Mozart: Mitridate, rè di Ponto (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1993)

Product Description

An opera series in three acts: by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A spectacular Royal Opera performance of Mozart's great operatic work, starring Bruce Ford in the title role. Sung in Italian, Subtitled in English.
Cast - Arbate, Governor of Nymphaea - Jacquelyn Fugelle
Sifare, Mitridate's younger son - Ann Murraye
Aspasia, betrothed to Mitridate - Luba Orgonasovae
Farnace, Mitridate's elder son - Jochen Kowalskie
Marzio, Roman Tribune - Justin Lavendere
Mitridate, King of Pontus - Bruce Forde
Ismene, daughter of the King of Parthia - Lillian Watson

Amazon.com

This opera seria was written when Mozart was 14 years old. The style was already old-fashioned (it had been used for more than a century), but Mozart's music, though not comparable to his mature operas, has a freshness, vitality, and spontaneity that transcend the rigid, traditional forms and conventions. The Covent Garden cast sings beautifully, give or take a few pinched high notes (not unusual in a live performance), and the primary question posed by this production is whether or not you can accept the minimal sets and lavishly exotic (vaguely oriental) makeup and costumes. The plot is absurd, but we take that for granted.
Historically, Mithridates was the ruler of a kingdom in the Middle East that was a serious military threat to Rome in the first century B.C.--a fact that has little to do with the plot (two sons struggling for the love of their father's fiancée). Lovely music triumphs over twisted plot and weird visuals. --Joe McLellan, ISBN13: B0000640T5 ISBN10: B0000640T5 Material Type: dvd