It’s intermission, but for whatever reason, we’ve lost our Wifi connection, so I’ll have to write up my thoughts in Word for now and pull them over to Blogger when we’re back online.
Let me say first that this opera engaged me intellectually from the outset, even as it pulled me in musically and visually. I’m intrigued by the libretto itself, its politics – commissioned for the coronation as King of Bohemia of the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold. It makes some pretty strong statements about what is required of a truly noble leader – the opposite approach, in a way, to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro which instead condemns a ruler’s lack of nobility.
Favourite musical moments so far: Annio and Servilia’s gorgeous and touching duet which emphasizes the conflicting demands of love and duty.
And Sesto’s aria beseeching Vitellia not to turn away from him, promising he will do her bidding and destroy Tito – her voice is beautifully shadowed by the woodwinds looping along the broken-chord runs (I’m making a jump here, and relying on my ear without a script)
It looks as if the Wireless connection is back, so I’ll try to transcribe this before heading back in to take in the rest of the show. More later. . .
