Germany Mozart, La clemenza di Tito: Soloists, Refrain and extras of Theater Bremen, Bremer Philharmoniker / Sasha Yankevych (conductor). Theater Bremen, 28.3.2024. (DM-D)
Manufacturing:
Director – Marco Štorman
Stage design – Frauke Löffel
Costume design – Axel Aust
Lighting design – Norman Plathe-Narr
Choreography – Alexandra Morales
Dramaturgy – Frederike Krüger
Refrain director – Karl Bernewitz
Solid:
Titus Vespasiano – Oliver Sewell
Vitellia – Sarah-Jane Brandon
Servilia – Elisa Birkenheier
Sesto – Ulrike Mayer
Annio – Adèle Lorenzi
Publio – Hidenori Inoue
The opera’s title means that it’s a few fascinating human attribute – clemency. It’s the capability for an individual able of energy to forgive an apparent or assumed wrongdoing perpetrated by one other particular person towards a longtime follow or regulation. In opposition to that background of forgiving, clemency signifies that the particular person in energy doesn’t take the choice of punishing the offense within the strict manner potential: as a substitute the punishment is decidedly much less strict or is waived altogether. Mozart composed the opera over a interval of two months from fee to opening night time shortly earlier than his loss of life, on the event of the crowning of Leopold II as King of Bohemia. Of their concise and well-written programme notes, dramaturg Frederike Krüger and director Marco Štorman contextualise the opera and their strategy to its manufacturing relating to the historic emperor, Titus, and the conflict between his reportedly gentle reign, which made him a terrific Emperor, and his time earlier than these two years as Emperor, the place he was a brutal warmonger, butcher and rapist. The manufacturing thus aligns the opera’s plot with the social criticism inherent in a lot of Mozart’s operas.
The clemency of the title thus turned an apparent means and power of energy. Frauke Löffel’s set consisted of two units of home windows at reverse ends of a barely raised wood degree on the revolve. The home windows on one facet didn’t have glass, the development reverse featured a set of window frames with a big, tilted sheet of plastic glass in entrance of it, towards which a number of characters can lean. The refrain, led by the servant Publio, consisted of women and men who functioned because the state’s spies. They had been all over the place, trying and listening in, silently threatening, by no means invisible, and steadily reporting to varied others. The refrain acted with dedication and sang with dedication underneath the corporate’s new refrain director, Karl Bernewitz. Strikingly, Titus didn’t appear snug together with his function as emperor, with the sort of energy it gave him (in contrast with the powers of the warmonger he had turn into accustomed to). At his first entrance he appeared in poor health relaxed with sporting the vast state robes, whereas for his acts of clemency he appeared much more misplaced in feminine apparel: a sleeveless, extraordinarily vast hoop petticoat. The courtiers round him wore easy darkish or black outfits.
Sasha Yankevych made his firm debut as First Kapellmeister. He demonstrated a eager consciousness of the intricate texture of Mozart’s music. The tempi had been swift and energetic more often than not, not sagging in inherent pressure for slower passages. Nuances had been finely chiselled, assist for the singers was sturdy all through, and the orchestra clearly labored effectively with him. As Tito, Oliver Sewell’s voice fits the main tenor function on this late Mozart opera seria very effectively certainly. It was gentle sufficient for Mozart, however not as gentle because the sort of voice that’s ideally suited to singing Ferrando (Così fan tutte) or Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni). Sewell sang with ease throughout registers, and with a excessive degree of musicality. Whereas Tito is the title character, the central one on this manufacturing was his buddy Sesto. Ulrike Mayer portrayed Sesto as a person critically torn between two varieties of affection: there may be the love for Tito, the Emperor, with an implicit battle or at the very least pressure between friendship and the expectation of loyalty when it comes to social hierarchy. Then there may be Sesto’s ardour for the girl he loves, Vitellia, who has urged him to take motion towards Tito. Mayer’s astute portrayal of that conflict of pursuits and its ongoing and shifting influence on Sesto’s way of thinking was very effectively matched in her vocal characterisation. Her mezzo-soprano may be very heat and expressive, and she or he was in a position to mould the voice to point out us the strain between conflicting feelings. Appearing and singing mixed into a really shifting portrayal.
Elisa Birkenheier sang Sesto’s sister, Servilia, the character’s identify implies loyalty in the direction of household and place inside society. True to her identify, Servilia is ready to obey the emperor when he chooses her as his spouse. Nevertheless, she can be unbiased sufficient to alert him to the truth that she already loves another person. Birkenheier portrayed the character of this character as each obedient and self-confident, in addition to brave (with out realising it), decided and unbiased very effectively certainly. By the imaginative use of her voice, she added to the fine-tuning of this characterisation, shading the widely lovely sound of her voice to turn into candy or steely as vital.
Sarah-Jane Brandon rose to the calls for the plot and music had in retailer for the character of Vitellia, Tito’s daughter. As with the opposite forged members, director Štorman led her to carry out the assorted shades of her feelings with a excessive degree of readability. She liked, hated, was vengeful, regretted, and despaired throughout a variety of difficult recitatives and arias. New to the corporate of Bremen, mezzo-soprano Adèle Lorenzi sang Annio, Sesto’s buddy, with whom Servilia is in love (and vice versa). When it comes to her appearing, she was on a par together with her colleagues as a easy and easy man who has clear concepts about friendship and love. Her mezzo-soprano is totally different to that of Mayer – it got here throughout as extra strong and earthy, a great casting choice. Hidenori Inoue gave Publio, head of the key police on this manufacturing, a be aware of thriller since he was all the time showing unexpectedly, this was matched by the flexibleness of his voice and Inoue shaded his bass in placing nuances of darkness.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
