Music Institute Juvenalia regularly stages operas and this
time they performed the opera “The Clemency of Titus” by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart in Sellosali, in Espoo. The director of the opera was – who else, but
the most industrious opera director in Finland - Ville Saukkonen. This opera is
perhaps not one of the best or even one of the most popular of Mozart, but it
is regularly put on stage - in Finland, too.
The original story of the opera takes place in ancient Rome,
where emperor Tito is planning marriage. The daughter of an earlier emperor,
Vitella considers herself to be the best possible future empress and swears
revenge, when Tito seems to be proposing to another woman. She challenges her lover Sesto to kill Tito. Tito
wishes to marry Servilia, Sesto’s sister, who is loved by Annio. Annio is ready
to sacrifice his happiness for the emperor, but Servilia tells Tito about Annio,
and he nobly withdraws his proposal. Sesto attacks Tito and after considerable
qualms confesses his crime, but does not reveal Vitella’s involvement. Of
course, Tito does not die and Vitella confesses to him that she is behind the
whole plot. In the end Tito pardons
all.
Saukkonen had moved the story to an imaginary country with a populist leader, which was not a bad solution. The story of the opera is a bit boring, but the audience was following the musicians and singers, who were amateurs, not professionals. The quality of the singing was not stable all the time, but it varied even during one scene, but on general level almost all singers sang at least occasionally rather well, which is not so easy in a full Mozart opera. Personally, I perhaps liked best Sointu Pitkänen in the role of Servilia.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti