Customer Reviews

Mozart - La Clemenza di Tito (Opernhaus Zurich 2005)

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

 

 

So many great things and so many not so great things in this DVD. La clemenza di Tito is one of my favorite operas because of the musical part of it. And the music is mostly wonderful here.

They had scratched the dry sung speech in favor of spoken Italian dialogue. So this is turned into an Italian 'Singspiel'. Might work better if more than 1 principals speak the language well, but as it turns out they don't... and the lone native Italian, Eva Mei, doesn't capitalize on her command of the language either.

Staging is very dark... semi modern with a single set featuring a turning tall cylinder with a staircase wrapping around it. I thought I was in for an Italian mobsters kind of show until Tito and his Romans appear looking like Mussolini and his collaborators. It's a typical Jonathan Miller staging with mostly 'static and pose' kind of choreography. Seems a bit under-rehearsed to me. And I don't really care for the 'assassination and burning of Rome' sequence that ends Act I in this production... There is no commotion anywhere, all you have is Sesto standing there singing of the commotion (the chorus stays off the stage). The whole sequence is saved only because they have a truly commanding Sesto on-stage who can convince you that the terror and tumult in the music is 'right' and the lack of any action on stage is to be ignored.

Vesselina Kasarova is in wonderful voice as Sesto and a commanding presence on stage despite of her not very large size and dark suit (blends right into the dark set at times). Some of her ornamentation fit piano playing more than singing, I think, but they aren't distracting. I wish there is more chemistry between her and Eva Mei, who is miscast as Vitellia.

Mei's voice is just not dramatic enough for the role and there is unsettling amount of tremolo in her voice even in lower passages (not to mention a vibrato that's getting a bit wide). I have a hard time trying to believe that any man could be passionately in love with her to the point of trying to kill his best friend for it. I dislike the word 'mannerism'... but there is nothing natural about how she sings or acts this role.

Jonas Kaufmann is a 'too good to be true' kind of Tito with a commanding voice that is too heavy to cope with the Act II virtuoso 'Se all'impero'. He is a good Tito otherwise, however... Tho there is more chemistry between his Tito and Kasarova's Sesto than between Sesto and Vitellia... It's almost like Tito and Sesto were gay lovers before the curtain rises and Sesto was the dominant one.

Malin Hartelius is everything I could hope for in a Servilia and more. Liliana Nikiteanu sings very well as Annio, but seems to be in a different play with Kasarova's Sesto. One is in a dramatic tragedy and the other looks on the verge of throwing in a joke. Gunther Groissbock's Publio is physically imposing but vocally hard to hear.

I like Franz Welser-Most's read of this music a lot, especially in the overture (and I love watching the orchestra play during the overture). His orchestra is too loud during the singing parts; however, especially during ensemble pieces. The girls all have enough metal in their voice to cut through the column of sound from the pit, but Publio really suffers for it. The chorus sing very well, also.

Anyhow... a not all out cheer for this production. I like most of it but still prefer the Salzburg 2003 version better. [...]

This is an effective staging, though the set looks medieval and the costumes are modern. It's well paced, well played, well sung. Jonas Kaufmann is an ideal Tito. His voice is not only beautiful and flexible, it's also ample, retaining warmth and sweetness when he sings out. The character of Tito is too good to be true, but Kaufmann makes him intense, noble, and beliveable. Vesselina Kasarova is riviting as Sesto. Her voice is gorgeous and multi-colored, her technique exquisite, her immersion in the role complete. If you think great singing-acting expired with Callas, this DVD will change your mind. Liliana Nikiteanu as Annio, Malin Hertelius as Servilia, and Gunther Groissbock as Publio, have luscious voices and dramatic talent. Nikiteanu is particularly touching. The only disappointment here is Eva Mei as Vitellia. Her slightly tart soprano suits the character's vengeful moods, but her lack of tonal warmth deprives her great aria of pathos.

This is a wonderful production. I have never heard or seen this opera before and am delighted. The music is lovely and the spoken parts are well done. Jonas Kaufmann's Tito is vocally and dramatically both riveting and touching. The heroic tenor sound of his voice is ideal for Tito. Vesselina Kasarova is the other standout here with her gorgeous creamy sound and sensitive portrayal of Sesto torn with remorse. Gunter Groissbock as Publio who although his part is small, has a great baritone sound. The Zurich Opera chorus provides a fine performance and the excellent Franz Welser-Most conducts the Zurich Opera Orchestra. I was impressed immediately with the very good sound, not at all boxy as in some live recordings. The sound is so clear and the camera work so good I found myself for once just engrossed in the action. The production is visually interesting and beautiful with a simple and effective set. The focus is on the players and the dramatic action as it should be and it all works. A great DVD which I will watch and enjoy many times over.

