La Clemenza di Tito Is the April 20, 2019, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: La Clemenza di Tito is the April 20, 2019, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast, numbering 21st of 24 in the 2018-2019 season’s schedule.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's performances of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito revives staging by French opera director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle that debuted in the opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere Oct. 18, 1984: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Sep. 6, 2018

La Clemenza di Tito is the April 20, 2019, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as the 21st of 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts during the 2018-2019 Met Opera season.

Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) set his musical score for La Clemenza di Tito to an Italian libretto by Italian librettist and poet Caterino Mazzolà (Jan. 18, 1745-July 16, 1806). Caterino Mazzolà’s literary source is the same-named libretto by Pietro Metastasio, pseudonym of Italian librettist and poet Pietro Trapassi (Jan. 3, 1698-April 12, 1782).

Metastasio’s libretto is based on the biography of Roman emperor Titus (Dec. 30, 39-Sept. 13, 81 C.E.), as presented in De Vita Caesarum (About the Life of the Caesars), commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, by Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 69-ca. 122 C.E.). Titus ruled from June 23, 79, to Sept. 13, 81, as the second of three Flavian dynasts.

The same-named opera by Italian Baroque composer Antonio Caldara was the original setting for Trapassi’s libretto. Caldara’s La Clemenza di Tito was first performed Nov. 4, 1734, at Kärntnertortheater (Carinthian Gate Theatre) in Vienna, Austria.

Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito premiered Sept. 6, 1791, at Estates Theatre in Prague, Czech Republic (then Kingdom of Bohemia). Almost four years earlier, on Oct. 29, 1787, the baroque-styled theatre had hosted the premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

La Clemenza di Tito’s Metropolitan Opera premiere happened Oct. 18, 1984. In the 1984-1985 Met Opera season, La Clemenza di Tito received a total of 14 performances.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season offers six performances of La Clemenza di Tito. Opening night took place Saturday, March 30, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Spring’s five additional performances are all offered in April. The month’s first four performances took place Wednesday, April 3, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 6, at 8 p.m.; Thursday, April 11, at 8 p.m.; and Tuesday, April 16, at 8 p.m.

Closing night is scheduled for Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m. The closing night performance also airs as the 21st of the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s Saturday matinee radio broadcasts.

Six spring performances are offered. March’s four performances took place Monday, March 18, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 23, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, March 29, at 8 p.m.

Spring’s last two performances take place in April. The month’s first performance happened Tuesday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. The month’s second performance, Saturday, April 6, at 1 p.m., airs as the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s 19th Saturday matinee radio broadcast.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s Tosca has an estimated run time of 2 hours 52 minutes. Act I spans 66 minutes. An intermission of 30 minutes follows. Act II is estimated at 76 minutes.

Lothar Koenigs conducts all performances. The German conductor’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Dec. 1, 2008, in the opera house’s 506th performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Ying Fang appears in all performances as Servilia, whose truthfulness to Tito is rewarded with permission to marry Annio. The Chinese operatic soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Sept. 28, 2013, as the Kazan Cathedral’s female voice and as Madame Podtochina’s daughter in the opera house’s seventh performance of The Nose by Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Sept. 25, 1906-Aug. 9, 1975).

Elza van den Heever appears in all performances as Vitellia, whose jealousies impel her to plot Tito’s assassination but whose final truthfulness spares her. The South African soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Dec. 31, 2012, as Elisabetta (Queen Elizabeth I), in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Maria Stuarda by 19th century Italian bel canto opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Joyce DiDonato appears in all performances as Sesto, Servilia’s brother, whose non-fatal, mistaken stabbing of a co-conspirator instead of Tito leads to Tito’s pardon. The American operatic lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Nov. 2, 2005, in the trouser role of Cherubino in the opera house’s 419th performance of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

Emily D’Angelo appears in all performances as Annio, who wins a happy ending with his friend Sesto’s sister, Servilia. The Canadian-Italian mezzo-soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Dec. 19, 2018, as the Second Lady in the opera house’s English-language, family-friendly holiday version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). In the 2018-2019 Met Opera season, Emily D’Angelo also performs as Sister Mathilde in Dialogues des Carmélites by French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc (Jan. 7, 1899-Jan. 30, 1963).

