in 1770 he was commissioned to write an opera for what would later become La Scala in Milan, at the time of the already prestigious Teatro Regio Ducal. The 14-year-old prodigy was tasked with setting the libretto by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi, based on Racine’s only tragedy with a happy ending, Mithridates (1673), to music.
This ferocious fictional character follows in the footsteps of the real-life King of Pontus, a historical figure who distinguished himself by his resistance to the Roman conquests: he fascinated and inspired numerous operas in the 18th century. Set in an ancient Orient full of passion, the plot oscillates between love and politics, with two enemy brothers and betrayal and jealousy as their sisters. His thirst for revenge orders poison, but in the end the tyrant dies a hero’s death and reunites the lovers.
While Mozart was still young, the great composer was already present, with his expressive and moving recitatives, his powerful arias moving from fury to sweetness, as well as the grace of his vocalisations.
This opera seria has only been performed in Lausanne once before, in 1984, the year the Théâtre Municipal – the forerunner of today’s Opéra – was founded. We are therefore delighted to offer a new production, which will see the Lausanne debuts of Emmanuelle Bastet and of Andreas Spering, who will conduct the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne for the first time.
First performance December 26, 1770, at the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan
Alkor – Bärenreiter Edition, Kassel
Born in Palermo, Paolo Fanale made his debut as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) in Padua. Since then, he has performed on the most important opera stages such as La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, the Opéra national de Paris, the Berlin Staatsoper, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Salzburg Festival and the Dallas Opera. He sang the title roles in Faust and La clemenza di Tito, as well as Fenton (Falstaff), Hylas (Les Troyens), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Gennaro (Lucrezia Borgia), Grimoaldo (Rodelinda), Nicias (Thaïs), Lenski (Eugene Onegin), Rodolfo (La bohème), Il Duca di Mantova (Rigoletto), and Nadir (Les Pêcheurs de perles). He has worked under the direction of James Levine, Claudio Abbado, Kurt Masur, Zubin Metha, Daniele Gatti and Jordi Savall.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Faust (2016) and La clemenza di Tito (2018).