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| Arts Calendar / February 14 / Opera |
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14:00 | La Clemenza di Tito |
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Opera-seria in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 130 min (with one interval). Libretto by Caterino Mazzolà after Pietro Metastasio. Music Director: Ignat Solzhenitsyn. Stage Director: Igor Ushakov. Set and Costume Designer: Theodor Tezhik. Chorus Master: Alexey Vereshchagin. Sung in Italian with Russian surtitles. The premiere of "La clemenza di Tito" took place a few hours after coronation of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor as King of Bohemia. The role of Sesto was taken by castrato soprano, Domenico Bedini. The opera was first performed publicly on 6 September 1791 at the Estates Theatre in Prague. The opera remained popular for many years after Mozart's death. It was the first Mozart opera to reach London, receiving its première there at His Majesty's Theatre on 27 March 1806. The cast included John Braham whose long-time companion Nancy Storace, had been the first Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in Vienna. The first performance at La Scala in Milan was on 26 December 1818. The North American premiere was staged on 4 August 1952 at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood. Alfred Einstein in 1945 wrote that it was "customary to speak disparagingly of La clemenza di Tito and to dismiss it as the product of haste and fatigue." The opera continues to be popular. Boris Pokrovsky Chamber Stage |
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