Operas like “Don Giovanni” or “Die Zauberflöte” today look like repudiations of the formal, almost motionless style that ruled Europe’s musical theater for most of the 18th century. Yet Mozart was surrounded all his life by opera seria, and he wrote four of them, including the early “Idomeneo” and the late “Clemenza di Tito,” which was heard Friday night at the Metropolitan Opera.
Scene from Clemenza di Tito (Photo: The Metropolitan Opera)
Late Mozart, Where Nothing Happens but Everything
By BERNARD HOLLAND [NY Times, 2 May 05]
Operas like "Don Giovanni" or "Die Zauberflöte" today look like repudiations of the formal, almost motionless style that ruled Europe's musical theater for most of the 18th century. Yet Mozart was surrounded all his life by opera seria, and he wrote four of them, including the early "Idomeneo" and the late "Clemenza di Tito," which was heard Friday night at the Metropolitan Opera.