Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito, K. 621 (1791)

Tito: Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Sesto: Anne Sophie von Otter
Vitellia: Julia Varady
Annio: Catherine Robbin
Servillia: Sylvia McNair
Publio: Cornelius Hauptmann

Monteverdi Choir with English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (1991)

Those who do not appreciate La Clemenza di Tito definitely do not appreciate Mozart's works apart from his mature style. In their minds, they set Mozart up as a composer whose chamber works rival even Shostakovich's in terms of harmony (really citing only one or two pieces), whose operas have an almost Straussian sense of dramaticism, and pay little to no attention to everything in between, which are very unrealistic and dangerous expectations. Perhaps revealing his genius even more, however, was Mozart's ability to make simplicity profound.
Fun fact: Mozart began work on the opera before he was even commissioned by Domenico Guardasoni. Guardasoni himself was given the job of commissioning it by the Estates of Bohemia, for the festivities of the coronation of Leopold II. In short, no dramma giocoso or opera semiseria would be fitting for this intensely royal affair. Joseph II and his constraints on the popularity of the opera seria in the Holy Roman Empire were now gone, so Leopold II’s court could make room for the genesis of this great work. Guardasoni had let Mozart know of the future commission and showed him the libretto. Finding it to be outdated, Mozart took the libretto to Caterino Mazzolà for revision. Non Piu di Fiori was the first part of the opera to be composed, in April of 1791.

Despite this huge commission, Mozart definitely wasn't apprehensive. He had experience with writing works for royals in his teenage years; he wrote Ascanio in Alba for the wedding of Ferdinand Karl (commissioned by Maria Theresa herself), he wrote Il Sogno di Scipione in honor of the Archbishop Schrattenbach (quickly replaced with Colloredo when Schrattenbach died), he wrote MANY works for Colloredo and the court orchestra, he wrote Il Re Pastore for Archduke Maximillian Francis's visit to Salzburg, and he wrote Idomeneo for the royal Munich festival, commissioned by the elector Karl Theador. Idomeneo was the last opera seria Mozart wrote before La Clemenza, and even though it was written a decade before this work, Mozart was as confident as ever, with Le Nozze, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte, and the whole of Prague under his belt. Mozart’s understanding of drama was significantly altered after the creation of these works. When comparing Tito to Idomeneo, the latter is much more courtly, more of an oratorio than an opera; nearly every aria is in full-scale da capo style, making the opera far longer than it needed to be; it says nothing except that Giambattista Varesco’s libretto to Idomeneo was hideously outdated by 1791. Even the apparently revolutionary decisions Mozart made when it came to attacca transitions did nothing to change the incredibly dull qualities of the libretto and, at times, the music. In Tito, Mozart has perfected the rondo form, allowing arias specifically reserved for Sesto and Vitellia to flow beautifully, and the da capo arias for Tito to be well-chosen, yet succinct, never rambling, which was a flaw of Idomeneo’s. Mozart must have been excited to compose an opera seria after a decade, and this music shows.

The style of this opera is much different from those of Mozart’s other late operas. It is said that in Idomeneo, people were overwhelmed by the intense orchestral accompaniments, and, to a sense, I can sympathize with this. In Idomeneo, Mozart bashes the fat libretto with an even fatter orchestra, and the result is an opera that, at times, takes itself too seriously. Here, in Tito, the orchestra is reduced, held back at times, in preference for simpler textures and orchestrations. In my view, this is definitely Mozart reacting to the neoclassical trend that was coming in vogue to Europe, not a result of any boredom or haste on Mozart’s part. Scholars are so, so contradictory when it comes to Mozart fables. They say that Mozart composed the Don Giovanni overture in a morning, and yet Mozart could not write an opera that could appease their dogmatic tastes in “18 days.”
Many people say that this is Mozart on "autopilot." I disagree. He had nothing to prove to the world with this opera, nothing to dramatically unveil to society. This doesn't mean he was on autopilot. He was simply commissioned for a royal event, he liked the revised libretto, and he wrote. He wasn't trying to be too radical in the traditional sense and connotation, and people need to realize that that is okay. Simple as that. To compare this with Giovanni or Figaro would be ridiculous. It is a coronation opera, with clearly allegorical characters for the event. However, this opera stands on its own beautifully, with amazing music, and a great Metastasio libretto, containing truly heartwarming messages of friendship, selflessness, love, and forgiveness.