La clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

La clemenza di Tito

Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Revival of the production streamed in 2020-2021
Coproduction with the Wiener Festwochen, the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

Sung in Italian recitatives in French and French and English surtitles
Duration: approx. 2h55 with one intermission*

CAST
Musical Director Tomáš Netopil
Stage Director Milo Rau
Scenographer Anton Lukas
Costumes designer Ottavia Castellotti
Lighting Designer Jürgen Kolb
Vidéos Moritz von Dungern
Dramaturgy Clara Pons & Giacomo Bisordi
Choir director Mark Biggins

Tito Bernard Richter
Vitellia Serena Farnocchia
Sesto Maria Kataeva
Servilia Yuliia Zasimova
Annio Giuseppina Bridelli
Publio Justin Hopkins (16.10, 18.10, 25.10, 27.10) / Mark Kurmanbayev (23.10, 29.10)

Grand Théâtre de Genève Chorus
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

ABOUT
A spewing volcano, smoking ruins, the burning Capitol, a putsch led by a best friend… No, we’re not in Hollywood’s latest thriller, but in Mozart’s last opera (well, composed at the same time as his Magic Flute). If the setting resembles a blockbuster and if Mozart casually worked in stylistic elements that he had assimilated over the course of his life as a composer, at times melding buffa into its opera seria genre, it must be said that the libretto and some of the recitatives, which in fact Mozart did not compose himself, are a little rough. Despite a few propagandist appearances by the chorus, the plot remains a confusing one of more chamber-sized betrayal, where each of its characters forgets the action as soon as they begin to sing of their similarly rather confused feelings. For although we love, we betray, and then we forgive or are forgiven. Some would have even read into this drama a criticism, or at least a lack of interest, on the part of Mozart towards Emperor Leopold II, whose coronation as King of Bohemia – in the middle of the French Revolution – served as a pretext for The Clemency of Titus‘s commissioning.

And is Titus really merciful? This is the question that Milo Rau is clearly asking us in his first opera production, censored in 2021 by Covid. So here it is on the Geneva stage, after his success in Flanders and Vienna, this irrepressible Swiss director’s hand-to-hand combat with the highly codified rules of opera seria. Rau can’t stop himself from lifting the veil on these beautiful speeches of forgiveness made by a populist sovereign under an enlightened exterior. As crowds of displaced people attempt to survive in a caravan ghetto outside the palace walls, the social elite celebrate their own benevolence inside the elegance of a museum. Can political art change the world? Or does it only reinforce the status quo? Milo Rau calls into question a social involvement of convenience, as Titus and his clique admire each other, send each other flowers and praise each other’s kindness at their more or less utilitarian attitude towards the outside world.

After last season’s world premiere of Justice, and its impact in the opera world, Milo Rau and his acolytes continue to interrogate the complexity of our world with its saga of shams and counterfeits, between shamanist rituals and political lynchings. Having guided the Grand Théâtre de Genève’s Janáček programming in the last few seasons, Czech conductor Tomáš Netopil will take up his Mozartian baton to conduct the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, joined by great voices specialising in Mozart, including Swiss tenor Bernard Richter in the title role, following his Idomeneo last season. Alongside the two members of the original cast, we discover rising star among belcantist mezzos, Maria Kataeva, as Sesto.