Customer Reviews

Mozart - La Clemenza di Tito [VHS]

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I can think of a couple of possible reasons why Mozart's last opera isn't as beloved or oft-performed as the four masterpieces which preceded it. One, the story and characters, for most audiences at least(although I've personally never been in love with the story of The Magic Flute despite my affection for the music), aren't as engaging as in the other works, there isn't a Figaro or Papageno or Donna Elvira or Despina to be found among the deathly serious characters who populate Titus' royal entourage. Second, La Clemenza di Tito has an inordinate amount of recitative for a Mozart opera, not enough "real" music. These are valid criticisms, I suppose, but they should be swept to the wayside, for Tito is a masterpiece in its own right. The story presents a compelling dramatic situation even if it is a tad old-fashioned, filled with both inner and outer conflict, and while the characters, on paper at least, may seem fairly "stock," Mozart's wonderful music allows them to live and breathe emotionally. And as for the music, there might not be as much of it in this opera, but what music there is is truly breathtaking, from short arias and duets to long winding passages that run the gamut and leave the listener emotionally exhausted; frankly, it is some of the most adventurous music, both vocally and orchestrally, that Mozart ever composed. La Clemenza di Tito may harken back to the days of opera seria both in story in structure, but the music is all late period Mozart. In fact, this opera reminds me of Aida in that it looks both backward and forward: backward by returning to a more classical style of storytelling, resembling ancient tragedies and morality plays, but forward in the progress of the music, the way it flows and gives substance and range and individuality to traditional character types, transforming them into multifaceted human beings who force us to feel. No small praise, since Aida is among the most classically beautiful operas ever written.

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's film of this opera, made among the ruins of Rome, is an excellent realization. The mostly outdoor settings are lit in a way that makes them look dreamy, surreal; I don't mean to be facetious or critical when I say that they resemble gigantic versions of aquarium props, they have a glow that, despite the locations' age and abandonment, makes them glitter with life.

Of course the singers play no small role in bringing life to these ruins. Ponnelle has assembled a great cadre of Mozartean voices. Sesto is clearly the most demanding role in the opera, and the director couldn't have found a better interpreter than Tatiana Troyanos. Her voice was made for this style of singing, dramatic, deep, acrobatic, plaintive, tormented and involving. Carol Neblett makes a fiery Vitellia; with her Medussa hairdo and burning expressions, she rules the stage, particularly during the long, showstopping aria in the second act which is a tour de force for the dramatic soprano, handled with exquisite panache and sensitivity. Eric Tappy, looking a little like a hippie Tyrone Power, makes a strong impression as Titus; his voice sounds artificial in the opening recitatives, but once he starts singing that beautiful music, the listener realizes his voice is ideal for the Mozart style, lovely and agile and brimming with life. A very young Catherine Malfitano is Servilia, showing signs of her star power to come, and Anne Howells ably rounds out the cast as Annio, fitting in with her peers as a wonderful Mozart singer.

Tito doesn't have the immediacy of Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute or Figaro. Admittedly, the first time I heard it I was lukewarm toward the opera. Seeing this film was only my second time experiencing Tito and I fell in love with it. I now consider it a rival to the four acknowledged masterworks, and I plan to return to this DVD again and again. As a matter of fact, I'm looking forward to it!

On the heels of the recent excellent Clemenza DVD from Opus Arte, comes this DGG DVD of a beautiful film of the opera directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. It was filmed on location in Rome at the Baths of Caracalla, the Arch of Titus and at the Villa Adriana in Tivoli from 10 May-16 June 1980 with the sound recording made in Vienna at Wien-Film 6-12 May 1980. Ponnelle favored singers lip synching their arias so that they might concentrate on acting, thus improving the dramatic aspect of opera. It seems to work here. Clemenza, more than most Mozart operas, relies on lengthy expository recitatives to further the story. These recitatives, as is well known, were not written by Mozart but by his assistants, probably Sussmayr. Slightly less effective as they are, any dramatic enhancements are an improvement. The film's cinematography is beautiful, with most of the film shot at night or in twilight. Roman ruins have never looked so stunning: they tower over the singers, as if making an existential statement about the powerlessness of humanity, the essential illusion of power, the historical inevitability of fate. History, itself, becomes a character. It was an inspired decision to film the opera in this fashion. The DVD is worthwhile for the film's beauty. The acting of the singers increases the effectiveness of the opera's drama, making what are admittedly quite artificial opera seria situations more believable. Overcoming that artificiality is one of several attendant difficulties in presenting opera seria to a modern audience. Ponnelle succeeds admirably.

