WOLFGANG A M ADEUS MOZART
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO
CONTENTS
P.
4
SYNOPSIS P.
6
IN CLEMENZA, THE FIRE BURNS INSIDE INTERVIEW WITH PABLO HERAS-CASADO P.
11
POLITICS THROUGH POETRY INTERVIEW WITH JAN LAUWERS
P.
16
THE PARADOX OF TITO JAN LAUWERS P.
20
1791? A YEAR IN HUMAN HISTORY! FLORIAN WAGNER P.
26
THE BIRTH OF A “REAL OPERA” OLIVER LÁNG P.
32
IMPRINT
WOLFGANG A M ADEUS MOZART
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO OPERA SERIA in two acts Libretto PIETRO METASTASIO, in an adaptation by CATERINO TOMMASO MAZZOLÀ
ORCHESTRA
2 flutes / 2 oboes 2 clarinets / 1 basset horn 2 bassoons / 2 horns 2 trumpets / timpani violin I / violin II viola / cello double bass / fortepiano
WORLD PREMIÈRE Estates Theatre, Prague FIRST PERFORMANCE IN THE HOUSE ON THE RING Court Opera Vienna DURATION
2 H 45 M
6 SEP 1791
27 JAN 1880
INCL. 1 INTERMISSION
OLIVER LÁNG IN AN INTERVIEW WITH JAN LAUWERS (DIRECTOR)
POLITICS THROUGH POETRY ol
Heimito von Doderer once wrote that policemen, doctors and writers have one thing in common: that they show the world as it is and not as we would like it to be. What are directors like in this respect? jl I think that it’s important now to have an anthropological way of looking at things, to view humanity from a distance. I feel more and more like someone who comes from another planet, meets human beings and thinks to himself: “Ah, so this is the human race! This is how they behave! How exciting!” This goes along with the fact that as an artist I don’t try to adopt a moral position but simply observe. A little like Shakespeare, who did not choose a judgemental position. That’s something that is often viewed differently today, especially by young artists, who are very strongly motivated by a moral position, by personal sensitivities and their perception of themselves as victims. I on the other hand am with Chekhov, who thought that an artist had to be as cold as ice in order to be able to analyse things. However, sometimes in art social aspects seize the upper hand: then we’re talking about activism. Don’t misunderstand me! It’s important to EMILY D’ANGELO as SESTO HANNA-ELISABETH MÜLLER as VITELLIA
be an activist, and it’s important to be an activist in society. But in art I find poetic force much more important than political force. Consequently, for me, La clemenza di Tito is a poetic response to a corrupted contemporary politics. ol For the most part you and your Needcompany ensemble do not work in repertoire theatres like the Vienna State Opera, which, as a result of its repertoire system, has – and must have – very clear procedures and forms. jl Yes, I work in very different institutions. We all know that this is one of the world’s leading opera houses and we know that there’s a great tradition here, which I admire very much. But I also see it as part of my job to question traditions. Not in an iconoclastic way by any means. But to question them nevertheless. Because questions are my passion! So it’s entirely possible that I will have a different view of Mozart from other artists involved in the production. But that’s a good thing! ol One popular topic for discussion is the value of this opera – a commission from the Emperor, an opera written in homage to him. What do you think Mozart’s attitude to it was?
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OLIVER LÁNG
THE BIRTH OF A “REAL OPERA” THE STORY OF THE CREATION OF LA CLEMENZA DI TITO
Approaching the story of the creation of La clemenza di Tito requires tackling some questions and dipping into the extensive research of its history. Many researchers show a positively forensic curiosity when it comes to tracking the paths that led to the world première. It all started with Emperor Leopold II, who was to be crowned King of Bohemia. In line with the representative function of the music theatre, a new opera was to be written for the celebrations, which should as far as possible smoothly reflect the significance of the occasion. But regardless of the significance, the time from the official start of the new opera project to the actual date of the coronation was extremely short. The actual commission to the responsible producer, the impresario Domenico Guardasoni – he produced Le nozze di Figaro at the Prague Estates Theatre in 1786, followed the next year by ini-
tiating the première of Don Giovanni – was placed on 8 July 1791, and the world première was due to take place just two months later, on 6 September. The contract which Domenico Guardasoni received and signed not only serves to provide a historical timeline for the creation of the opera, but also provides insight into the relative importance of the individual aspects of such an event. A key point is Guardasoni’s financial compensation. Then the contract states: “I first undertake to engage a leading castrato, such as Marchesini, Rubinelli, Crescentini or Violani, or some other leading castrato. I also undertake to engage a prima donna, again of first quality and in any case the best in this category …” The second point is the libretto – either based on one of two subjects proposed by Count Heinrich Rottenhan or, if this is not possible, using Metas-
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T H E B I RT H OF A “R E A L OP E R A”
tasio’s well-known Clemenza libretto. This section mentions the music for the first (and only) time, saying that a “distinguished maestro” should be engaged to set Rottenhan’s proposed subject to music. The contract then moves on to the set and costumes and the decoration of the theatre. “Fourth, I undertake to light the theatre and decorate it with garlands, and to stage every detail of the said opera.” Finally, there is a note on how to proceed in the event that the project does not materialize, a sort of exit scenario which for many – for example, the great Mozart researcher Robbins Landon – reflects general uncertainty about the overall project. There was no mention of any specific composer for the opera. Guardasoni accordingly asked the emperor’s master of music Antonio Salieri, who was unable to accept due to an overload of work, as a result of a complicated chain of events. Specifically, he was having to do without the services of his student Joseph Weigl, who was serving Prince Anton Esterházy as a substitute for his godfather Joseph Haydn, who was in London at the time. In a letter to Prince Esterházy, Salieri wrote “I further had to decline – without any regrets – the commission to compose the opera in preparation for the coronation in Bohemia, for which the impresario came five times from Prague to Vienna to persuade me to accept, even offering 200 sequins in gold – a commission I could not accept because I had only myself to rely on in dealing with the concerns of the Hoftheater.”Mozart was accordingly the second choice. Caterino Mazzolà was brought from Dresden in to rework Metastasio’s Clemenza text – Rotten-
han’s suggested subjects for libretti and settings never came to anything – and filled the position of court poet, which had just become vacant on Lorenzo Da Ponte’s departure. An important aspect of the reception of Clemenza is the question of the aria “Non più di fiore”, specifically the second part of this number, “Infelice! Qual orrore!”. Half a century ago, the musicologist Tomislav Volek showed that it was very likely that part of this aria had been performed before the start of Clemenza’s composition (by Mozart’s friend Josepha Duschek, on 26 April 1791 in Prague), and was integrated into the opera in the course of composition. However, further speculation that Mozart had been working on a Clemenza opera since 1789 is lacking in plausibility. As far as his work on this opera can still be traced, we can assume that Mozart composed the piece very quickly. Apart from the short interval between signature of Guardasoni’s contract and the world première, there is the further complication that the impresario had to go to Italy at short notice to get singers for the production. “Before Mozart knew who they were going to be and what their vocal ranges were, he could hardly write anything for them except ensemble numbers where he could apply a range (let us say) suitable to any soprano or tenor. ... The one voice well known to Mozart was that of the future Tito – Antonio Baglioni, tenor, who had brought to life Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni in Prague 1787. Apart from music for this one singer, Mozart thought he could only risk writing some ensemble numbers without knowing the voices which would perform them. Accordingly he was able to start with some
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