Mozart: La clemenza di Tito ***
Glyndebourne, 26th July 2017
A single magpie settles on a branch beside a lake. Two boys stalk through the long reeds. The older one hands the younger, fair-haired lad a slingshot and watches as he takes aim, aghast when the stone hits its mark and the magpie thuds to the ground. Using video projections in his new Glyndebourne production, Claus Guth fleshes out the backstory between Tito and Sesto, so we understand the sovereign’s inevitable act of forgiveness – the opera’s title La clemenza di Titorather gives away the denouement – when the emperor spares Sesto’s life after surviving an assassination attempt.
Richard Croft (Tito) and Anna Stéphany (Sesto)
© Monika Rittershaus
Read the full review on Bachtrack.