Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This is an opera seria, the same kind of opera composed by Handel a half-century earlier and many others in the century before him. It was already very old-fashioned when Mozart took it up (on a royal commission, an offer he couldn't refuse), finishing it only a few months before his death. The plot is creaky: Vitellia, angry that Tito (the Emperor Titus) plans to marry another woman, coaxes Sesto (who is hopelessly in love with her) to assassinate Tito. While the plot inches forward (Sesto is very reluctant--Tito is such a good guy), Tito changes his mind and decides to marry Vitellia, who tries, unsuccessfully, to call the assassination off. Tito is stabbed but survives and forgives everybody. There are subplots. This unlikely story inspired some of the greatest music Mozart ever composed--music that breathed new life into the rickety opera seria form. Christopher Hogwood has assembled a superb array of specialists to perform with his period-instrument orchestra and do this underappreciated opera musical and stylistic justice. --Joe McLellan

Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood, Music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christopher Hogwood, Cecilia Bartoli, Della Jones, Uwe Heilmann, Gilles Cachemaille, Diana Montague, Barbara Bonney, The Academy of Ancient Music, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, German/Austrian Classical Period Opera, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio
Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • A formidable advocacy of La Cemenza di Tito
  • Una 'Clemenza' muy interesante
  • My favorite Tito
  • A self-contained but beautiful disc with nicest Della Jones
  • Pity about Bartoli
 Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Christopher Hogwood , Cecilia Bartoli , Della Jones , Uwe Heilmann , Gilles Cachemaille , Diana Montague , Barbara Bonney , and The Academy of Ancient Music
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAll Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
Academy of Ancient MusicAcademy of Ancient Music | ( A ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Hogwood, ChristopherHogwood, Christopher | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
All Works Featuring BartoliAll Works Featuring Bartoli | Bartoli, Cecilia | A to B | Featured Performers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Classical (c.1770-1830)Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances
GermanGerman | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Bartoli, CeciliaBartoli, Cecilia | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Bonney, BarbaraBonney, Barbara | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
The Decca Records StoreThe Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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ASIN: B000004CYG
Release Date: 1995-03-14

Tracks:

  1. Ov - Acad of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood
  2. Atto Primo: Scena 1: Recitativo: Ma che? Sempre l'istesso, Sesto - Della Jones
  3. Atto Primo: Scena 1: Duetto: Come ti piace, imponi - Cecilia Bartoli/Della Jones
  4. Atto Primo: Scena 1: Recitativo: Amico, il passo affretta - Diana Montague
  5. Atto Primo: Scena 1: Aria: Deh, se piacer mi vuoi - Della Jones
  6. Atto Primo: Scena 1: Recitativo: Amico, ecco il momento - Diana Montague
  7. Atto Primo: Scena 1: Duettino: Deh, prendi un dolce amplesso - Cecilia Bartoli/Diana Montague
  8. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Marcia - Acad of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood
  9. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Coro: Serbate, o Dei custodi - Acad of Ancient Music Chor/Christopher Hogwood
  10. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Tu della patria il Padre - Gilles Cachemaille
  11. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Marcia - Acad of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood
  12. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Adesso, o Sesto, parla per me - Diana Montague
  13. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Aria: Del piu sublime soglio - Uwe Heilmann
  14. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Non ci pentiam - Diana Montague
  15. Atto Primo: Scena 2: Duettino: Ah, perdona al primo affetto - Diana Montague/Barbara Bonney
  16. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Che mi rechi in quel foglio? - Uwe Heilmann
  17. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Di Tito al pie - Barbara Bonney
  18. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Aria: Ah, se fosse intorno al trono - Uwe Heilmann
  19. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Felice me! - Barbara Bonney
  20. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Ancora mi schernisce? - Della Jones
  21. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Aria: Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio - Cecilia Bartoli/Lesley Schatzberger
  22. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Vedrai, Tito, vedrai che alfin - Della Jones
  23. Atto Primo: Scena 3: Terzetto: Vengo! Aspettate! - Della Jones/Gilles Cachemaille/Diana Montague
  24. Atto Primo: Scena 4: Recitativo accompagnato: O Dei, che smania e questa - Cecilia Baroli
  25. Atto Primo: Scena 4: Quintetto con coro: Deh conservate, o Dei - Cecilia Bartoli/Diana Montague/Gilles Cachemaille/Della Jones/Acad Ancient Music Chor

