of regaining her father’s throne as Tito’s wife. Her love instantly sours to hatred...
Cast:
Richard Croft (Titus), Alice Coote (Vitellia), Joélle Harvey (Servilia), Anna Stéphany (Sextus), Michèle Losier (Annius), Clive Bayley (Publio), Glyndebourne Festival Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Robin Ticciati
(recorded by the BBC in the Royal Albert Hall, London)
Review of this performance in Seen and Heard
Trailer for Glyndebourne's production of La Clemenza di Tito