Premiered not very successfully, in Prague on September 6th 1791, La Clemenza di Tito had turned into a considerable triumph within a month and was the first Mozart opera to be heard in London in 1806. The opera celebrates one man’s wisdom and regal benevolence and his struggle to maintain clemency no matter what the provocation. Vitellia, daughter of the deposed Emperor, believes the title of Empress to be hers by right of birth. Despite her love for Tito she seeks revenge when he plans to marry another. A dreadful conspiracy begins to unfold where passion overrides loyalty, and integrity is tested to the extreme. For his last opera, written for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia in 1791, Mozart used a formal opera seria libretto, but at its heart are intimate scenes of intense emotional conflicts.
