Mozart's opera seria

[False_Dmitry]

For perfectly understandable reasons (they are landmark works, after all!) Mozart's later operas and Singspiels tend to monopolise the attentions of opera-houses and recording labels.

But what about his earlier operas?  I don't mean the juvenilia here but pieces like ASCANIO IN ALBA, SOGNO DI SCIPIONE, IDOMENEO, LUCIO SILLA and so forth.. even IDOMENEO.

Do these pieces have any fans - and what do you enjoy in them?  Are they genuinely worthwhile pieces - or are they simply recorded/staged because they happen to be by the composer of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO and THE MAGIC FLUTE?

[Tsaraslondon]

Of the early operas, the only one I have seen is Mitridate. To be honest, I felt there were only flashes of true Mozartian inspiration, and found myself wondering what Handel would have made of it.
Idomeneo is another matter of course. Here Mozart is able to breathe new life into a genre that was coming to the end of its days. The score positively brims with glorious arias. And let's not forget Mozart's late foray into the world of opera seria, with La Clemenza di Tito, for long thought of as an inferior effort by the composer, but which went through something of a rehabilitation in the latter part of the last century.

[knight66]

Tsaraslondon basically speaks for me with respect to both the major operas he specifies. I don't knowthe others listed and don't really know why I have ignored them. Perhaps some advocacy would encourage me.

Mike

[False_Dmitry]

I'm pleased to hear some support for TITO, although I confess I find it almost unstageable nowadays.  What about the castrato roles in these operas - tenors, or female sopranos?

[Tsaraslondon]

I'm pleased to hear some support for TITO, although I confess I find it almost unstageable nowadays.  What about the castrato roles in these operas - tenors, or female sopranos?

Mozart himself rewrote the role of Idamante in Idomeneo, originally a soprano castrato, for the tenor voice, though most commentators tend to prefer the original soprano keys. As far as I know, Sesto, in La Clemenza di Tito, also written for a castrato, has subsequently always been played by a mezzo soprano.

[kishnevi]

Other than scattered arias on individual singer CDs, I don't think I've ever heard any Mozart opera earlier than Entfuhrung.  And it's only been in the last two years that I've heard Idomeneo and Tito,  through the medium of the Jacobs recordings.   I probably heard a broadcast of the Met's Idomeneo that featured Pavarotti, but nothing sticks in my memory in that regard.

I'd say those two, at least, are at least as musically good as any of the Da Ponte trilogy (in fact, I prefer them to Cosi), but they suffer from what at first glance seems contrived, or at least mechanically handled, plots, and limited or almost non existent ensembles--there's nothing, for instance, that really matches the ensemble scenes in Figaro or Don Giovanni, in which the characters interact and play off of each other.    I think that  is a more serious hindrance to modern audiences than the male characters sing by females.

[False_Dmitry]

contrived, or at least mechanically handled, plots, and limited or almost non existent ensembles--there's nothing, for instance, that really matches the ensemble scenes in Figaro or Don Giovanni, in which the characters interact and play off of each other.    I think that  is a more serious hindrance to modern audiences than the male characters sing by females.

Yes, that was an inheritance of the opera seria "star system" - but perversely it was driven by audiences!  In a three-act opera it was expected that the "a-grade stars" (the primo uomo and prima donna) would have a substantial solo aria in each of the three acts, in addition to perhaps a more strophic song or an arietta or two.  The subsidiary characters would have one less, maybe some bass ("the father" etc) would have just one aria in the entire opera ("I am so happy/sad for my dear daughter/son" etc), and the servants had nothing.  In a comic opera, the servants had arias.  But the system didn't allow for ensembles!  In fact I can't think of any trio (in which the parts are truly equal) earlier than "Non e' amor" in Handel's ALCINA - and Handel didn't repeat the experiment!

Are there substantial ensembles in any of Gluck's opera seria?  I don't know many of those works well.

[zamyrabyrd]

On Saturday I was coming back from a long drive and had the classical station on the radio in the car. Recognizing that music should be Mozart I could not place it, being captivated by its elegance and beautiful singing. Eventually the announcer said it was Idomeneo and upon further investigation found that it was recorded by the English Baroque Soloists.

For a youth of 24, Mozart showed he was a virtuoso composer writing for virtuosi. The purity of tone by the singers was a delight. It was nice being such a captive audience as I am not sure if I would have found any other time these days to listen to the whole opera.

ZB

[kishnevi]

Are there substantial ensembles in any of Gluck's opera seria?  I don't know many of those works well.

The only Gluck I have is Orphee et Eurydice.  In the Third Act there is a duet between Orpheus and Eurydice, and the next to the last scene ends with a trio in which Amor sings along with the now-finally reunited husband and wife.   And there is also the scene at the start of Act II in which Orpheus confronts the demons and other spirits who guard the approaches to the Underworld, Orpheus and the chorus singing in alternation to each other (except of course when we have the Dance of the Infernal Spirits).

[False_Dmitry]

Gluck is usually referred to as the man who "reformed" opera seria, of course.  Yet the result was that the form effectively petered-out, and had no real descendants.

[Gabriel]

For perfectly understandable reasons (they are landmark works, after all!) Mozart's later operas and Singspiels tend to monopolise the attentions of opera-houses and recording labels.

But what about his earlier operas?  I don't mean the juvenilia here but pieces like ASCANIO IN ALBA, SOGNO DI SCIPIONE, IDOMENEO, LUCIO SILLA and so forth.. even IDOMENEO.

Do these pieces have any fans - and what do you enjoy in them?  Are they genuinely worthwhile pieces - or are they simply recorded/staged because they happen to be by the composer of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO and THE MAGIC FLUTE?

Anyway, I would rank Ascanio in Alba, Il sogno di Scipione and Lucio Silla among the juvenilia. The mature Mozart opera composer begins with Die Entführung and Idomeneo.

I think that among his opere serie, there are two masterworks, Idomeneo and La clemenza di Tito, while the two others, Mitridate and Lucio Silla are of considerable interest.

I have always had problems for listening non-stop to Ascanio in Alba and Il sogno di Scipione. They do not have the dramatic intentions of an opera seria (one is a "Festspiel", the other is a "Serenata"). On the other hand, exploration of some of their arias can prove satisfying (but do not expect to find Mozart at his best).