Tracks:

  1. Atto Secondo: Scena 1: Recitativo: Sesto, come tu credi - Diana Montague
  2. Atto Secondo: Scena 1: Aria: Torna di Tito a lato - Diana Montague
  3. Atto Secondo: Scena 1: Recitativo: Partir degg'io, o restar? - Cecilia Bartoli
  4. Atto Secondo: Scena 1: Recitativo: Sesto!...Che chiedi? - Gilles Cachemaille/Cecilia Bartoli
  5. Atto Secondo: Scena 1: Terzetto: Se al volto mai ti senti - Cecilia Bartoli/Della Jones/Gilles Cachemaille
  6. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Coro: Ah, grazie si rendano - Acad Ancient Music Chor/Christopher Hogwood
  7. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Gia de' pubblici giuochi - Gilles Cachemaille
  8. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Aria: Tardi s'avvede d'un tradimento - Gilles Cachemaille
  9. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: No, cosi scellerato - Uwe Heilmann
  10. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Aria: Tu fosti tradito - Diana Montague
  11. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo accompagnato: Che orror! che tradimento! - Uwe Heilmann
  12. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Ma, Publio, ancora Sesto non viene? - Uwe Heilmann
  13. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Terzetto: (Quello di Tito e il volto?...) - Cecilia Bartoli/Uwe Heilmann/Gilles Cachemaille
  14. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: (E pur mi fa pieta.) - Uwe Heilmann
  15. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Rondo: Deh, per questo istante solo - Cecilia Bartoli
  16. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Ove s'intese mai - Uwe Heilmann
  17. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Publio!...Cesare! - Uwe Heilmann/Gilles Cachemaille
  18. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Aria: Se all'impero, amici Dei - Uwe Heilmann
  19. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Publio, ascolta! - Della Jones
  20. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo: Non giova lusingarsi - Della Jones
  21. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Aria: S'altro che lacrime - Barbara Bonney
  22. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Recitativo accompagnato: Ecco il punto, o Vitellia - Della Jones
  23. Atto Secondo: Scena 2: Rondo: Non piu di fiori vaghe catene - Della Jones/Lesley Schatzberger
  24. Atto Secondo: Scena 3: Coro: Che del ciel, che degli Dei - Acad Ancient Music Chor/Christopher Hogwood
  25. Atto Secondo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Pria che principio - Uwe Heilmann
  26. Atto Secondo: Scena 3: Recitativo: Sesto, de' tuoi delitti - Uwe Heilmann
  27. Atto Secondo: Scena 3: Recitativo accompagnato: Ma che giorno e mai questo? - Uwe Heilmann
  28. Atto Secondo: Scena 3: Sestetto con coro: Tu, e ver, m'assolvi, Augusto - Cecilia Bartoli/Uwe Heilmann/Barbara Bonney/Della Jones/Diana Montague/Gilles Cachemaille...

Amazon.com essential recording

This is an opera seria, the same kind of opera composed by Handel a half-century earlier and many others in the century before him. It was already very old-fashioned when Mozart took it up (on a royal commission, an offer he couldn't refuse), finishing it only a few months before his death. The plot is creaky: Vitellia, angry that Tito (the Emperor Titus) plans to marry another woman, coaxes Sesto (who is hopelessly in love with her) to assassinate Tito. While the plot inches forward (Sesto is very reluctant--Tito is such a good guy), Tito changes his mind and decides to marry Vitellia, who tries, unsuccessfully, to call the assassination off. Tito is stabbed but survives and forgives everybody. There are subplots. This unlikely story inspired some of the greatest music Mozart ever composed--music that breathed new life into the rickety opera seria form. Christopher Hogwood has assembled a superb array of specialists to perform with his period-instrument orchestra and do this underappreciated opera musical and stylistic justice. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A formidable advocacy of La Cemenza di Tito.......2006-09-09

I bought this recording nearly a decade ago and it still excites me.

