The Whitsun Festival in Salzburg this year is titled “Tutto Mozart” and is dedicated to the city’s most famous son. The program features only one full opera, “La clemenza di Tito,” written by Mozart in 1791 while he was finishing “The Magic Flute,” making it his final opera. Created to commemorate the coronation of Emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia, it is structured as an opera seria, a genre that was falling out of fashion at the time.
Legend has it that Mozart composed the opera in just 18 days, a likely exaggeration that contributed to its reputation as a “secondary” work, written on commission and considered less significant than his other works. In recent years, however, this opera has regained its rightful place in the repertoire and is now performed almost as frequently as other Mozart operas. The story, based on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, revolves around the Roman Emperor Tito, who is admired for his benevolence.
Vitellia, daughter of the deposed emperor Vitellius, seeks revenge against Tito for not marrying her, thus raising her to the throne. She manipulates her admirer, Sesto, Tito’s close friend, into plotting the emperor’s assassination. Sesto is torn but his blinding passion for Vitellia brings him to comply with her request.
The conspiracy unfolds, but Tito survives the attempt on his life. Sesto is arrested, and he faces execution. Vitellia, afraid that Sesto will betray her role in the plot, confesses to Tito.
The emperor, embo.
