Reviewed by James Karas
Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is a city of fewer than one hundred thousand residents, that has a rich and civilized ambience and a lively cultural life. Pacific Opera Victoria produces three operas per season and they are given four performances each. With the Victoria Symphony providing the music in the lovely 1400-seat Royal Theatre that represents a highly commendable cultural achievement.
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, Portman’s The Little Prince and Verdi’s Rigoletto are the operas offered in October 2024, February and April 2025 respectively. Judicious choices.
La Clemenza was put together in 1791 by an ill and broke Mozart. He accepted the commission to write an opera for the coronation of a king of Bohemia while he was working on the Magic Flute and La Clemenza may be described as a quickie. New York’s Metropolitan Opera did not produce it until 1984 and that should give you a good idea of its popularity.
Pacific Opera Victoria gives the work a redoubtable production sung by an all-Canadian cast that has many virtues including and especially being thoroughly enjoyable. The opera has six characters, four male and two female but in keeping with 18th century practices two of the men’s roles are sung by women. Remember the castrati?
As Tito, tenor Andrew Haji gives a commendable performance as an emperor who wants to be decent even in the face of treachery and attempted assassination by a friend. The much-buffeted man rises above treachery and espouses virtue especially in his signature aria “Se all'impero, amici Dei.” Haji is imperious and tender as he expresses his credo that if he cannot be decent, he does not want the empire. A convincing performance in general and of the tough aria.
Vitellia is a central role in the opera by being evil and bitchy. She is the daughter of the late Emperor Vitellius who was deposed by Tito’s father and she wants the throne. She orders her lover and Tito’s friend Sesto to assassinate Tito because he will not marry her. Then she finds out that Tito has dumped his prospective wife and calls the assassination off and then reinstates it. Soprano Tracy Cantin with wonderful intonations and conviction gets her way as Vitellia. When she sings “Deh, se piacer mi vuoi” (If you want to please me”) she is not thinking of the first thing that may come to your mind. And when she tells her lover “Non piu di fiori” (No more flowers) she is not worried about the cost of roses. She wants murder and Cantin gives a wonderful performance.
Mezzo soprano Taylor Raven sings the role of the hapless Sesto, a friend of Tito (whom he agrees to assassinate) and in love with the wonderful Vitellia! His aria “Parto, parto” (I’m going, I’m going) gives a clue to his character that Raven sings well. But Raven reaches the pinnacle as Sesto in the beautiful aria “Deh, per questo istante solo” (Ah, for this single moment) where he begs Tito for forgiveness. Raven sings gorgeously and melts Tito into clemency under difficult circumstances. It is perhaps the most beautiful and moving aria in the opera done superbly.
Soprano Reilly Nelson puts on pants and lends her lovely voice to Annio who is a friend of Sesto and in love with his sister Servilia. But when Tito says he wants her for his wife, he steps back nobly. Again, a well-sung performance. Servilia is the nice but brave woman who tells Tito who wants to marry her that she is already spoken for, he backs off. Well done as singer and character. Bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus plays Publio, the Captain of the Praetorian Guard, with relatively little to do but Mozart does not deprive him of an opportunity to sing. “Tardi s’avvede d’un tradimento” (He is late to notice betrayal) describes Tito as an honorable man who believes people are incapable of disloyalty. Hegedus sings with beautiful sonority and with no rancor after he arrests Sesto.
High praise for conductor Giuseppe Petraroia and the Victoria Symphony. The Chorus did not seem that successful on occasion. Too much movement on and off the stage?
Director Jennifer Tarver did superb work with an opera that sometimes seems stitched together. Tarver kept it going well. Set and Costume Designer Camellia Koo did superb job with a single set of two yellow circles above and something similar below. But the costumes left me scratching my head. We have women in pants roles. Fine. But Vitellia is a woman played by a woman. Why is she wearing pants? With the other women, we know they are women but why not let us pretend they are men. Emphasizing their chests is not the way. It is a small point but worth making.
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La Clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (music) and libretto by Pietro Metastasio revised by Caterino Mazzola opened on October 16 and will play until October 20 at the Royal Theatre, Victoria B.C. For more information: www.pacificopera.ca
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