Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Uwe Heilmann, Della Jones, Cecilia Bartoli, Diana Montague, Barbara Bonney
Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music
Conductor: Christopher Hogwood
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: E4441312
Release: 1995
Size: 571 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
La clemenza di Tito
CD 01
01. Overture
Act 1
02. “Ma che? sempre l’istesso”
03. “Come ti piace imponi”
04. “Amico, il passo affretta”
05. “Deh se piacer mi vuol”
06. “Amico, ecco il momento”
07. “Deh prendi un dolce amplesso”
08. Marcia
09. “Serbate, oh Dei custodi”
10. Tu della patria il Padre
11. Marcia (II)
12. “Adesso, oh Sesto, parla per me”
13. “Del più sublime soglio”
14. “Non ci pentiam”
15. “Ah perdona al primo affetto”
16. Che mi rechi in quel foglio?
17. Di Tito al piè
18. “Ah, se fosse intorno al trono”
19. Felice me!
20. Ancora mi schernisce?
21. “Parto, ma tu ben mio”
22. “Vedrai, Tito, vedrai”
23. “Vengo… aspettate… Sesto!…”
24. “Oh Dei, che smania è questa”
25. Dei conservate, oh Dei
CD 02
Act 2
01. “Sesto, come tu credi”
02. “Torna di Tito a lato”
03. “Partir deggio, o restar?” – “Sesto! – Che chiedi?”
04. Sesto!…Che chiedi?
05. “Se al volto mai ti senti”
06. “Ah grazie si rendano”
07. “Già de’ pubblici giuochi”
08. “Tardi s’avvede”
09. “No, così scellerato”
10. “Tu fosti tradito”
11. Che orror! che tradimento!
12. Ma, Publio, ancora Sesto non viene?
13. “Quello di Tito è il volto!”
14. E pur mi fa pietà
15. “Deh per questo istante solo”
16. “Dove s’intese mai più contumace infedeltà?” – “Publio. – Cesare.”
17. Publio!…Cesare!
18. “Se all’impero”
19. Publio, ascolta!
20. “Non giova lusingarsi”
21. “S’altro che lagrime”
22. “Ecco il punto, oh Vitellia” – “Non più di fiori”
23. “Non più di fiori”
24. “Che del ciel, che degli Dei”
25. Pria che principio
26. “Sesto, de’ tuoi delitti”
27. “Ma che giorno è mai questo?”
28. “Tu, è ver, m’assolvi, Augusto”
Hogwood has assembled a remarkable cast, with certainly two, perhaps three, outstanding inter- pretations. First among them must be Cecilia Bartoli, who rightly establishes Sextus as the central character, the one whose actions and whose feelings are the focal point of the drama. The opening number is the duet ‘Come ti piace, imponi’, where the firm and pure sound of Bartoli’s voice, in contrast with the contained hysteria of Vitellia’s, at once defines the opera’s basis. It’s clear from her singing that she reads Sextus, for all his weakness in giving way to Vitellia, as a man of integrity, one of the noblest Romans of them all.
Then there’s Della Jones’s remarkable Vitellia.There are lots of interesting and emotionally suggestive touches in her singing; her rich bottom register is magnificent and the top Bs have no fears for her. Uwe Heilmann’s Titus is marked by much subtle and finely shaped singing and a keen awareness of how phrasing conveys sense. Occasionally the tone is inclined to be nasal, but that doesn’t interfere with a very sympathetic and often moving reading. Hogwood’s keen awareness of what, expressively speaking, is going on in the music, and his refusal to be tied to a rigid rhythmic pulse in order to make it manifest, is one of the strengths of this recording. The recitatives are sung with a great deal of life and awareness of meaning, not simply gabbled at maximum speed. These aren’t Mozart’s own work, and are usually heavily cut.
While some may feel that the inclusion of every note is an advantage to the opera, others may not unreasonably take the opposite view. At any rate, the discs’ tracking is arranged so that a new track begins for each aria, which enables listeners to make their own cuts without difficulty.