Back in 1992 I worked in a music shop in Melbourne. I remember a young man I worked with, John, telling me that he thought La Clemenza di Tito was a retrograde step for Mozart. John thought is was too much of a step back into the world of the Baroque, what with its Opera Seria stylings, castrati and Metastasio libretto.

Well, I am a lover of Baroque opera, so I wasn't put off at all.

Right from the first moments of the overture of this recording, it is apparent that this is very much an "alive" and vibrant recording. The Academy of Ancient Music is in excellent form on this recording and the soloist are also well chosen and engaged with the whole enterprise of bringing about a fresh and HIP approach to this often neglected work.

Tenor, Uwe Heilman, makes a rather gentle Tito. His voice has a rather fragile and vulnerable quality to it. Perhaps a little too much vibrato here and there, but his actual sound is rather nice.
Cecilia Bartoli is excellent for and her Sesto is powerful and lively. Barbara Bonney impressed me, too, but then, she usually does. The rest of the cast is very good. The chorus sings with great effect.

Christopher Hogwood is one of those conductors who does like to let the music and the musicians live together in harmony and he seems to like to impose as little on what the composer wrote as possible. Of course, there is a very sound and rational interpretation of the work going on in this recording, but Hogwood does not try to make this a "HOGWOOD-first, Mozart (second)" recording. Alas, some conductors, like René Jacobs for instance, seem to see themselves as being more important than the composer, the music and the even the musicians.

I bought this recording in 1995 or '96, I can't quite remember, and I listened to it endlessly in my car, at home and at my parents' place over a cool glass of wine or three with my mother and father. Good times!

I have never felt tempted to buy another recording (I have multiple recordings of ALL the other major Mozart operas).

4 out of 5 stars Una 'Clemenza' muy interesante.......2005-01-04

Esta es una muy interesante versión de 'La Clemenza di Tito'. En el buen reparto reunido brilla con luz propia el sensacional Sesto de la mezzosoprano CECILIA BARTOLI, que a un canto bellisimo une una identificacion total con el conflicto de su travestido personaje. Tambien es de agradecer el gran Tito de UWE HEILMANN, poco autoritario pero de bella voz y experto mozartiano.
La pareja Annio-Servilia es un verdadero lujo en las voces de dos cantantes acostumbradas a roles de mayor enjundia y familiarizadisimas con el estilo mozartiano: La mezzosoprano DIANA MONTAGUE (que ya ha grabado Sesto en dvd y vhs años atras) y la exquisita soprano BARBARA BONNEY. Insuperables ambas.
El bajo GILLES CACHEMAILLE es un muy estimable Publio, sin problemas en su breve papel.
Menos entusiasmo que todos los anteriores causa DELLA JONES en el temible rol de Vitelia (2 octavas y media de extension): los extremos de la tesitura se resienten en varias ocasiones, aunque la intencion dramatica es de calidad.
La ACADEMY OF THE ANCIENT MUSIC responde bien a la correcta direccion de CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD: poco imaginativa en las arias y conjuntos pero de gran calidad en los recitativos.

5 out of 5 stars My favorite Tito.......2003-01-01

I love this cd set. Sesto is a great role for Bartoli. Della Jones as Vitellia has the most interesting voice - the middle is a teeny bit mushy, yet the top is a strong bell-tone, and the bottom is a gritty chest tone. I just love her. Her coloratura is wonderful. (BTW, this is not the same Della Jones that is a mezzo and had a big career in the UK. I don't know anything about this singer except that this is a soprano and NOT the more famous mezzo.) Diana Montague sings Annio and she has one of the sweetest mezzos around. Barbara Bonney as Servilia is as good as one would expect which is impeccable. I am not a huge fan of the light, bell-toned voice, but a great singer like Bonney can make you a believer either way. Cachemaille has a nice, smooth bass-baritone sound and Heilmann as Tito is a delight. His extremely lyric voice has sharp focus and beautiful tone and his coloratura is dead on. Maybe there are more dramatic Titos out there, but I have tried many and this is still my favorite.

