The University of Iowa Opera Theatre will present La clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Thursday-Sunday, May 2-5, in the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City.
The performances, conducted by William LaRue Jones and featuring stage direction by Laura Johnson, will be at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 2-4, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 5.
La clemenza di Tito, which was composed in 1791 for the coronation celebrations of the new Emperor of Bohemia, is a tale of sexual obsession and divided loyalties, set in Rome. The powerful, alluring Vitellia has designs on the Emperor Tito, and is provoked to fury when he opts to marry someone else. She fans the flames of rebellion, and demands his assassination at the hands of her doting lover Sesto, Tito’s trusted confidant. Torn between loyalty to his friend and emperor and his fascination with Vitellia, Sesto makes a choice that tests Tito’s forgiving nature.
The role of Tito will be sung, in alternating performances, by Quiliano Anderson and James Judd; the role of Vitellia will alternate between Sarah Fisk and Jessica Faselt.
Johnson notes, “In 18th century opera the standard for libretti as effective dramma per musica was set by the poet Pietro Metastasio. His characters and plots were inspired by ancient Roman history and by the French playwrights Corneille and Racine. Metastasio’s Tito story, published first in 1734, is only loosely based on fact. He relied on the history written circa 120 CE by the Roman Suetonius, who described the Emperor Tito as universally beloved. Suetonius’ brief account tells of a thwarted coup against Tito, whose perpetrators are treated with extraordinary kindness and mercy by the emperor.
“By the latter part of the century librettists had reworked the story a number of times, perhaps most successfully by Mozart’s librettist Caterino Mazzolà. In Mozart and Mazzolà ’s opera, Tito gives a graphic, compelling account of the destruction caused by Vesuvius erupting. Uncovered by explorers in 1748, the intact Pompeii of 79 CE (dating from Tito’s reign), found buried under ash, would have been a relatively recent discovery for Mozart’s audience. It figures prominently in Act I as an illustration of Tito’s generosity, mercy, and self-sacrifice. What better model for a coronation entertainment than that of the ‘clement prince?’
“Tito’s clemency does not come without a price. He gives up his true love, Berenice, to accede to Rome’s desire that he marry a ‘local girl.’ He must then accept the fact that his closest friend has actually committed treason against him and somehow move on. He works to control impetuosity, anger, impatience, suspicion, to find the compassionate solution rather than let his emotions rule.”
Rather than set the production in either Rome 79 CE or Prague 1791, Johnson sought to create a “present” that is influenced by the “look” of the two earlier eras but is still contemporary (i.e. “with the times”).
Other artistic contributors to the La clemenza di Tito production include scenery and costume designer Margaret Wenk-Kuchlbauer, Tony Award-nominated lighting designer Ed McCarthy, and vocal coach Wayne Wyman.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors (65 and over), $10 for youth (17 and under), and $5 for UI students (with valid UI ID). Tickets are available from the Englert Theatre Box Office.
The School of Music is part of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For accommodations at the concert contact the School of Music at 319-335-1603. For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the new Arts Iowa website.