The Clemency of Titus by Mozart, Dg. 17 Set. 2017, De (2017/2017), Director musical Teodor Currentzis, Opera Wrocławska, Wrocław, Poland

The finale of the 52nd Wratislavia Cantans International Festival will be devoted to the work of the brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ahead of us is a unique production created in cooperation with the Wrocław Opera - a staging of the last opera of the great classic, i.e. La clemenza di Tito ( The Grace of Titus ). La clemenza di Titowas created especially for the coronation ceremony of Emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia. Mozart wrote this work in great haste - he received the commission in July 1791, and the premiere is already scheduled for September! Why did the composer decide to create a coronation opera at all? He was persuaded to do so by a certain Domenico Guardasoni, responsible for the proper celebration of the imperial ceremony. The theme of the work was chosen due to the fact that a few years earlier Leopold II had been called "the German Titus". Due to time constraints, it was decided to create a libretto based on a text by a well-known librettist and writer, Pietro Metastasio, which has already been musically adapted about forty times. Unfortunately, the opera, full of virtuoso arias, remained forgotten for years. It received its "second life" only at the end of the last century,La clemenza di Tito Mozart composed at a similar time as his most famous singspiel - The Magic Flute . And although the story of the young prince Tamino completed his opera La clemenza di Tito a little earlier , its premiere took place exactly twenty-four days after the coronation of Leopold II. During the unique final evening of the Wratislavia Cantans festival, Mozart's La clemenza di Tito will be performed by an international group of soloists, accompanied by the musicAeterna Orchestra and Choir. This interesting Russian vocal-instrumental ensemble is today one of the most sought-after ensembles among those specializing in early music. Open to challenges and unconventional projects, the artists also successfully deal with the performance of 20th century music.