This Clemenza Di Tito is perhaps not my first choice, the Ponnelle production with Troyanos and Neblett is for me. However, this is an underrated treasure, with my only complaints being the minimalist and sometimes unappealing sets and some awkward staging particularly the slanted stage and the saucer. The opera is wonderful, other than some parts that sound rushed it does have a concise story with some beautifully explored themes such as love, passion, despair, seduction, redemption and of course mercy and Mozart's gorgeous music.
I did love the costumes, they were well suited to when the opera was set, I was initially put off by everybody being barefoot but I learnt to live with it, and the camera work(mostly anyway, some were odd but not all), picture quality and sound are very good. Some of the numbers are shorter, but the orchestra perform beautifully with the highlight being the wind accompaniment in Parto Ma Tu Ben Mio and the conducting is brisk and never too broad and seldom rushed. The recitatives I do agree compliment the opera and serve the action well, and that is no easy feat.
Phillip Langridge was a very versatile artist, and his Tito with such refined technique, a beautiful voice and an overall moving performance is no exception. Peter Rose is very good as Pubilius, Diana Montague and Martina Mahe are superb and Elzbieta Szmytka has a tone as clear as crystal and it sounds lovely. Other than Langridge, the standout is Ashley Putnam who is amazing in perhaps the most difficult role of the entire opera in terms of range both vocally(soprano and mezzo quality, which Putnam meets) and dramatically(Vitellia is shown as passionate and ruthless yet loving and humble).
Of the production, the best performed and staged are Non Piu Di Fiori, which is a real emotional roller-coaster of a performance and I mean in a good way and the duet Ah Perdona Al Primo Affetto, which is exquisite in every way possible. All in all, an underrated treasure, both the opera and the production. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox
