Operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes (1767) Apollo et Hyacinthus (1767) Bastien und Bastienne (1768) La finta semplice (1769) Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770) Ascanio in Alba (1771) Il sogno di Scipione (1772) Lucio Silla (1772) La finta giardiniera (1775) Il re pastore (1775) Thamos, König in Ägypten (1779) Zaide (1780) Idomeneo (1781) Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) L'oca del Cairo (1783) Lo sposo deluso (1784) Der Schauspieldirektor (1786) The Marriage of Figaro (1786) Don Giovanni (1787) Così fan tutte (1790) La clemenza di Tito (1791) The Magic Flute (1791) “Mozart” redirects here. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart_1. ... Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes is an opera, K. 35, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767. ... Apollo et Hyacinthus is an opera, K.38, written in 1767 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was 11 years old at the time. ... Bastien und Bastienne (Bastien and Bastienne) is a one-act singspiel opera with libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern and music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... La finta semplice (The Pretended Simpleton), K. 51 (46a) is an opera buffa in three acts for singers and orchestra, composed in 1769 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on a libretto by the court poet Marco Coltellini based on an early work by Carlo Goldoni. ... Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus), K. 87 (74a), is an early opera seria in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, Pastoral opera in 2 parts (Festa teatrale in due atti) Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Librettist: Abbé Giuseppe Parini First performance: Teatro Regio Ducal, Milan, 17 October 1771 // Dramatis Personæ Venere (Venus) (soprano) Ascanio, her grandson, son of Aeneas (male soprano) Silvia, a nymph descended from... Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126, Dramatic serenade in one act (Azione teatrale) Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Librettist: Pietro Metastasio First performance: Palace of the Archbishop, Salzburg, 1? May, 1772 Judith Weir has made an adaptation of the score. ... Lucio Silla (K135) is an Italian opera in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... La finta giardiniera (The Phony Gardener), K. 196, is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Il re pastore (The Shepherd King) is an opera, K. 208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Pietro Metastasio, edited by Varesco. ... Thamos, König in Ägypten (Thamos, King of Egypt, or King Thamos, in English) is a play by Tobias Philipp, baron von Gebler, for which, between 1773 and 1780, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote incidental music, K. 345/336a, of an operatic character. ... Zaide is an opera, K. 344, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. ... Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante (Italian: Idomeneo, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante; usually referred to simply as Idomeneo, K. 366) is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384; in English The Abduction from the Seraglio; also known as Il Seraglio) is a opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Loca del Cairo is an opera buffa (or dramma giocoso per musica), K. 422, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1783. ... Lo sposo deluso is a 2-act opera buffa, K. 430, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1783. ... Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario), K. 486, is a comic Singspiel written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie. ... Le nozze di Figaro ossia la folle giornata (Trans: ), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, Le mariage de Figaro (1784). ... Don Giovanni (K.527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punishd, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (Thus Do They [f. ... Die Zauberflöte, K. 620, (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. ...
v • d • e

La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), K. 621, is an opera seria composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with text after Metastasio. It was, in fact, his very last opera, having been started after the bulk of Die Zauberflöte was already written (though Mozart did not complete Die Zauberflöte until his return to Vienna after the Prague premiere of Tito). (For a selective list organized by genre, with commentary, see List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. ... A caricature of a performance of Handels Flavio, featuring three of the most well-known opera seria singers of their day: Senesino on the left, diva Francesca Cuzzoni in the centre, and art-loving castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Pietro Trapassi (January 13, 1698 - April 12, 1782), Italian poet, is better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio. ... Die Zauberflöte (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. ... For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation). ...

Background

In July 1791, the last year of his life, Mozart was already well advanced in writing The Magic Flute when he was asked to compose an opera seria. The commission came from the impresario Domenico Guardasoni, who lived in Prague and who had been charged with providing a new work to mark the coronation of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor as King of Bohemia. The ceremony would take place on September 6; Guardasoni had been approached about the opera in June. There was not much room to manoeuvre. Die Zauberflöte, K. 620, (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. ... A asses is a ceremony marking the investment of a monarch with regal power through, amongst other symbolic acts, the placement of a crown upon his or her head. ... Leopold II (born Peter Leopold Joseph) (May 5, 1747 – March 1, 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792 and Grand Duke of Tuscany. ... For other uses, see Bohemia (disambiguation). ...

In a contract dated July 8, Guardasoni promised that he would engage a castrato "of leading quality" (this seems to have mattered more than who wrote the opera); that he would "have the libretto caused to be written...and to be set to music by a distinguished maestro". The time was tight and Guardasoni had a get-out clause: if he failed to secure a new text, he would resort to La Clemenza di Tito, a libretto written more than half a century earlier by Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782). For the computer manufactured by Toshiba, see Libretto (notebook). ...

