Organization

Garsington Opera

Set designer

Hannah Clark

Lighting designer

Malcolm Rippeth

Singer

Tenor

Robert Murray

Mitridate

Soprano

Elizabeth Watts

Aspasia

Countertenor

Iestyn Davies

Farnace

Soraya Mafi

Ismene

John Graham-Hall

Arbate

Joshua Owen Mills

Marzio

Conductor

Clemens Schuldt

Stage director

Tim Albery

Louise Kemény

Sifare

Orchestra

The English Concert

Italian

Mitridate, re di Ponto, K. 87

Buckinghamshire

United Kingdom

Mitridate, re di Ponto

Public

English

Approved

Mitridate, re di Ponto, K. 87 Mozart

Mitridate, the warrior king of Pontus, and his two sons Farnace and Sifare, are all in love with the same woman, Aspasia, resulting in a complex web of rivalry, jealousy, aggression and pent-up passion.

Astonishingly, Mozart was only 14 years old when he wrote Mitridate, and he had to contend with the opinions of many who were highly sceptical about his abilities, writing and rewriting arias furiously, almost up to the time of the brilliantly successful premiere in Milan.

With the audacity of extreme youth Mozart grabbed the opportunity to show off his precocious skills, composing the most dazzling and bravura music to showcase his singers’ vocal abilities, and alternating the fireworks with passages of exquisitely tender melancholy. Extreme emotions of love, rage and betrayal are displayed in enormously demanding arias, ignited by frenetic energy and lit up by explosions of thrilling top notes.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble