The Glyndebourne “Tito” (2017) Liveblogging Thread

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Welcome to the White Shirt live comment thread for Mozart’s “Clemenza di Tito” from Glyndebourne (2017), conducted by Robin Ticciati and staged by Claus Guth.

Cast List:

Tito – Richard Croft
Vitellia – Alice Coote
Sesto – Anna Stéphany
Annio – Michèle Losier
Servilia – Joélle Harvey
Publio – Clive Bayley

Libretto: English (html) Italian (pdf).

871 thoughts on “The Glyndebourne “Tito” (2017) Liveblogging Thread”

          1. I didn’t catch that as clearlly – read it more as “big brother taking you on your first hunt” (and teaching you to disrepect the wildlife, and life at large). If it is not that, it would be more of an evil Sesto?

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            1. That wouldn’t work with goodnatured Tito, though I guess you can say he learned to be good later. Bad Sesto being helped by good Tito works better as a whole.

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        2. still thinking about the bird killing scene, to me, Tito seemed the softer of the two boys as well, with Sesto crossing a border with the killing, still it does not make him genuinely bad in my opinion, just more prone to behaving uncontrolled? But in general, I find Sesto very hard to interpret (the murder), because it is an enormous crime that after all has been planned ahead to a certain point, so cannot be put down to ‘loosing ones head over the passion to Vitellia’. And maybe it makes more sense in a historical context, but since the Tito/Sesto friendship is given much emphasis, it’ still very hard for me to make sense of.

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          1. good point, getting out of control. I guess there is only so much logic one can expect from an opera libretto 😉 though, to be fair, partners have been known to get their lovers to kill the spouse, even when previously the lover and the spouse were in good terms… I always thought Sesto has some unspecified dissatisfaction with the system/Tito (as leader), so he starts talking seriously to Lentulo about the insurrection when Vitellia fans his doubts with her desire for vengeance.

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  14. Dehggi, I was wondering about what you wrote that there was something wrong with Sesto because he killed the bird, but maybe it depends on the historical time the scene takes place in whether it would be pathological brutality or more or less normal boys behaviour?

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            16. He’s doing pretty well for himself, though – inner circle of the emperor, marrying sister of emperor’s husband…

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            1. yeah. shooting spiders in particular. they were huge, size of your entire hand (but non poisonuos. all the same, scarry! ) and they always parked on corner with ceilings, way too high to reach (not that we would brave coming any closer)

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            3. That they are. Perhaps even goodie-two-shoes Tito, who is not as goodie-two-shoes here.

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        1. well, boots. The rest is attitude.

          – oh, the badger is back, now in nerd glasses (Servilia should really question her proclivities)

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  25. why isn’t Coote singing more Mozart?! (okay, Mozart has written too few scheming villainesses in mezzo range, but I mean other than that…)

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            2. i have audio with JDD, not audio w/ Garanca! (and want video with Garanca! no care about Garanca really.. but want video nonetheless (gosh this last word is so difficult to spell, makes no sense with the tongue stuck in middle of non and less.. )

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  31. mezzo duetting in the vein of “oh, the woes of bourgeois patriarchy! We can not touch when we sing about loving each other! And we are so stunted that evil women will manipulate us to be the downfall of our society! Alas! How does my hair look, btw?”

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        1. probably that old Macbeth addage: unless it involves unhealthy violence, murder, and hierarchies, it doesn’t count as truly MANLY feelings.

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  38. While I’m enjoying Croft, I wonder how the Sesto-Annio-Tito-Publio dynamic would have been with the younger Tito originally cast (who left due to artistic differences). The Tito-Sesto dynamic would have matched the projections better, at any rate.

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    1. wait, who was originally cast?
      (still waiting for a Tito to go there… but I think Dehggi already said that)

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          1. but he isn’t THAT much younger, is her? But the whole violence/hierarchic emotional abuse angle would have been interesting on someone whose presence is more gentle as default.

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  41. Annio speaking in favour of the marriage does not make much sense with Tito being so very mild and friendly, I suppose it is usually because he fears they will be found out and she may suffer for it?

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      1. Ok, yes, probably he is displayed like that here. But this was a point I liked better in the Salzburg production, where he had to react like this to keep Servillia from Tito’s uncontrolled anger (have made it through act I by now)

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            4. i dont know, must admit i dont know her work very well! and actually dont have her Nerone. but recall the moment i heard her Nerone clip i knew her singing works great for me…

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            5. I should have that one in the archives – I remember screening through for the 12 WS of Christmas last year.

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            6. What I have is actually the proper DVD edition – I’ll put it onto the list of travel file editions. Vologeso is up next!

              >

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  43. The double-breasted isn’t doing Annio much favor. But in a close-up, I think I once dated someone who dated someone who looked just like this. Ah, the power suits of the 90s.

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  45. Lest we forget about the violence angle, look how SUBTLY the magpie comes back *Eyeroll*

    As long as Croft keeps singing like this, I’d buy even a used car from him.

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    1. sigh. Yes.
      but the singing really is lovely.

      (Tito overhearing that ANOTHER woman wants to leave him kind of kills the latter build up to the aria?)

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      2. right, this must be Harvey!
        Would have fit right in with great hair TM

        (though I’m kind of glad we had hippie Bevan vibes to go with Prina’s Polinesso – such a great match)

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          2. Harvey is playing Cleopatra in Glyndebourne’s Giulio Cesare next year, which will be… I have no idea, actually. Quite different from DeNiese if she’s actually as reserved as she seems here?

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    1. yep, he’s not really that convincing with the ladies.

      Though I do get Sesto here in his attraction for Vitellia: more swagger than himself and Tito combined.

      (and, okay, this Vitellia is a little on the camp side. Not great detail anguish (Guth rather gives those moments to the men, anyway), but more stark lines. And it is FUN to watch.)

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    2. but this is lovely, and the clarinet adapts really well.

      (the image build up is epic though, with Vitellia sitting up there in the throne seat with a single spot, and Sesto stalking the shrubbery in his 1910s High school outfit)

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      1. Oh, sorry, no laughing at Crebassa, of course, but the clarinet player roving around her like that…, maybe it’s just me, but I found it so bad I couldn’t stop laughing. What a shame, because Crebassa was singing beautifully.

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    1. just thinking that a white middle class boy like Sesto can of course enter a building wearing a hoodie and carrying a gun and make it out to sing about it and they’ll talk about him being emotionally traumatized.

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  65. okay, but the line about “carnefice suo” really fits great with the whole dead magpie friendship panorama.

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      1. showing the shooting footage AGAIN right now is.

        (and in case we still didn’t get it, the float is burning. Look. How cleverly is symbolizes their friendship.)

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  66. it makes no sense that the building is burning but the dry grass is not. (Stéphany is growing on me here – very balanced up to know, but here more power, and still maintaining just enough balance)

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    2. projection and the lighthning, yes, but I’d probably go or a less ham-handed vid content. (but hey, it’s Guth, I shouldn’t expect a dead magpie to fly off…)

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            2. Well, it’s stage hair, not really a singer’s choice.so all we’re raking are the directors.

              >

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    1. there is absolutely no ping in the house! Has a nice darker edge, just a bit to give it oomph. You really need to listen a few times to get all his nuances. He’s such a pro and so talented too 🙂

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    1. and I’ll take a reed bundle! As a throwback to the lictores! Because this opera is originally set in Rome! Do you get how clever I am!

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        1. But do you need specifically a bundle of this sort to make that connection? He could have done folk dances with a peasant scene crew in Downton Abbey!

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    3. i saw this scene as more of going back to “home key” = the soothing ground when he felt the turmoil. like when in trouble with conflicting feelings you resort back to repetitive things that you love.

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        2. The shrubbery certainly is atmospheric, no objection there. Guth seems to have a hand for those kind of naturalistic settings evoking childhood memories in the audience. Like the wood in the Don G I saw in Berlin last year, I had actually forgotten that staging was by him, but yes, looked it up, that one was also done by Guth!

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          1. the Salzburg one, right? Also the voodoo mask Così with the invading shrubbery. He does have a tendency to copy himself.

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            6. yes we do! now you can leave comment on ze gif bar page! although Dehggi might tell you the turn around time is tricky , because i promise to take request, the i tell you to install ffmpeg, then i send out agents (me or Agathe, but we are recruiting more volunteer/victim 😉 ) and show how to cut and put in artistic vision needed for your request/project . Though you earn an exception, for running this joint so smoothly, i will do it! 😉
              ps- i think you also had some previous not-yet addressed involving Nerone and dancing… i think i made a try but somehow couldnt find a good angle/cut…

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            7. Oh, I will gladly contribute myself, but would need to lock myself up with the tutorial for a bit in that case.
              But yes, Petibon in the Così, and some Coote Vitellia…

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            8. (jeah, the only tricky thing is I and Agathe have similar system, and you and Dehggi have similar system.. and I’ve not done something on neither of your system. Am not sure if Agathe had succeeded in guiding Dehggi through an example? I’m thinking the next time i see either of you that I might need to play with your system a bit to figure out the “windows” syntax. Did it once on my former hausmate computer. The Most important if possible is not to have any space in your filename please. use underscores if needed. This would make things much easier.. directories included..)

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            9. No spaces. Got it.
              There should be tutorials online for that, too, right? System-specific? Once I am done with my deadlines, I can go scout.

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            12. I volunteer for gif-ing leather-jacket-PP! We could both do it and see what scenes we come up with. The stripping scene is total fun but might have too much movement? (I’m still learning on what works best in a slow-motion gif)

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            13. 🙂
              (see Anik, once you get it going, you can have all sorts of ideas!)

              Agathe, may i propose the following: could you please extract a 2-min clip around where this lether-jacket scene is and distribute to Anik, me and Dehggi? then I’ll send out “step1”, step2, step3, in succession (only after everyone report back). This way, we ‘ll all do it 🙂

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            17. I was thinking leather jacket, and couch/tanktop/beer. Oh, serious work discussion material. Coughweekendcough.

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            20. On a second note, good morning, and was this more effective than an alarm clock? 😉

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            21. Ju st what I needed in my deranged state (quite strong stuff yesterday :-), just amazing)
              Damn, need to hurry to get an ethics application fixed.

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      2. Oh, I like this. And playing up more to this rather than wallowing in the underlying doom of it would have been an interesting angle without the “born evil” shortcut.

        >

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            1. oh no no, now i was serious ;-), Tito looks so much in distress , then clutching to the reeds. You know how when there is so much gping on you grab hold of the things you’re familiar with. Ooooh now i get your point , the pony ❤

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            5. Haha, I was also immediately thinking of the pony! (And I do like Croft a lot, but let Barcellona hug the shrubbery and I’m going to be converted)

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            2. I’d also love one with Tito and Servilia seated at the bar over drinks, checking out younger men and comparing notes.

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    1. And I think I am both aggravated and convinced by the whole “violence/toxic masculinity standing in the way of their romance” angle Guth seems to favor. Tito blurred the lines with Sesto, and Sesto ends up stunted as a result. (which is too easy, but at least addresses the toxic energy society heaves onto male bonds: always hierarchic).

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      2. So, you think there is meant to be a romance by Guth? If not, the relationship is really confusing to me, as are male friendships in general, because they do seem different in many respects and I’m not sure it always has to do with toxic energy.

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        1. I woulda ax there is meant to be the unspoken/tortured kind of romance, very Brokeback.

          My understanding of the evening hinges on my perhaps faulty perception that Tito encourages or at the least accepts little Sesto’s birdkilling in tacit complicitness. Which would me an image for forging connection through disregarding other life, and an underlying violence that poisons communication/connection as a vulnerable space?
          If Tito opposes, we get more of what I believe Dehggi mentioned in her review as “Evil Sesto”.

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      2. the live action version isn’t any less unsubtle. The frustrating thing is that it would transport perfectly well without this driving it home five times

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      1. is it just me or is this very “The White Ribbon”? that Haneke movie about violence and abuse turning kids into fascists/complicits?

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          1. I must have read at your place, then. Between the slingshot and the short trousers, it keeps jumping out at me.

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    3. the tito in bade baden was not scenic but with a stupendous cast, JDD as Sesto, and they didn’t need any of that symbolism, to ‘hammer’ home the message of the opera, just bloody good actors

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      1. jeah, i was about to say. i like her singing, but she could definitely vary more in dynamics, and colors.. i think she started out the aria using them.. then progressively became more uniform (loud)

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            1. but just colour all around. It’s really mad listening to it after a while of not hearing it, you still get hit by VK’s imagination.

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      4. but jeah, i need to search more about her in other things. very impressive in “switching” moods at time, that 1/2 way through that aria when Sesto jumped of the rock and the “heft” and rush in the voice carried through.

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          1. If you’re curious and haven’t heard it yet: Stephany plays the title role in the Curnyn CD of ‘Serse’. (Replacing Connolly, I believe, whose interpretation is lamentably un-recorded.)

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      5. Yes, I can see your point there. The frustrating thing is (as I hear it) that the vocal personality is there sometimes but not at others.

        I think I’m likely to root for Stephany as the underdog because I’ve encountered her several times as second cast or last-minute replacement, and I have sympathy because I’ve known people like that who deserve a bigger break.

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  112. Berenice! Is that the alternate headcanon Tito is having? (the alternate Tito who would be straight? Or bi?)

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          1. Interesting, not sure which exact moment you’re referring to, because to me it was like a complete switch when she was entering the aria, with all camp suddenly vanished

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            3. in the context of this staging: also fitting.

              Can’t you just see Sesto and Tito and Annio sweating over their flintstones, and then Vitellia casually tosses them a lighter and rolls her eyes?

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            4. i think i am somehow hazy on this still, will digest later after my boba milk tea .. something about terminology still not fitting.. and perhaps i should also “watch” more.. coz i was really listening to her and missed most of the staging it seems..

              Let me just put here as well because i forgot where it was 🙂 , i still don’t quite get the idea of soft/tough Tito vs ok/evil Sesto.. i killed many small animals and accidentally (as a group with siblings) killed quite a few cats (all by “accident”) but the ideas really is more kids not quite under control (?) . or rather wild kids if one can define us, no structure, just proceeding in life.. so i wonder if that has anything to do with intention.. may be in this staging this is.

              However, if it’s little Vitellia who shot down the bird, that, i’d understand! and just now thought may be little Tito took little Sesto out , but without realizing little Sesto has in fact hung out with little Vitellia who has been helping him to aim and shoot. That connects back to “Parto” when she again help him aim the gun.

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            5. LIttle Vitellia teaching Little Sesto to shoot? Good setting.

              the “gasp violence against (small) animals is such a sign for bad character!” stance is very Western, I think. And very specifically bourgeois Western, too. But that’s exactly the backdrop Guth is reaping here (and in other stagings – his perspective is usually the conflicted and unhappy individual in the underbelly of late bourgeois society).

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            6. ah thanks. jeah, in this context, what is defined as good or bad in certain society, it now makes much more sense your varios discussions (your = you, Agathe, and Dehggi) here.

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            7. I’m definitely guilty of coming from that Guth background angle, too – but ask me again after being a situation where I’d have to slingshot bugs off the ceiling, and I would probably have a different perspective!

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            8. jeah, i come from the background where parents pour boiling water on near-the-ground spiders, or build a torch to burn down spiders running at corner with ceilings.. we’re *very* frightened of large hand-sized spiders 😉 . i can imagine how that would fit with this staging , hihi.

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            10. Ah, OK, I was not aware it is Guth’s specialty, but yes, of course, in the recent Rodelinda as well. Yet, here not real explanation for Sesto’s emotional instability is offered, so I’m still a bit at a loss. Are we sure he is supposed to come from a privileged background? Even if he does, there could be all kind of (sad) reasons, why he is apparently more prone to cross borders even as a kid, (none of which would justify his later actions of course). The bird killing, I still see more as being ‘uncontrolled’ the way thadieu describes, rather than a conscious act of violence like torturing animals, which would be still a different level, but I agree, it is likely meant by Guth as an early sign of his later deed. And this ‘born psychopath’ message just seems very unconvincing (and rather cheap) to me. Some long-term and building-up conflicts between Tito and Sesto in combination with mad passion for Vitellia on the background of a historical society which normalizes violence seems more likely, if still very hard to connect to.
              (Btw., I can’t say I find violence against animals very typical for kids with socio-emotional problems, it seems to be very rare).

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            11. true, we don’t really get any backgroud on Sesto other than “Magpie!”
              And yes, “born psychopath” = cheap.

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            12. Wow, you all had quite an extensive discussion on this in the meantime, it is a very interesting topic, and one that I wonder about quite a bit, so thank you for all your perspectives!

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            13. Interestingly, Coote works for me nearly exclusively via her voice, while her acting sometimes does not seem to work so well for me. Not that she would not be a very good actress (she sure is!), but more in the way that I find it comparably difficult to connect to her “acted” characters in the sense of finding them likeable (and probably she is not after that anyway), while her voice just goes straight through?

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          3. I’m actually replying to the lower post re: violence against (small) animals. It’s been documented that many murderers/etc. start off by abusing animals = that’s my point. I’m specifically invested in this because I love pretty much all animals (spiders included) and feel very protective towards them. That doesn’t mean that I have not been involved in stupid acts of cruelty towards certain animals whilst very young, acts which I regret to this day 😦 but I guess kids don’t have fully developed empathy.

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            1. jeah i think the key here is “abusing”.. and with that i still think this staging does not suggest little Sesto is anything like that. running in the field with slingshot aiming at birds, i think you can find plenty children in the world who did that as kids without turning into monsters. i think the key here is how one “reads” the situation and “assume/extrapolate”. just the evidence presented alone i have a hard time drawing that conclusion. same goes with little Tito. Is the a 1-time event that somehow depicts their characters? is it a “happens like this everytime?” or could it be another time it was little Tito’s turn to have a go with the slingshot? (I am writing papers where is have to present a lot of evidence here, and am always critical when people only show “1 example” without more to convince a pattern 🙂 )

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            2. True, it is just one instance.
              But it’s a scene Guth has clearly set up as “meaning something” for the later story about Tito/Sesto – he quotes it extensively,
              so I would argue it falls under the “one important symbolical event that symbloizes something bigger” category. Where that is a smart choice by Guth is another question (and whether he perhaps oversimplifies here)

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            3. yeah, i still think “clearly” is subjective here, and indeed he is targetting audience who is more familiar with a particular set of definition of “acceptable behavior”. the fact that you see it “clearly” and i completely disagree that it had meaning is rather interesting. i mean even after you explain to me i still think the evidence is nothing but clear.

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            4. yes, that’s what I mean with that it is a Western bourgeois perspective. And the issue may be that he presents it as universal? Because clearly he does not speak for your experience, and generalizing that stamps you as something you are not.

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            5. jeah. speaking more personally perhaps, i think there are 2 things here: 1 is my interpretation of Guth’s staging and what he implies, and the other is, perhaps more in the back of head (?) which is, being judged in the current setting. For the first, given i was very oblivious of his message i wouldnt even care if he was stamping something on me. But is is true that one’s observation of how the surrounding reacts versus how one self reacts matter much more i think, because subconciously one still wants to “belong” in a group/society without suddenly now worrying about being labeled/judged. i dont mean in this group in particular, but a much wider context. on a not so serious example, i remember saying to an acquaintance that if a cat ever gets to a point of needing diapers that i would put it to sleep. i even wrote on my blog once about how our relationship with pets are hugely different where i grew up versus here in the western world. and the next thing i knew the person was calling me cat killer and introduce me like that to all other people. this is nothing, but one can imagine quite more serious cases where apparently “clear” subjective rules are used and assumed applicable for all.

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            6. as good an example of any to remember how difficult it is to generalize experience, and that ignoring one’s own positionality can result in being unfair.

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            7. (but let me mention again my “selective” viewing angle? because it seems you were all getting quite tired of the background symbolism it didnt even catch my attention 1 bit!)

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            8. you are right, that is another good point – at whom is he aiming, and is he aware that the perspective is limited?

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            11. Evidence in retrospect, perhaps – using it as a symbol for “somewhat evil Sesto”, but not as a single transforming act? Plenty of other kids would then not have grown up to be “somewhat evil” (but Guth doesn’t stage operas on that).
              But it is an interesting question if Tito (who is a little older?) would also have killed the bird.

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            12. (actually what is that Spartan helmet/Great War Thermos that Tito keeps picking up in the video flashbacks?)

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            13. I see myself in a all Sestos and I’ve never tried to kill anyone 😉 I also have memories of both bawling over an overripe pear that I somehow personified and doing some horrible things to certain animals, both around the same age (after 5 years old, before 11). I don’t know what to say, psychology is complicated. Maybe I just like magpies too much and I’m overly sensitive so the short had a stronger effect on me.

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            14. As of Saturday, I see myself more in an array of prepositions regarding Vitellia, but I am not sure if that aligns with any murderous intents on my part. 😉

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            15. Vitellia is certainly a very modern character. I am surprised Sellars didn’t try to do more with her as I initially imagined. There is a lot to work with there even in his overly Tito-involved production.

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            16. wasn’t Sellars’ original pitch “depicting the last days in the life of Mozart, with Mozart being Tito and Vitellia the futre video scheming around the rights to the patriony? And sleeping with Sesto Süßmayr? Where did that one go, actually? (not Salzburg compatible?)

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            17. I’m ignorant of that soap opera-style pitch. Somehow I can’t quite see it but it’s also a bit funny. Is there any evidence wifey wanted to get rid of Mozart? Though I guess they could never figure out what led to his death.

              I’m also surprised Sellars would think in less than big picture terms.

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            18. well, “Amadeus” was a big picture in terms of populairty, so… but for Sellars, it’s not unpolitical enough. But the fun search for analogies? Definitely.

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            19. You know, I actually don’t remember Amadeus all that well, beyond the bits where he makes fun of Salieri and how he apparently wrote Der Holle Rache. I DO remember there is no mention of Tito, though, because I only saw it after I got into opera.

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            20. I mostly remember “80s Hair”. And that vaudeville horse. And a lot of soap dramatics. Okay, and possibly those weird pralines.

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            21. me again 🙂 . i wanted to ask how did you know at the beginning it was little Tito and little Sesto? Because i was so sure it was little Sesto and little Vitellia, and the shooting of the bird really just fits for me in that context. and nothing prevents us from assuming that little Vitellia can have short hair and wear shorts.. this again goes back to paying attention to the background projections may be, and seeing that this bird is flying again whenever … ohhh, now i get it, during “Deh per questo istante solo..”, ok, that’s when you figure out it’s little Tito and little Sesto.. that’s pretty late into the opera to make the connection for me 🙂 . i was very convinced at the beginning otherwise.

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            23. you may be overthinking 😉 when there is a film about two friends in Tito my first thought is Tito and Sesto, next Sesto and Annio, third – other possible combinations, not backed by the libretto. I mean it would certainly be interesting to imagine that Sesto and Vitellia were friends from way back when and to have a more unisex approach in general but that’s not my first thought 😉

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            24. i am willing to wear multiple shirts with Vitellia “modelling” , from tossing lighter to handling weapons to slouching … i want to purchse a huge fan to get the 3d aspect capture too 😉 (and would have a big grin in my own space happy with Vitellia (shirt) )

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            29. …by a director who at times enjoys the unsubtle and purposefully clever.
              (oh well, it seems I am not yet over that Poppea)

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            30. (doesn’t surprise me 🙂 I always bring it up, too, when the conversation turns to him. Additionally, I continue to bitch about his Nozze. But I do like this, Rodelinda and Ariadne).

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            32. several issues at play here – one is development of empathy in children (genuine as of age 5, if I am correnctly informed, but I may not be up to date regarding the latest research), then there is the valid point of abusers and disregard for perceived-as-lesser life. And I think in addition, it’s also a cultural factor and a privilege factor (as discussed with thadieu above) – not that I believe that one should not be respectful towards life whenever possible, but I’ve been raised in a place where that has always been possible and been taught to me in a variety of ways. And it’s also one thing if you kill because you feel threatened or are hungry, and another to kill/hurt because you want to kill/hurt.

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            1. and thanks to them to being out there defending democracy while we swoon over Vitellia. Who also gets the high notes.

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            3. and the one before – “Sesto…!” (no, no one would think of Sesto, not with Vitellia in the room)

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      2. would watch two hours of Coote’s Vitellia lounging on that throne and pondering the world and making pithy remarks about everything and everyone.

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    4. I mean i sort of meant it as a joke, and also maybe it’s the mood i’m in this week, but i was struck today at least in this production how much the focus is on Tito (i get his name is in the title but i didn’t have that sense in others i’ve seen) and his journey and how he gets to be merciful and whatever. And yet this starts because, one could argue, Vitellia has been jerked around, in a system in which she really doesn’t have much power. And yet she gets a journey, too, from pissed-off-vengeful in the beginning to willing to risk death for what is right and true at the end. I just wonder what THAT opera would look like. cuz this one centers the emperor and all his feelings (which yes, that was Mozart’s point, to show a merciful royal) and i guess i’m just not here for it this week even if he’s merciful. he’s not innocent in all this, this production seems to say.

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      2. my sympathies have always been with sesto and vitellia in this opera – and i do believe that their journey (actually especially sesto’s) is usually the foval point of the opera – whereas tito, in my opinion, is too self-satisfied with his clemenza, it may be a nice role he has found for himself, but i feel there is too much ego in it. and in a way – sorry, i’m digressing here – that seems to be the problem with currentzis and his salznurg tito, too, of which i admittedly only saw the first 45 mins tonight, but that really put me off already – for many reasons. it is this basking in oneÄs own glory. not really my cup of tea. – so, yes i agree, tito is not really very likable at all. thanks for your thoughts on this.

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          1. yes, well, just skipped over to your blog and saw what you have written – a lot of it right out of my heart, ie. lack of strong relationships, what exactly does the black/white/ethnic thing say, dilutiung the message of the opera, the 2-dimensional portrait of Sesto, the ‘extra’ music, and a few more. looking forward to ‘doing’ it here in the near future… ah – and I loved your side notes on the Tito in Glyndebourne!

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          2. thanks for that link, enjoyed the review very much. It seems i’m quite passionate about ‘werkstreue’, being faithful to the original – and when i started reading about sellar’s ‘ideas’ it quite made my toenails curl up. Why use someone else’s creative achievement as a vehicle for ‘ideas’ of one’s own? If he is so enamoured with his concepts he should write a play or an opera himself. But then the author of the review went on in a similar vein and i was appeased. – – as for currentzis…. well. – we will have the opportunity to do him over here, little ego pr*ck. what a terrible waste of undeniable talent when it all goes to your head and becomes a BIG balloon.

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            1. I think this is Sellars’ schtick, which is why he works best with contemporary opera where he’s involved from the getgo. Currentzis I hope will cool down with time and maybe then he’s going to do some truly interesting things.

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            2. He does some very interesting things, I find (and some not so interesting ones), but the self-staging is getting in the way of it. Sellars, I do like in his perspective on structure (when his Da Ponte trilogy came out, it was such an important push) and against convention, but of course he has a few blond spots there.

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            4. Good question – only if someone digitalised their tapes. They’re late 80s/very early 90s? Così in a Café called Despina’s, Figaro in the Trump Tower, DonG as drug wars in the Bronx?
              Something we’d perhaps roll our eyes at as “not again!” in 2017, but the fact that we can do that because that kind of thinking is now commonplace? That’s thanks to his work.

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            5. thanks, it does sound interesting considering when it was done. Though, as someone who wasn’t into opera back then, the late ’80s early ’90s seem like a strange transition period. Was park and barking still the norm?

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            6. He did it in NYC, so yes. And whatever everyone since Wieland W. and Felsenstein had done in Europe since then was either very abstract/timeless or into psychology. And then came the Bayreuth Chéreau Ring (1976) that still kept it historical, but made it a very specific story about a specific, actual point in time. Huge scandal. And Sellars went and updated to current day (I think his middle Eastern war Cesare was even sooner?), doing away with the cushy projection space. I remember when they came out – burning Arts sections in the papers.
              Of course his stuff is problematic, too – blunt, tendencies to generalize, etc. But his “these are stories for now, about us” approach: epic.

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            11. on a different note: Dehggi, how about tearing into the Salzburg Clemenza Sept. 2? (next week Sat.) we’re talking program right now and agreed that a Tito without you is only half the fun.

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          3. sorry to be a stick in the mud – but when i hear ‘interesting’ in connection with classic opera i kinda squirm. why? because ‘interesting’ always addresses my head (as opposed to my heart) and for head stuff i read the news, watch current affairs programs, get into political discussions. For me art is something that should move my heart, resulting in ‘wonder’ as in miraculous, something to suspend my thinking and give me some sort of wonderful emotional experience. i once referred to it as an emotional or even spiritual cleansing. With good opera that happens a lot – mouth gaping – like in all the comments about the ‘low notes’ in this stream. And there should be no ‘obstruction’ between the music and me – such as some regie ideas, or bad singing or the obvious ego trip of sby. — is that very old fashioned?

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            1. I don’t know, I actually don’t think I’m particularly hip myself (I was thinking “I generally like regie now, when it’s everywhere, who knows what I would’ve thought had I been this age in the ’70s?”). Also related to the comments in this thread, often enough a lot of apparently clever points in regie go straight over my head or I think they are stupid/far fetched but I’m still more comfortable with “stories for now” than with a bunch of people dressed in period costume, singing at the public. It depends on the singing or the opera as well. If the singing is fantastic I can get over a lot of shortcomings (watching Sellars’ Cosi now I was thinking I liked his production but the singing in the Ponnelle one from the same period is net superior). For a very well known opera I want to see more interesting productions, for something lesser known I don’t mind more traditional takes. Also, a traditional take can also be interesting and clever. But, I do agree, if the singing isn’t great then I just take the interesting ideas on board and return to the productions that are musically illuminating.

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      3. he’s not innocent in all this, this production seems to say.

        that’s why this production is more coherent than usual, when directors can’t quite figure what to do with Tito.

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      4. True, but all the characters have their backstories and loads of interpretation possibilities (isn’t that a core feature of Mozarts characters in general?) and I think audiences can to a certain degree chose where to focus? And this production seems to leave some room for individual interpretation.

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          2. the control, the command, the timely phrasing, the combination with acting. This is Coote. not any mezzo will pull this either. (I’d like to hear VK sing this role!! oh, and ACA too please :D)

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    2. Tito resigns because he feels like it and screws Rome over because now Publio with run a dictatorship. But hey magpie. And a boyfriend?

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          1. ohoh, so glad sby mentioned the pony – last night i constantly thought of that whenever the stupid bird came up

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            12. empowering.
              it’s like unwrapping the girl-training biased scheme, providing vision to see inside the whole plan, skill to aim and shoot at the glue to free the birds. 😉

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    1. now even just waking up and i have this aria in head!
      i found someone posted her two main arias on tube already (though the recits are missing, for full analyses we really need them recits!) . I listened to that through my night last night.. but had to focus on work so i ended up forcing myself to listen to other music, primarily because with Vitellia i kept glancing over, jaw dropping, particular during ‘non più di fiori’.. the analysis hopefully is coming!

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  146. made it to the end of 1st round rereading here. time for a cold shower. then off to work. *with* no più di fiori in head _again_.
    While y’all sleeping, i indeed might get started with this aria..

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  147. hey everybody, it’s sun morning, watching a blackbird feeding its young on the grapes in my backyard (not a magpie, tho we got those too when the grapes are ripe)
    so – if you are analyzing this any further pls count me in – not a musiscian, so i can’t contribute anything worthwhile, but would love to read your comments!

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  149. Well all I know is, when I go to the farm on Wednesday and see all the magpies everywhere, rather than thinking “oh pretty magpies” I’ll be eyerolling at Tito. I’m not sure the goats will understand. 😉

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