Metastasio's libretto had already been set by nearly 40 composers; the story is based on the life of Roman Emperor Titus, from some brief hints in The Lives of the Caesars by the Roman writer Suetonius, and was elaborated by Metastasio in 1734 for the Italian composer Antonio Caldara. Among later settings was Gluck's, in 1752; there would be three further settings after 1791. Mozart was not the first choice of Guardasoni. Instead, he had approached Antonio Salieri, who, as the most distinguished composer of Italian opera in Vienna, would provide exactly the lustre which Guardasoni sought. But Salieri was too busy and he declined the commission. For other uses, see Titus (disambiguation). ... On the Life of the Caesars[1], in Latin De vita Caesarum, or as it is often known in English, The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire. ... Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus ( 69/75 - after 130), also known as Suetonius, was a prominent Roman historian and biographer. ... Antonio Caldara Antonio Caldara (1670 or 1671 - December 26, 1736) was an Italian Baroque composer. ... Christoph Willibald Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ... Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (August 18, 1750 – May 7, 1825), was an Italian composer and conductor. ...

The libretto was edited into a more useful state by court poet Caterino Mazzolà, whom, unusually, Mozart credited for his revision in his own catalogue of his compositions. Guardasoni's experience of Mozart's work on Don Giovanni convinced him that the younger composer was more than capable of working on the tightest deadline. Mozart had no hesitation in accepting Guardasoni's offer - how could he resist when Guardasoni offered him twice the fee he was used to receive for an opera in Vienna? Mozart's earliest biographer Niemetschek alleged that the opera was completed in just 18 days, and in such haste that the secco recitatives were supplied by another composer, probably Mozart's pupil Süssmayr. Don Giovanni (K.527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punishd, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas (and occasionally in operettas and even musicals), is melodic speech set to music, or a descriptive narrative song in which the music follows the words. ... Franz Xaver Süssmayr (German: Franz Xaver Süßmayr; b. ...

Unfortunately, King Leopold was known to favor opera in the Italian style, rather than the more Germanic manner for which Mozart was known (that is one reason for Salieri being the first choice to write Clemenza). It is not known what Leopold thought of the opera written in his honor, but his wife Maria Louisa is reputed to have dismissed it as porcheria tedesca, or "German swinery."

Orchestration

The opera is scored for: For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ...

• 2 transverse flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, (I also basset clarinet and basset horn), 2 bassoons
• 2 French horns, 2 trumpets
• timpani
• Strings.
  

Basso continuo in recitativi secchi is made of cembalo and violoncello. This article pertains to the musical instrument. ... Modern Oboe The Oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ... The basset-horn is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ... Basset horn The basset horn (sometimes written basset-horn) is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ... Bassoon Playing range of a bassoon The bassoon is the tenor member of the woodwind family. ... The horn is a brass instrument consisting of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ... Trumpets in the Bible According to Eastons Bible Dictionary, trumpets in the Bible were of a great variety of forms and were made of various materials. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervallic content (the intervals which make up a sonority), later chords, in relation to a bass note. ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... Alternate meaning: Cello web browser A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and part of the violin family. ...

Performance history

The premiere took place a few hours after Leopold's coronation. The role of Sesto was taken by castrato, Domenico Bedini. The opera was first performed publicly on September 6, 1791 at the Estates Theatre in Prague. is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Theatre of the Estates (Stavovské divadlo) is one of the most beautiful historic theatres in Europe. ...

The opera remained popular for many years after Mozart's death (Stivender, p. 502). But for a long time, Mozart scholars regarded Tito as an inferior effort of the composer. Alfred Einstein in 1945 wrote that it was "customary to speak disparagingly of La clemenza di Tito and to dismiss it as the product of haste and fatigue," and he continues the disparagement to some extent by condemning the characters as puppets — e.g., "Tito is nothing but a mere puppet representing magnanimity" — and claiming that the opera seria was already a moribund form (Einstein, Mozart, pp. 408-11). However, in recent years the opera has undergone something of a reappraisal. Stanley Sadie considers it to show Mozart "responding with music of restraint, nobility and warmth to a new kind of stimulus" (New Grove Mozart, p. 164). Alfred Einstein (December 30, 1880–February 13, 1952), was a German-American musicologist and music editor. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Magnanimity is the generosity of the victor to the defeated. ... Stanley Sadie CBE (October 30, 1930-March 21, 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. ...

Given the similarity of Mozart's score and plot with some aspects of La clemenza di Scipione by Johann Christian Bach, it is likely that Mozart knew and was influenced by the older composer's work to a certain extent. Johann Christian Bach, painted in London by Thomas Gainsborough, 1776 (Museo Civico, Bologna) Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

The opera was the inspiration for the 2006 film Daratt, by Chadian director Mahamat Saleh Haroun. Daratt (English: Dry Season, French: Saison sèche) is a 2006 film by Chadian director Mahamat Saleh Haroun. ... Mahamat Saleh Haroun (b. ...

Roles

This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. ... This article is about the voice-type. ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. ...

