La Clemenza di Tito from Munich... A Mercy You Can't Refuse!
Written: May 26 '07 (Updated Apr 21 '08)
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Pros: Even the ill Kasarova and Gens still compel and command attention. Good sound quality
Cons: Should have cut more of the draggy recitative. Stonily conducted.
The Bottom Line: 3.8 stars. Kasarova and Gens are wonderful Sesto and Vitellia, but not in top form here. Steinberg conducts as if he is a stone mountain. Good but not great.
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| smorg's Full Review: Mozart: La Clemenza Di Tito (Complete) |
W.A. MOZART: La clemenza di Tito , K.621 (Munich 2006)
This 2 CD set is a live recording of a February 2006 performance of the opera from the National Theater at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. A good performance captured in wonderfully balanced and clean sound quality.
CAST:
Tito (Roman Emperor) ::: Charles Castronovo (tenor)
Sesto (His childhood friend) ::: Vesselina Kasarova (mezzo soprano)
Vitellia (Sesto’s lover) ::: Veronique Gens (soprano)
Annio (Sesto’s best friend) ::: Michelle Breedt (mezzo soprano)
Servilia (Sesto’s sister, Annio’s lover) ::: Alexia Voulgaridou (soprano)
Publio (Tito’s Pretorian Prefect) ::: Paolo Battaglia (bass)
Conductor ::: Pinchas Steinberg / Munich Radio Orchestra
Chorus Master ::: Robert Blank / Choir of the Bavarian Radio
Written in 1791 and first performed in Prague, La clemenza di Tito was Mozart’s last opera (started after The Magic Flute, but finished before). It was commissioned to celebrate the coronation of Emperor Leopold II of Bavaria, on a well used libretto (text) of Pietro Metastasio as modified by Caterino Mazzola.
The informative note on the opera by Robert Braunmueller that is included in the CD packaging theorizes that "Mozart was apparently entirely unpolitical, and did not realize that the end of the aristocratic tradition was nigh," but I tend to disagree and posit that there is much satire in Tito's music... in contrast to his libretto.
This is an opera seria by nature, though a remarkably compact one (just under 2 hrs in length). Mozart keeps most of the arias short and to the point, with the exception of those by the 2 key characters; Sesto and Vitellia. They carry the emotional heart of the drama and so are given 2 long rondo each that are very effective at portraying how each character battle with their inner demons before deciding on their actions. Sesto's Act I 'Parto, parto' and Vitellia's Act II 'Non piu di fiori' are famous for their bassett-clarinet and bassett-horn virtuoso obbligato, with the woodwind solo singing the part of the character's conscience.
The musical numbers are connected by rather forgettable secco recitatives (sung speech accompanied by a cembalo) which are thought to have been penned by Mozart's understudy, Franz Süssmayr, of which too much is preserved in this performance. All the orchestral accompanied recitatives are done by Mozart and are very effective in improving the flow of the story.
SYNOPSIS:
The Story is a historical fiction about the short reign of Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Tito) as Roman Emperor, who acquired power after a blood bath that killed his rival, the Emperor Vitelius. Vitelius’s surviving daughter, Vitellia, though is sleeping with Tito’s trusted friend Sesto, feels slighted that Tito had chosen the Jewish Princess Berenice to be his consort in stead of her.
The opera begins with her goading Sesto into agreeing to conspire with his friend Lentulo to set fire to the capitol and to assassinate Tito (duet ‘Come ti piace imponi’). The plan is put on hold when Sesto’s best friend Annio enters bearing the news that Tito had decided not to marry Berenice after all (aria ‘Deh se piace mi vuoi’). In their private moment, Annio asks for and receives the permission from Sesto to marry his sister Servilia (duet ‘Deh prendi un dolce amplesso’).
Unfortunately for them, the well-intended Tito announces that he had decided to upgrade his friend Sesto’s social status by marrying Servilia himself, giving the noble Annio the job of breaking the news to his now unattainable lover in the process (aria ‘Del piu sublime soglio’ & duet 'Ah perdona il primo affetto'). But the spunky Servilia runs off to inform Tito that she finds Annio a better marriage material for her than he is.