Additional(03/02/07): Another Amazon customer comments here that it really is the same Della Jones as the mezzo - fascinating - she sounds way different but great nonetheless.

4 out of 5 stars A self-contained but beautiful disc with nicest Della Jones.......2001-08-16

La Clemenza di Tito is, according to James Levine, "a neglected masterpiece". It has a perfect balance between grand political drama and intimate conflict and Mozart music is at its most inspired. Thanks to XIXth century lack of interest, this opera was left untouched by the abuse of the Romantics and, since its first big studio performance, the Kertesz on Decca, it has had a good luck. Although Hogwood has been recording opera for a while, it has never been a world quite comfortable for him. It never quite takes life - although it usually has to do with exquisite sounds. This recording is no exception, the big confusion in the end of act I sounds quite peaceful, with the choral outbursts sounding like polite "ah!" sung by the choir members. Act II finale lacks grandeur too and much of the dramatic atmosphere is left for the singers to create by themselves. Thank God, the cast is very very nice! The main character of this opera is, of course, Vitellia, one of the most difficult parts to cast, with the extravagant range of low g to top d, written especially for one of Mozart's favourite sopranos, Josefa Duscek. In my opinion, the role has never been better sung than by Della Jones. She has the best top and low notes in the role and is ready to give 100% energy to Vitellia's burst of fury - not to mention that her coloratura, beautifully sung within the limits of legato, is astonishing. She also embellishes beautifully her arias. It is hard for every other singer to shine whenever she is on the scene, but Uwe Heilman, because of his pleasant natural tone, flexibility and good taste almost does that. He is one of the most accomplished Titos in the discography and sings the incredibly difficult Se all'impero with admirable ease. Cecilia Bartoli as Sesto provides what lacks a bit in the other singers here - vivid recitatives. Of course, she is helped by the fact of being Italian, but also, she gives real meaning to her lines. Of course, she sings with good taste and has good divisions for her florid lines, but she is not quite sparkling here. As a matter of fact, her voice is a bit unfocused and, whenever she is duetting with Jones, we almost only hear Jones' brighter tones. Anyway, Sesto is not quite a self assured man and Bartoli portrays very well his inner conflicts. Barbara Bonney decided that, in this recording, she should sound pretty all the way. And she does that wonderfully - but, since one gets used to Lucia Popp's extra emotional weight, one gets a bit more demanding about this role. Cachemaille is a pleasant Publio. The recording is excellent, the orchestra is very nice, the choir is precise but quite phlegmatic and there is a fortepiano for the recitatives. This set doesn't get five stars, because of the undramatic conducting, but I would gladly keep in my collection because of the nicest cast. I still prefer both Harnoncourt strongly conducted performance, where - alas - only Popp offers a really interesting performance (although Ann Murray is quite compelling too) and Gardiner, where the cast is outstanding.

2 out of 5 stars Pity about Bartoli.......1999-12-16

After hearing Cecilia Bartoli's excellent recording of Mozart's Mitridate Re di Ponto conducted by Christophe Roussett, I can only wish he had been available for this recording. Hogwood can be a very ordinary and boring conductor, this is certainly not his worst recording, but he hardly does justice to this great Mozart opera. Even worse is Della Jones, what a hideous voice!. The german tenor is fine, and Bartoli almost saves the show, what a pity about her colleagues. I also prefer the Gardiner recording, Sir John is not only a competent conductor, but a great one, his live recording is very exciting, and extremely well played. His cast surpasses Hogwood's by far, quite simply there is no contest between Ms. Fischer-Dieskau and Della Jones as Vittelia, Anthony Rolfe Johnson is more commanding than Uwe Heilmann and has a sweeter voice. Between Bartoli and Von Otter it is more difficult to choose, both are extraordinary mozarteans. But all Mozart operas are ensemble operas, and all around Gardiner wins hands down

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