The singing is expert, as well. By pre-recording the voices a certain artificial perfection is offered. Some will consider this anathema: fatal to their preferred experience of staged opera. If you fall into this purist camp, you will not approve of this film, so be forewarned. If, however, you can accept this inauthenticity for the greater good of a finer filmed opera, the payoff is some sterling singing. Beginning with the stunning performance of Tatiana Troyanos in the trouser role of Sesto. She is superb in all facets of her role. Eric Tappy is a suitably regal Tito. Carol Neblett is excellent as Vitellia. Annio is sung by Anne Howells. Catherine Malfitano is Servilia. Kurt Rydl is Publio. It is a very strong cast. Mozart's music is gorgeous: a cross between Figaro and the Magic Flute. It is a more sedate score than either. Mozart, had he lived, appeared poised to create a new, more mature compositional style. The great Vienna Philharmonic sounds wonderful under conductor James Levine. This film was done right. It is a pity that Ponnelle, who intended to film all of Mozart's operas, was able to film only four before passing away at age 56 in 1988. This production is a fitting monument to his talent.

The picture format of this DVD is NTSC shot full screen with an aspect ratio of 4:3. The region code is 0 worldwide. The film looks spectacular. The sound formats are PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. Both sound great with the DTS providing a greater sense of space and ambiance. Menus are in English. Subtitles are in English, Italian, German, French, Spanish and Chinese. Extras include various promos for DGG DVDs. The total time of the disc is 135 minutes.

A superb filmed opera, beautiful to look at and lovely to hear. If you don't mind Ponnelle's lip synch technique, this DVD is strongly recommended. La Clemenza di Tito is finally receiving long overdue attention; the performances recently available make a strong case for Mozart's final opera.

Mike Birman

An excellent opera "movie" with an extroadinary cast and while there is lip-synching most of us would not notice it. I showed it to a bunch of opera fans and they thouht the opera and performance were great!

This is a movie, complete with lip-synching. It is filmed in ruins near Rome which is very nice. The singing is generally good. Eric Tappy sings Tito with nice smooth fioratura and a reasonably pretty voice. Troyanos is a cute and believable Sesto and her singing is quite good. Carol Neblett as Vitellia is sometimes effective, but sometimes shrill - she seems to have trouble smoothing out her registers at times. Malfitano was fine as Servilia, and Anne Howells was fine as Annio. Kurt Rydl was fine as Publio, but they gave him the weirdest wig - like one a Rheingold monster should wear. He looked very much like Chewbaca, the Wookie.

The costumes were basically eighteenth-century style, with a little ancient Roman flair thrown in now and then. The filming was the standard Ponnelle recipe - nothing surprising, but I will say the setting was fun to watch once.

I don't really think I would watch this video more than once. I have already played it over to listen to, but I don't know how often I will play it again as I have recordings of the opera I like a little better. One of those is a video - the Glyndebourne one with Langridge in the role of Tito. I would recommend that video over this one for sure.

The singers are excellent to superb in this production; Troyanos as Sesto breaks your heart and the great scene when Sesto confesses guilt to Tito and asks to be remembered even as he goes to his death is again, wrenching. The shots near reflecting water and the great ruins of Rome are magnificent and the Servillia-Annio duet is the most tenderly sensual I have heard. However, I absolutely can't stand the doll-like stone figures of the women and men of Rome, each man alike and each woman alike. There are six live singing actors in this production and hundreds of stone figures. It gives the impression there are six living people in all of ancient Rome, and two of them tried to kill one of them. I respect the director immensely, but really! What was he thinking of?

Technical criticism on musical or historical issues might be fun, but most of the reviews (except Mike Birman's) are just carping at details. I watched this film of La Clemenza di Tito yesterday evening for the second time, enjoyed it heartily even though I had to pause it a few times to 'elucidate' Roman history for other watchers (by their request), and grasped something about the director's concept that I hadn't grasped on first viewing.

Film? Yes, this is a film, not a filmed stage production. It was, I assume, recorded musically in a studio, and the music is patently edited, spliced, reverbed at times, modified in the way film sounds are modified. Such effects would be audible on a CD release. The action was staged in snippet-scenes in three different locations in Rome: at the Arch of Titus, Caracalla's Baths, and Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. The lip-synching is very good, really, but no one could possibly not realize that it is happening. So it's a FILM, mate! Enjoy it as such! And go to the opera house when you have a chance, when a stage performance of Clemenza comes to your locality. Like... maybe in your next lifetime?

The acting can hardly be described as static. It's wildly melodramatic, with wide staring eyes, close-ups of faces in the sort of anguish that would make singing rather dicey, broad gestures, camera pans to and from. Those wide staring eyes didn't sit well with me on first viewing; the second time around, I realized what director Jean-Pierre Ponelle was conveying: obsession! His "Clemenza" is a tale of obsessive lust for power, obsessive jealousy, obsessive love, and the Emperor Titus's obsession with his own self-image. Now, honestly, I'm not sure Mozart had such a psychological drama in mind, but Ponelle's interpretation doesn't detract or distract from the central theme of the opera, which is a 'sermon in music' on the ideal of benign governance. Or a lecture to the Monarch, you might say, since one can imagine a Head of State in attendance. Just as much as Mozart/Beaumarchais had a subversive anti-aristocratic message to convey in "Le Nozze di Figaro", Mozart and librettist Pietro Metastasio had a subversive anti-autocratic message to convey in "Clemenza". That message is eloquently expressed in this production.