Her wish is granted by the Emperor grateful for the rare dose of truthfulness (aria ‘Ah se fosse introno’). Servilia runs into Vitellia (who is moodier than ever after having heard that she had once again been passed over) on her way out, and their catty exchange leaves the latter in a murderous mode. In her rage, Vitellia finally convinces Sesto to choose his love for her over his friendship with Tito and get the coup d’etat started (aria ‘Parto, parto ma tu ben mio’).
The plan immediately backfires when the Prefect Publio and Annio arrive with the news that Tito had changed his mind for the 3rd time in one day about whom he wants to marry, and Vitellia is now the ‘lucky lady.’ She starts screaming out in horror, but her distress is mistaken for girlish glee by the 2 clueless men (trio ‘Vengo! Aspettate! Sesto!’). The capitol goes up in flame as Tito goes missing and Sesto stabbed someone in very Tito-ish robe during the tumult (accompanied recitative ‘O Dei, che smania e questa?’ and ensemble ‘Deh, conservate, oh Dei!’).
Act II opens to find that the man Sesto stabbed was actually Lentulo, who survives to bear witness. Annio tries in vain to get Sesto to confess to Tito and ask for mercy (aria ‘Torna di Tito a lato’). Identified as the attempted murderer and leader of the coup d'etat, Sesto is promptly arrested by Publio while refusing to implicate Vitellia (trio ‘Se al volto mai ti senti’).
In the meantime, Tito’s survival is celebrated by the Romans populace (chorus ‘Ah grazie si rendano’), though his disbelief of his friend Sesto 's part in the plot distresses Publio (aria ‘Tardi s’avvede un tradimento’). Annio pleads to Tito to spare Sesto's life (aria ‘Tu fosti tradito’), but Tito refuses to make decision until he has a private chat with the Accused (trio ‘Quello di Tito e il volto?’).
Believing himself doomed, Sesto asks his escaped victim for one last tender glance before going off to serve as lion food in the arena (aria ‘Deh per questo istante solo’). Tito is touched and determined to out mercy any sane human who ever lived by resolving to pardon his murderous former friend because he hasn't the heart to be cruel (aria ‘Se all’impero amici Dei’). Meanwhile, Vitellia is nagged by Servilia (aria ‘S’altro che lagrime’) into developing a conscience and working herself into resolving to confess her part in the plot to lessen the sentence for Sesto (aria ‘Non piu di fiori’).
The confession sends Tito reeling. Lamenting that all has conspired in order to prevent him from being able to sustain his merciful streak, the Emperor decides to cap off his pardonable day by forgiving everyone as the curtains closes on an ensemble of grateful Romans. Lame, I know, but in the pre-French Revolution days, it wouldn’t be prudent to portray an Emperor as anything but divinely perfect... at least not overtly.
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This performance is competent.... but sadly doesn't really stand out from its competition, unless one considers that 2 of the lead roles of Sesto and Vitellia perform very well despite of ill health during the show.
It doesn’t help that the performance opens with a very sterile reading of the splendid overture by Maestro Pinchas Steinberg. His super clean conducting is free of germ or infection by any kind of passion through out the opera. Tempi are set mostly on the brisk side without any spring, sprite, or attitude to be heard. It is just about as stony an orchestral read as I’ve ever heard done (which is too much of an irony considering that Steinberg is translated as stone mountain in English).
The title role of Tito is competently sung by the young American tenor Charles Castronovo. This is a Tito with a big voice, forceful personality, and as much subtlety as a sledge hammer. I think this role is not a good fit for this singer at the moment (or maybe ever). The voice is too heavy to cope with the virtuoso coloratura of the Act III aria ‘Se all’impero’ and doesn't convey any subtlety in the high lying Act I ‘Del piu sublime soglio’. I do like his noble solo in Act II chorus ‘Ah grazie si rendano’, but he still doesn’t show much characterization. To be fair, the music of Tito, restricted by the character being a stand-in for the real life Emperor, doesn’t leave much room for characterization. Mr Castronovo; however, misses all the little opportunities to inject vulnerability and motif into his Tito.
