Skilfully conveyed, expertly delivered
A rarity by the 14-year-old Mozart impresses in Tim Albery’s staging
Mozart’s Mitridate, King of Pontus, was written in 1770 for the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan – the predecessor of the modern La Scala. The composer was just 14 years old, and it was his fifth opera.
Following 22 performances in its initial season, Mitridate disappeared until 1971; but revivals over recent decades have accounted for its initial success in front of a demanding Italian public 250 years ago. Even without considering the composer’s age at the time he wrote it, the result is remarkably strong.
Mitridate is an ‘opera seria’ – a serious opera written for singers with serious techniques. Effectively, it comprises a long sequence of solo arias – most of them extremely virtuosic – with just the odd duet, plus a final chorus sung by the principals themselves. There are quite a few cuts at Garsington, but the narrative still holds together well.
The story comes from ancient history. Mitridate (135-63BC) was a king in what is now Anatolia, who put up a long and successful resistance to the predatory Romans; but the fact that his foes are unstoppable is neatly visualised in Hannah Clark’s set, where the vast wooden wall at the back of the stage moves constantly, if imperceptibly, forward – as if the characters were slowly being crushed. Having stabbed himself, Mitridate dies on stage, still fiercely opposed to the invaders.
Before his death, he reconciles with his relatives, because the drama’s other main strand is concerned with family quarrels, not only between Mitridate and his two sons, Sifare and Farnace – all three of whom want to marry Mitridate’s betrothed Aspasia – but also between the rival brothers themselves.
Expressed in Mozart’s challenging vocal writing, the high-flown drama engendered by these dynastic and personal conflicts is skilfully conveyed in Tim Albery’s spare but intense staging.
The barnstorming role of the tyrannical but heroic Mitridate is sung with utter commitment by Robert Murray – an experienced Mozart tenor who here attains the heights of tragedy. His two rival sons are expertly delivered by Louise Kemény and Iestyn Davies. In the middle is Aspasia, given dignity and detailed expression by Elizabeth Watts; Ismene – a local princess betrothed to Farnace – is equally sympathetically realised by Soraya Mafi, while John Graham-Hall makes a perfect fit for Mitridate’s loyal local governor, Arbate.
In the pit, the period-instrument musicians of the English Concert are on sterling form, their playing consistently lively and their tone of high quality: the principal horn, Ursula Paludan Monberg, is exceptional in her solo in Act II. Conducting the show is Clemens Schuldt, who shapes Mozart’s music with easy command and total sensitivity.
(Rating: 4 stars)