Pacific Opera Victoria’s production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito has a strange resonance with the world today, despite the fact that it was written some 233 years ago, and it’s a resonance that makes the opera all the more intriguing for today’s audiences.
The opera unfolds against the backdrop of ancient Rome where Emperor Tito, celebrated and distinguished for his benevolence and clemency, suddenly finds his world shaken as he's betrayed by his closest friend, Sesto, and his wife Vitellia, who attempt to overthrow Tito in a failed coup that results in Rome being set alight.
What follows is a tale of political intrigue, and the complexities of leadership that explores some fundamental truths about humanity and the challenges we face as we try to move beyond conflict and betrayal and find it within ourselves to show compassion and forgiveness.
“The piece leads you into that consideration,” says Artistic Director, Brenna Corner. “It's very psychological and invites you to go on that journey. What is forgiveness, and who deserves forgiveness? And is forgiveness important?”
Given the volatile political landscape that the world faces today, those considerations may seem particularly relevant as the audience considers the question of what’s ahead and what will come next.
It’s not, however, the goal of Pacific Opera to pontificate upon the current political landscape.
“One of the challenges of this piece is that we make sure, because it is rife with political overtones, that we do not present the piece as a political statement,” Corner says. “We invite the audience to question and to think about what they think about forgiveness and how we can all be better human beings.”
And that’s the genius of Mozart in his creation of La Clemenza di Tito. Although it was written long before the conflicts of the modern world, the observations it makes and the questions it asks are timeless.
“There have been situations throughout history that all have certain similarities. It’s the timeless nature of humanity that we experience in this piece as well as the challenges that human nature presents,” Corner says.
“There’s a genius in the way that Mozart navigated the politics of the time to create a more thoughtful piece that asks the question of how one can lead and still retain humanity during times like that.”
It’s not surprising that an opera with such deep undertones would present the director with casting challenges, but Corner said that the talent that has ben assembled to present this tale is fantastic.
“As with most of Mozart’s later works, there are demanding musical moments, but our cast rises to that challenge and is just spectacular.
Andrew Haji has never performed this particular opera, but brings an honest vulnerability to the role.
“We have to see him not just as a leader, but as a human,” Corner says. “He manages to go through all the emotions, starting with anger and a desire for vengeance, but then struggles to find his own humanity. That is the crux of the piece, and he carries it off beautifully.”
Haj is joined with Tracy Cantin as Vitellia, Taylor Raven as Sesto, Julia Dawson as Sevilia, Reilly Nelson as Annio, and Stephen Hegedus as Publio.
The political machinations of the opera were inspired by the period during which Mozart was commissioned to write the piece.
The commission came from the impresario Domenico Guardasoni, who had been asked by the Estates of Bohemia to provide a new work to celebrate the coronation of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, as King of Bohemia.
That coronation was meant to ratify a political agreement between Leopold and the nobility of Bohemia after the efforts of Leopold's brother, Joseph II, to free the serfs of Bohemia and increase the tax burden of aristocratic landholders failed.
The whole messy coronation occurred in an attempt to forestall revolt and strengthen the empire in the face of political challenges after the French Revolution.
“There’s a genius in the way that Mozart navigated the politics of the time to create a more thoughtful piece that asks the question of how one can lead and still retain humanity during times like that,” Corner says. “It’s an approach that makes the piece as relevant today as it was in 1791.”
Pacific Opera Victoria presents La Clemenza di Tito Oct. 16, 18, 20 and 22. For more details, visit pacificopera.ca. For tickets, visit rmts.bc.ca
