Washington Concert Opera makes successful foray into Mozart with “Clemenza di Tito”
Edgardo Rocha was the title emperor in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito Saturday night at Lisner Auditorium. Photo: Caitlin Oldham
Washington Concert Opera continued its three-event season with a powerful rendition of Mozart’s penultimate opera La Clemenza di Tito Saturday night at Lisner Auditorium. Surprisingly, the company has not performed any of the composer’s works before.
Mozart dashed off this opera seria, set to a well-worn libretto by Metastasio adapted by Mazzolà, in a few weeks, in the midst of his work on The Magic Flute. The premiere honored the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia. Premiered in 1791, just two years after the storming of the Bastille, the opera’s story of the benevolent Roman emperor Titus suited the goal of soothing political discord.
The action takes place in 79 A.D. with Titus having assumed the throne. He decides to marry Servilia, the sister of his close friend Sesto, not knowing that she is to be wed to Sesto’s friend, Annio. Vitellia, the daughter of a previous emperor, is outraged that Tito has passed her over and convinces Sesto, who loves her, to burn the Capitol and kill Tito. The emperor spares both Sesto and Vitellia from execution, in a grand gesture of mercy.
Leading this uniformly fine cast was Edgardo Rocha, in an excellent WCO debut as Tito. In addition to a honeyed, lyric tone, the Uruguayan tenor displayed some clarion high notes, up to B-flat, but never pushed or strident. His musical sensitivity to phrasing and dynamic shading impressed, as did his dramatic sense, even in the recitatives, as he strode around the stage, singing from memory. One hopes to see him in a staged opera soon.
Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche made an even more splendid company debut as Sesto, a complex role created for the castrato Domenico Bedini. Her luscious tone extended into a robust male range and blossomed into potent top notes up to B-flat, with florid trills and precise coloratura agility, as in the flowing triplets in the showpiece “Parto, Parto.” She also held attention with electrifying dramatic appeal and expressive handling of rubato.
Stephanie Doche as Sesto (middle) vies with Tamara Wilson as Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito with Antony Walker conducting. Photo: Caitlin Oldham
Tamara Wilson, a local favorite since her young artist days with Wolf Trap Opera, made a biting, spiteful Vitellia. Her dramatic soprano surged with vitality from bottom notes, well into the alto range, up to a sustained high B in the aria “Deh! Se piacer” and touching high D in the Act I trio. Only the role’s few florid runs gave her any trouble, but her incisive voice backed up the character’s imperious viciousness.
Mezzo-soprano Meridian Prall sang the trouser role of Annio with confident elegance. A recent laureate of some prestigious competitions and awards, this talented young singer will be heard in roles in Dallas and Santa Fe, among others. Raven McMillon brought a demure soprano to the role of Servilia. Although she was often covered by the small Mozart-sized orchestra, in spite of conductor Antony Walker’s efforts to strike the right balance, her high A shimmered in the Act II aria “S’altro che lacrime.”
Walker elicited a pleasing orchestral sound, with his gestures always clear. Two horns, two trumpets, and timpani added martial fanfare at crucial points. In a savvy bit of extra casting, clarinetist Jonathan Gunn took the two important obbligato parts Mozart wrote for the virtuoso clarinetist Anton Stadler, who traveled with the composer for the premiere in Prague, one for basset clarinet and the other for basset horn. These instruments, played at the front of the stage with the singers, added authentic and singular color to the evening.
William Woodard played the secco recitatives on a beautiful fortepiano, without any other instrument on the bass line. His flexible sense of improvisation helped weave the pieces together, mostly avoiding applause after each number. Though reduced in size, the WCO Chorus gave the sense of a distressed crowd in the riot scene and brought sensitivity to their crucial opportunities, the choral writing indicative of Mozart’s study of Handel’s oratorios.
Washington Concert Opera performs Verdi’s Luisa Miller 6 p.m. April 13 at Lisner Auditorium. concertopera.org
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