Les Arts premieres Mozart's 'La clemenza di Tito' in a semi-staged version

The Palau de les Arts premieres Mozart's 'La clemenza di Tito' on Sunday, June 24, at 6:00 p.m. in the Auditori. Les Arts, which will offer a second performance on the 28th of this month, presents this work, with musical direction by Nimrod David Pfeffer, in a semi-staged version.

The cast of 'La clemenza di Tito' brings together renowned Mozartian interpreters and young artists from the latest graduating classes of the Centre Plácido Domingo. Tenor Carlo Allemano, soprano Eva Mei, and mezzo-soprano Margarita Gritskova share the stage with young professionals trained in Valencia: soprano Karen Gardeazabal, mezzo-soprano Nozomi Kato, and bass Andrea Pellegrini.

Allex Aguillera designed the stage concept for this production, a Les Arts production, with set design by Manolo Zuriaga, costumes by José María Adame, and lighting by Antonio Castro.

'La clemenza di Tito' is the last 'dramma per musica' written by the genius from Salzburg and the penultimate opera he premiered before his death. While finishing 'The Magic Flute', Mozart took on the commission for the score, which would serve as the main act of the coronation festivities of Leopold II of Austria as King of Bohemia.

On September 6, 1791, this opera seria in two acts, with an Italian libretto by Caterino Tommaso Mazzolá, based on the drama by Pietro Metastasio, premiered at the National Theatre in Prague.

The work presents the image of Titus, a Roman emperor of recognized rectitude, but clemency towards his people, even in the face of an assassination attempt against him orchestrated by Vitellia, daughter of the deposed emperor, and carried out by Sextus, a friend of the ruler, although in love with the ambitious young woman.

Established artists and rising stars

The rising maestro and renowned pianist Nimrod David Pfeffer (Tel Aviv, 1984) makes his debut with the resident ensembles of Les Arts, the Cor de la Generalitat, and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. The young conductor, currently assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and music director of the Guatemalan Lyric Opera since 2016, made his debut last February at the Israeli Opera.

Italian soprano Eva Mei takes on the role of Vitellia. A refined interpreter of Italian bel canto – Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, and Verdi – she has never stopped singing Mozart and has performed almost all of this composer's most interesting title roles.

In the last two decades she has performed in the most important opera houses around the world and has been conducted by batons such as Nicolas Harnoncourt, Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Colin Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel, Franz Welser-Möst, William Christie, Daniele Gatti, Fabio Luisi, Myung-whun Chung, Antonio Pappano and Jonathan Nott.

Carlo Allemano sings the role of Tito. The tenor's beginnings, winning prizes in competitions such as the Toti dal Monte competition in Treviso (1989) and the Mozart competition at the Vienna State Opera (1990), have allowed him to forge a solid career, with performances at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera and at festivals such as Salzburg or Glynnebourne.

He has also worked with prominent directors, including Christophe Rousset, Emmanuelle Haïm, René Jacobs, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Leopold Hager, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Marco Guidarini and Alessandro De Marchi.

The Russian mezzo-soprano Margarita Gritskova (Sesto) completes the trio of leading singers. A winner of several international competitions, she has been a soloist with the Vienna State Opera since 2012, where she has worked with artists such as Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala. She has also sung at the Salzburg Festival, the Rossini Festival in Wildbad, the opera houses of Lyon and Cologne, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.