I love this opera but always thought that one of its few setbacks was the abundance of recitativi that, somehow, dilute the beauty of the main arias. It looks like the people of Zurich had the same feeling when changed the recitativi for spoken dialogues. The beauty of the italian language sounds much better this way, in spite of the thick accent of some of the leads including Jonas Kaufmann. Both, the drama and the music become more intense as well. The production is very sober but it fits well to the monumental dimensions and elegance of Mozart's last opera. What are really outstanding in this production are the costumes, particularly Vitelia's spectacular dresses that seem to be inspired on some art deco statues of the first half of the XX century. It is curious that the elegance of the dresses also enhances the particular atmosphere of this inteligent production. Singers are uneven but none of them particularly bad. Jonas Kaufmann is a great tenor but should get some more couching with his italian.

Received product in timely manner in good condition.
Wonderful production of this Mozart opera.
Kaufmann is new to me and I'm very impressed. Will eventually
acquire all of his works.

We have some very fair and accurate reviews on this work already.
I would just supplement my viewpoints on a couple of aspects.
Firstly, the set and costumes are far from OK.
The stage was too dark most of the time, and the costumes do not reflect adequately the status of the characters.
Secondly, all secco recitatives were being cut out and replaced by Italian dialogue. This proved problematic to most, if not all, singers performing. For instance, Tito's first aria began as a spoken dialogue, and Jonas Kaufmann really had some problem launching into the music. The characters generally are not at home with the archaic Italian and could not give full expressiveness to the words most of the time. This problem was added on by the fact that most of the cast aren't Italians.
Thirdly, the orchestra, while well-conducted, was a bit too loud in some of the major arias.
Most of the singers however did a splendid job - Kassarova being the vocal star. Eva Mei had certain vocal problems in Act 1, but progressed quite well in later Acts. The final great aria 'Non piu di fiori vage catene', though not done to the level of Alexandrina Pendatchanska in Jacob's version (and who could surpass that one, any way?), was very dramatically rendered. The title role of Tito was adequately performed by Kaufmann, but by no means should this be counted as his performance in top form: first of all, his spoken Italian sounds nasal and funny, almost to the point of being hilarious (listen to his 'Servillia' as Tito addressed his would-be fiance for the first time). Secondly, his voice has grown too large for a coloratura role as Tito, and he had to perform at the rare end of the stage most of the time to 'compensate' for his large volume. Otherwise he did sound both heroic and benevolent, both vital cornerstones for the role. He would have been benefitted more if the recitatives were there instead of spoken dialogues.

Having listened to several CD and DVD versions of Clemenza, I was left with the feeling that this opera lacks drama, without knowing why. Only the Gardiner CD pleased me. Gardiner found some of the dramatic potential but Welser-Moest has, in my opinion found much more. Welser-Moest has conducted this opera as if it was Beethoven. There are strong attacks from the strings and wonderful dynamic shapings of every phrase. In the chorus parts this is especially welcome, reminding me of Beethoven's mass in C. As an amateur singer of choral works what Welser-Moest has done seems very perceptive. Mozart may have wanted this much drama, but did not find a way to indicate this in the score.

Of course there is a downside to this interpretation: The orchestra sometimes overpowers the voices. Thus I feel that it is only fair to judge the voices as if this was Fidelio (Beethoven's only opera).

Allowing for the louder orchestra I find little to complain about vocally. I do think Eva Mei could have done more with her acting, as she is a bit on the "inert" side as others have noted in a similar way. In my opinion, the negative comments about fuzzy and harsh vocal sounds are, at least in part, the result of playing this very dynamic DVD on audio equipment that is not good enough to handle sound with so much detail.

All but the very best speaker systems have problems with vocal recordings with strong orchestras. As singers push their voices harder, the overtone content goes up. My AKG K 240 Studio headphones handle everything this DVD has with great accuracy. Speakers tend to highlight vocal problems making then sound worse than they would sound live. The extra overtones of powerful singing tend to sound somewhat harsh on many speakers and cheap headphones. This DVD is audiophile quality almost all the time. All live recordings have moments when the sound is not perfect, yet this DVD is hard to beat. I only listened to the LPCM track.

The picture is a bit dark, but again, this is quite dramatic if your TV can handle the video dynamic range which is as great as the audio dynamic range. Costumes are not of Mozart's period but are better than I expected.