Casting Carol Neblett as the power-obsessed Vitellia was a stroke of genius. She glares and pouts and struts narcissistically, and dominates poor wimpy Sesto so viciously that one can bleed for his torn loyalties. Sesto is sung very beutifully by Tatiana Troyanos; I suppose her singing in this male role might be altogether too beautiful for the character portrayal, and she altogether too obviously feminine, but hey! it's all about music of us, right? Anne Howells sings nearly as well in the secondary role of Annio, but perhaps, just perhaps, a more masculine portrayal would have been desirable. This film was made 30 years ago; today that role might have been given to a male soprano like Philippe Jaroussky. Eric Tappy makes expressive musical sense of the recitativos of Titus; there's a lot of recitativo in this opera, and it HAS to have musical values. Basso Kurt Rydl is an eloquent Publio. There's another prominent "singer" in this opera -- the clarinet! Mozart wrote quite a lot of clarinet music in his last years, not only the wonderful concerto and the divine quintet, but several pieces of chamber music, including an 'adagio' for clarinet and basset horns K580. The clarinet obbligatos in "Clemenza" are superb compositional embellishments as well as affective dramatic counterpoint to the themes of the arias.

"La Clemenza di Tito" is less familiar to modern audiences than Mozart's other great operas. For most listeners, the lack of familiarity will make the music seem less memorable. Let me venture to say that it's the Memory that comes first, that intensifies the listener's response. When you've heard "Clemenza" as often as "Figaro", you'll be thrilled to discover what memorable music it is.

"La Clemenza di Tito" was Mozart's last stage work. It was commissioned for an Imperial coronation ceremony while Mozart was at work on "Die Zauberflöte" and was composed in great haste. Indeed, time was so short that composition of the secco recitatives was assigned to Mozart's pupil Süssmayr. As in the earlier "Idomeneo", Mozart sought to produce an opera seria that was dramatically viable. He enlisted the poet Mazzolà to substantially revise the Metastasio libretto, which had already been set some fifty times. The number of arias was reduced from 25 to 11, and ensembles and choruses were added to enliven the proceedings. Though perhaps not the very top-drawer Mozart, the music is wonderful. The best-known numbers are the two big arias, "Parto, parto" and "Non più di fiori", with obbligato clarinet and basset horn respectively, but there are many other lovely numbers and some fine choral writing. The first production was a mixed success, and the opera's popularity has gone up and down over the years. It has never caught on with modern audiences; the stilted plot is less than engaging, and there are obvious casting problems in an opera with two leading castrato roles.
This 1980 production was one of four Mozart operas filmed for television by the noted director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. He solves the opera seria problem by taking the whole thing entirely seriously and inducing his cast to really care about their cardboard characters. The approach works very well, though, as usual with Ponnelle, there are some weirdnesses. For example, filming the opera outdoors amid Roman ruins, representing the Roman public with a horde of mannequins, and many very distant camera shots. But the main thing in any opera seria is great singing, and this production certainly has it. The entire cast is first-rate. To single out two, Tatiana Troyanos is very convincing as the conflicted Sesto, and Carol Neblett is a formidable Vitellia; she handles the role's extravagant vocal range, though the deep chest tones in "Non più di fiori" are less than beautiful. Eric Tappy's runs are not great in "Se all' impero, amici Dei", but otherwise he is excellent. Anne Howells as Annio, Catherine Malfitano as Sevilia, and Kurt Rydl as Publio are beyond reproach. Conductor James Levine seems to enjoy the challenge of making this little-known opera work, and he brings out the great beauty of the music, aided by fine playing from the Vienna Philharmonic. The cast is clad in beautiful eighteenth-century costumes. Strongly recommended.

Get in the groove, guys, American, Canadian and British singers , a French stage director and an American conductor take over a German/Austrian/Italian masterpiece! I had the privilege of seeing Nebblet's Poppea at the practically defunct City Opera, and still have the photograph of her exultant nude Thais. She was a wonder of nature. And what to say about Troyanos, Malfitano, Howell?
Buy it. And for the reviewer who complained of boredom: try Wagner!

I like most of Ponelle's opera films including this one. Voices all first-rate and the music fantastic. While interesting I found the use of the Roman ruins as the stage strange especially when their costumes were 16th century. Freeing the actor from singing resulted in melodramatic gestures and facial expressions and the zoom outs the length of a football field with the actor singing was a little silly. This opera has two trouser roles which is a little disconcerting; I guess it is hard to find men with soprano voices any more.

Ponnell made this a very formal and stilted rather than realistic film of this story. This should have disaterous results, but instead of failing as in theory it should, it is a movie masterpiece. It is a shame that he shortened his life by smoking because we will have less of what he could have created for us.
The fiberglass statues of the Roman audience has a subtle almost surrealistic effect that works better than a Cecil DeMille approach of having a live audience that would not fit this opera.
It is a collector's item well worth owning.
Use the PCM sound track for the main channels and the DTS for center channel and surround channels. PCM with a good DAC sounds much better than DTS on the stereo channels.