Matthew Polenzani appears in all performances in the title role of an emperor who decides that he would rather be known for mercy than for vengeance. The American lyric tenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Dec. 19, 1997, as Khrushchov in the opera house’s 251st performance of Boris Godunov by Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881). During the 2018-2019 Met Opera season, Matthew Polenzani also performs as Vaudémont in Iolanta by Russian late-Romantic composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Christian Van Horn appears in all performances as Publio, Praetorian Guard commander, who reveals that Sesto’s assassination attempt on Tito has failed because of mistakenly, and non-fatally, stabbing a co-conspirator dressed in Tito’s robes. The American bass-baritone’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Dec. 6, 2013, as Pistola in the opera house’s 176th performance of Falstaff by 19th century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). In the 2018-2019 Met Opera season, Christian Van Horn appears in the title role of Mefistofele by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918) and as Colline in La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s performances of La Clemenza di Tito revive staging by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (Feb. 19, 1932-Aug. 11, 1988). The French opera director’s staging debuted Oct. 18, 1984, in the opera’s Metropolitan Opera premiere.

In addition to directing the production, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle also has credits as set and costume designer. Gil Wechsler is the production’s lighting designer. Peter McClintock is the production’s revival stage director.

The takeaway for La Clemenza di Tito as the April 20, 2019, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is that the second to the last of Mozart’s operas airs as the 21st of the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts.

La Clemenza di Tito, 1830 marble trio of Vitellia (left), Roman emperor Titus (center) and Sesto (right); last work created by Italian sculptor Giovan Battista Comolli (Feb. 19, 1775-Dec. 26, 1831); garden of Villa Monastero, Varenna, Lecco province, Lombardy region, north central Italy; July 2009: Geobia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's performances of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito revives staging by French opera director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle that debuted in the opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere Oct. 18, 1984: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Sep. 6, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10160996068990533/

La Clemenza di Tito, 1830 marble trio of Vitellia (left), Roman emperor Titus (center) and Sesto (right); last work created by Italian sculptor Giovan Battista Comolli (Feb. 19, 1775-Dec. 26, 1831); garden of Villa Monastero, Varenna, Lecco province, Lombardy region, north central Italy; July 2009: Geobia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:088VarennaVillaMonastero.JPG

For further information:

“Debut: Elza van den Heever.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354759 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Maria Stuarda {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2012.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354759

“Debuts: Constantin Pluzhnikov . . . Matthew Polenzani.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 330264 Boris Godunov {251} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/19/1997.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=330264

“Debuts: Lothar Koenigs, Mark Thomsen.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352723 Don Giovanni {506} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/01/2008.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352723

“Debuts: Mark Wigglesworth, Maurizio Muraro, Joyce DiDonato . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351338 Le Nozze di Figaro {419} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/02/2005.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351338

“Debuts: Peter Van Praet, Paolo Fanale, Carlo Bosi, Christian Van Horn.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355173 Falstaff {176} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/06/2013.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355173a

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Stages 29 Operas.” Earth and Space News. Monday, June 18, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/2018-2019-metropolitan-opera-season.html

Mesa, Franklin. Opera: An Encyclopedia of World Premieres and Significant Performances, Singers, Composers, Librettists, Arias and Conductors, 1597-2000. Jefferson NC; London, England: McFarland & Company, Inc. 2007.

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “On this day in 1791, Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito premiered at the National Theater in Prague. Before the opera seria returns to the stage this spring, enjoy a free preview from a 2012 performance on Met Opera on Demand today: bit.ly/2PAbJU6 La Clemenza di Tito opens March 30. Tickets: bit.ly/2PFzrhJ Photo by Ken Howard / Met Opera.” Facebook. Sept. 6, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10160996068990533/

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: La Clemenza di Tito.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 350710 Metropolitan Opera Premiere La Clemenza di Tito {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/18/1984.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=350710

Tatlow, Ruth; and Magnus Tessing Schneider. “La Clemenza di Tito: Chronology and Documents.” In: Magnus Tessing Schneider and Ruth Tatlow, eds., Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito: A Reappraisal. Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm University Press, 2018.
Available via Stockholm University Press @ https://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=649677