The Bulgarian mezzo Vesselina Kasarova is, in my opinion, the Sesto of our time. She gives a reliably characterful performance, though does not sing as well in this recording as she does in the 2 DVDs from Salzburg and Zürich. Her voice is as alluringly dark, androgenic, and expressive as ever. It appears to have gained more weight in the lower register without being any less agile. She starts out with some uneasiness in the upper register, but improves as the show progresses. After just coping with the rather slow final virtuoso section of the long Act I ‘Parto, parto ma tu ben mio’, she hits the groove and is dramatically mesmerizing in the Act I finale and keeps up the intensity to the very end. The Act II ‘Deh per questo istante solo’ is impossibly soul-bearing, even with the very cold orchestral accompaniment.
Veronique Gens, the French soprano with a wonderfully warm and expressive voice, is one of the better Vitellia on record, but the fact that she was singing while battling a cold does show, especially in the treacherous high passages of the Act I trio ‘Vengo! Aspettate!.’ She has no trouble in the 2 low lying long arias; however, and her ensembles with Sesto are wonderful. I think both Mme Gens and Frau Kasarova deserve another chance at recording this opera on a CD. They are 2 of the best voice actresses around (yes, I think opera singers are supposed to act with their voice instead of just singing the notes).
The South African mezzo Michelle Breedt’s Annio sings admirably, but is not keen on singing at any volume less loud than mezzo forte, causing her character to sound a tad overbearing. Alexia Voulgaridou, the Greek soprano, is impressive as a sweet-voiced and sensitive Servilia. The Italian basso Paolo Battaglia makes the most out of his short role of Publio, and the Choir of the Bavarian Radio sings wonderfully.
After the opera’s long period of being severely under-represented on recordings, the last 2 years have been La clemenza di Tito’s gold rush period with the release of at least 6 commercial CDs and DVDs. This set is a good recording, but if you wanted just 1 CD set of this opera, it has very stiff competition in the CD sets conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
I recommend this CD set for any fan of this particular opera (largely due to the presence of Kasarova and Gens in the lead roles). Though not as the only recording of the opera.
2 CDs. No printed libretto, but there is a PDF file of it in Italian with English, German, or French translation on the 1st disc accessible via PC/Mac ROM-Drive (Adobe Reader required).
A Note to RCA Red Seal... I am a Kasarova Groupie who will buy any commercial recording with her on it, but really, using a solo shot of her for CD cover is a poor choice (to see CD cover, go to: http://www.jecklin.ch/40_cd_dvd/00_art_images/130/sk23_26.jpg ). While Sesto is indeed the male lead of this opera, the title role is Tito. Also, Vitellia is just as vital to the opera as Sesto is. This is a recording of a live ensemble opera and NOT a solo concert of one cast member. I doubt very much that Frau Kasarova has any say as to what/who appears on the packaging, so I suspect that that modest artist is probably not thrilled with RCA's exploitative choice either.
Other reviews of Mozart opera:
Apollo et Hyacinthus (Salzburg 2006), Ascanio in Alba (Salzburg 2006), Bastien und Bastienne/Der Schauspieldirektor (Salzburg 2006), La clemenza di Tito (Salzburg 2003), La clemenza di Tito (Zürich 2005), La clemenza di Tito (Munich 2006), La clemenza di Tito (JE Gardiner), Cosi fan tutte (Ponnelle film), Don Giovanni (Met 2000), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Salzburg 1998), La finta giardiniera (Salzburg 2006), La finta semplice (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Met 198-), Lucio Silla (Salzburg 2006), Mitridate (Salzburg 1997), Mitridate (Rousset), Le nozze di Figaro (live performance- SDO 2007), Die Zauberflöte (ROH 2001), Die Zauberflöte (Modena 2005), Die Zauberflöte (Zürich 1999)
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Driving
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smorg
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Member: Smorg
Location: Southern California, USA
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