Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito review: Anna Stéphany shines as Sesto in Claus Guth’s staging
ANY idea that German director Claus Guth’s new staging of La Clemenza di Tito will be a toga-clad lesson in Roman history is swiftly dispelled by the video played during the opera’s overture.
Two boys, one a few yearss older than the other, are playing in the woods. It seems an idyllic scene until the angelic-looking younger boy betrays a streak of violence with a catapult.
Mozart’s classic opera is based on the historical play by Metastasio, but Guth intends the two boys to foreshadow the conflict between the adult Tito and his younger friend Sesto.
Titus Vespasianus, Emperor of Rome for just two years from 79-81BC, was remarkable for his clemency in that he not only forgave Sesto for attempting to assassinate him but married the princess Vitellia, seen in the opera as the instigator of the plot.
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Designer Christian Schmidt’s two-tier set of Tito’s palace as a modern office suite on pillars with tangled reeds and grasses on the lower level where the conspirators gather, is exquisitely lit by Olaf Winter.
Alice Coote’s chain-smoking Vitellia is in terrific form, her voice ranging from melting upper register to contralto growls. Mezzo Anna Stéphany shines as Sesto, in anguish over the conflict between love and friendship.
Undefined “artistic differences” brought a last minute cast change in the title role, when American tenor Richard Croft stepped in as replacement Tito.
He sings the role stylishly, though lacks characterisation and appears considerably more than a few years senior to Stéphany’s Sesto. Bass Clive Bayley, the other veteran in a predominantly youthful cast, is outstanding as hard-line Publio, head of the Imperial Guards.
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Robin Ticciati brings out the sheer beauty of the score in Mozart’s penultimate opera.
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes (Tickets: 01273 815000/glyndebourne.com £90-£230)
