La Clemenza di Tito

Composed by Mozart—with Pietro Metastasio's libretto—to fulfill a commission celebrating the 1791 coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, myth has it that La Clemenza di Tito was finished in 18 days, although it actually took closer to two months (while Mozart was also working on Die Zauberflöte and the Requiem). Considered “not fully realized but still masterly,” the work might have been revised had the composer not died just nine weeks following the premier. In any case, this is Mozart's contribution to the last gasp of the opera seria, which he embellished and enhanced through the use of duets, trios, and ensembles. The action takes place in first-century Rome, where Vitellia, convinced she has been replaced in the affections of the Emperor Tito, plots to have him assassinated, leading to a chain of events involving conspiracy, murder attempts, and arson—with romantic entanglements, of course—all ultimately resolved. The production employs a modern setting to tell a story of ancient Rome in a sturm und drang spirit, but regardless of one's tolerance for European iconoclasm or the limitations of the seria genre, the music verges on perfection here. The well-matched cast of exceptional vocal purity (particularly Susan Graham in the trouser role of Sesto and Catherine Naglestad as Vitellia) includes Hannah Esther Minutillo as Annio, Roland Bracht as Publio, and Christoph Prégardien as Tito, ably supported by the Orchestre of the Opéra National de Paris under the direction of Sylvain Cambreling. Presented in DTS and stereo, DVD extras include the hour-long documentary “A Masterpiece Revisited,” featuring interviews with cast and crew. Aud: C, P. (J. Reed)