Synopsis

Act 1

Vitellia, daughter of deposed emperor Vitellius, wants revenge against Titus and stirs up Titus's vacillating friend Sextus, who is in love with her, to act against him. But when she hears word that Titus has sent Berenice of Cilicia, of whom she was jealous, back to Jerusalem, Vitellia tells Sextus to delay carrying out her wishes, hoping Titus will choose her (Vitellia) as his empress. Berenice (b. ...

Titus, however, decides to choose Sextus's sister Servilia to be his empress, and orders Annius (Sextus's friend) to bear the message to Servilia. Since Annius and Servilia, unbeknownst to Titus, are in love, this news is very unwelcome to both. Servilia decides to tell Titus the truth but also says that if Titus still insists on marrying her, she will obey. Titus thanks the gods for Servilia's truthfulness and immediately forswears the idea of coming between her and Annius.

In the meantime, however, Vitellia has heard the news about Titus's interest in Servilia and is again boiling with jealousy. She urges Sextus to go assassinate Titus. He agrees, singing one of the opera's most famous arias, "Parto, parto." Almost as soon as he leaves, Annius and the guard Publius arrive to escort Vitellia to Titus, who has now chosen her as his empress. She is torn with feelings of guilt and worry over what she has sent Sextus to do.

Sextus, meanwhile, is at the Capitol wrestling with his conscience as he and his accomplices go about to burn it down. The other characters (except Titus) enter severally and react with horror to the burning Capitol. Sextus reenters and announces that he saw Titus slain, but Vitellia stops him from incriminating himself as the assassin. The others lament Titus in a slow, mournful conclusion to Act I.

Act 2

Begins with Annius telling Sextus that Emperor Titus is in fact alive and has just been seen; in the smoke and chaos, Sextus mistook another for Titus. Soon Publius arrives to arrest Sextus, bearing the news that it was one of Sextus's co-conspirators who dressed himself in Titus's robes and was stabbed, though not mortally, by Sextus. The Senate tries Sextus as Titus waits impatiently, sure that his friend will be exonerated; but the Senate finds him guilty, and an anguished Titus must sign Sextus' death sentence.

He decides to send for Sextus first, attempting to obtain further details about the plot. Sextus takes all the guilt on himself and says he deserves death, so Titus tells him he shall have it and sends him away. But after an extended internal struggle, Titus tears up the execution warrant for Sextus and determines that, if the world wishes to accuse him (Titus) of anything, it can charge him with showing too much mercy rather than with having a revengeful heart.

Vitellia at this time is torn by guilt and decides to confess all to Titus, giving up her hopes of empire in the well-known rondo "Non più di fiori." In the amphitheater, the condemned (including Sextus) are waiting to be thrown to the wild beasts. Titus is about to show mercy when Vitellia offers her confession as the instigator of Sextus's plot. Though shocked, the emperor includes her in the general clemency he offers. The opera concludes with all the subjects praising the extreme generosity of Titus, while he himself asks that the gods cut short his days when he ceases to care for the good of Rome. The name amphitheatre (alternatively amphitheater) is given to a public building of the Classical period (being particularly associated with ancient Rome) which was used for spectator sports, games and displays. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ...

Noted arias

• "Ah, perdona al primo affetto" - Annius (Annio) and Servilia in Act I
• "Ah se fosse" - Titus (Tito) in Act I
• "Deh se piacer" - Vitellia in Act I
• "Del più sublime soglio" - Titus (Tito) in Act I
• "Parto, parto" - Sextus (Sesto) in Act I
• "Deh per questo istante" - Sextus (Sesto) in Act II
• "Non più di fiori" - Vitellia in Act II
• "S'altro che lagrime" - Servilia in Act II
• "Se all'impero" - Titus (Tito) in Act II
• "Tardi s'avvede" - Publius (Publio) in Act II
• "Torna di Tito a lato" - Annius (Annio) in Act II
• "Tu fosti tradito" - Annius (Annio) in Act II

Selected recordings

• Rene Jacobs (2006)- Harmonia Mundi, Mark Padmore (Tito), Alexandrina Pendachanska (Vitellia), Bernarda Fink (Sesto), Marie-Claude Chappuis (Annio), Sunhae Im (Servilia), Sergio Foresti (Publio), Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus

René Jacobs (Born: October 30, 1946) is a Flemish musician. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Harmonia Mundi (France) is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles (south of France). ...

See also

• List of Mozart's operas

Playbill for the opening performance of Die Zauberflöte, 30 September 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts operas comprise 22 musical dramas in a variety of genres. ...

Sources

• David Stivender, ed. and trans., "La Clemenza di Tito" (libretto), in The Metropolitan Opera Book of Mozart Operas, NY: HarperCollins, 1991.
• Alfred Einstein, Mozart: His Character, His Work, NY: Oxford University Press, 1945.
• Stanley Sadie, The New Grove Mozart, NY: Norton, 1983.

Scores

• La clemenza di Tito: Score and critical report (German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe