Review of La Clemenza di Tito at Perth Festival of the Arts

May 24 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

MAGNIFICENT, majestic, monumental ... just the tonic to rouse the senses after a hard week at work.

La Clemenza di Tito – Mozart’s penultimate opera – performed in Perth Theatre by English Touring Opera (ETO), was originally written for the coronation of a Bohemian emperor, set in Roman times.

Here, the era is updated to 1930s Italy where a benevolent dictator, Titus, performed by Mark Wilde, faces a vicious betrayal by his friend, Sextus (Julia Riley) bewitched by his lover Vitellia (Gillian Ram).

Unfortunately, Wilde’s voice gave way moments before the performance, so he was left to mime while Maciek O’Shea sang from the wings.

Perth Theatre offers an intimate atmosphere, the orchestra are almost part of the audience and it makes for an engaging experience.

The cast too connected well and in opera, this is important as the audience are taken on their dramatic ride.

The stage production was beautiful in its simplicity, it effortlessly blended from a castle bedroom to a presidential rally and the lighting set the tone for each scene perfectly.

The standard of singing was incredible – Gillian Ram’s range was a particular stand-out.

Her dramatic crescendos were full of passion and her projection had the audience impressed.

Poor Mark Wilde – he battled through with an accomplished display of self-assured mannerisms.

There was doubt the performance would survive the loss of his voice, but remarkably, the voice from the side actually added to Wilde’s other worldly status as the worshipped ruler.

Conductor Richard Lewis played a central role in easing stand-in tenor Maciek O-Shea into the odd circumstances – his calming and reassuring glances must have been appreciated.

With Mozart, you can expect drama and an outrageously uplifting finale. La Clemenza di Tito provided just that – it ‘does what it says on the tin’ and on Friday, the lid was blown right off!

Andrew Harris