La clemenza di Tito

In 'La clemenza di Tito', which together with 'The Magic Flute' represents the last of Mozart's operas, the composer returns, after a long detour through comic opera and Singspiel, to the opera seria. This opera was a commission to mark the coronation of the Austrian emperor Leopold II as king of Bohemia. Mozart wrote it in barely two months, with the help of his student Süßmayr, who was responsible for a large part of the recitatives. Despite the short deadline and being a commission, the work nevertheless displays Mozart's artistic spontaneity.

La clemenza di Tito not only offers a complex love story, but as an opera, it also makes a political statement. Mozart allows us to see and hear a ruler who not only symbolically, but also as a private individual, is capable of expressing sincere compassion. Emperor Tito chooses for his personal, human feeling, even though this conflicts with the national interests. The logic of the heart vetoes that of the State. The Emperor thus takes the risk of allowing a humanistic perspective to take precedence over purely political interests.

Director Michael Hampe sets La clemenza in a context of temporal shifting between present and past. For this performance of Mozart's last Italian opera, a charismatic cast has been assembled under the direction of baroque expert Stefano Montanari. As a specialist in the lyric Mozart repertoire, Lothar Odinius appears as Tito and the Swedish soprano Agneta Eichenholz plays the vengeful Vitellia. The role of the young nobleman Sesto will be sung by the young Russian mezzosoprano Anna Goryachova.

2 h 40 min including 1 interval

Naar aanleiding van La clemenza di Tito organiseert Opera Ballet Vlaanderen samen met Museum Hof van Busleyden een studiedag over kunst en rechtspraak op 31 mei. Meer info vind je hier: https://www.hofvanbusleyden.be/studiedag-kunst-en-rechtspraak