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Mozart
Mitridate Re di Ponto
Yvonne Kenny
Composed when Mozart was only 14, this full length opera seria shows astonishing promise but inevitably some longeurs. The vocal requirements used to be prohibitive, but there is a new generation of singers able to cope with the technical demands and, since its first modern stage performance in Salzburg 1971, it has been seen not infrequently in recent years. Midridate, the King of Pontus, is resisting the hostile threat from Rome in the second century B C, with the usual intrigues and love conflicts. Apart from the King himself, the main characters, including Mitridate's two sons, are taken by women, Ashley Putnam and Brenda Boozer, who deport themselves well. The direction of this production is fairly perfunctory, mostly on a split level stage, with little reaction from those on stage during the lengthy da capo arias, a lot of standing around in polite attendance. Musically it is adequate or better, especially the contributions from Rockwell Blake and Yvonne Kenny, who are unfazed by the florid excesses (which long antedate the hazards for the Queen of the Night). But not really recommendable for the ordinary collector, other than to those who want everything Mozart wrote. I hanker however after a far more memorable version which sticks in the memory; seen on TV and filmed at Palladio's historic Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, which we visited many years ago. Can anyone confirm? Peter Grahame Woolf
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