Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.This year’s Salzburg Festival kicked off with two environmentally friendly acts of recycling — Romeo Castellucci’s gnomic 2021 production of Don Giovanni, whose flood of obtuse imagery deserves a second look, and a Clemenza di Tito that was premiered at May’s Whitsun Festival in the city. Cecilia Bartoli is artistic director of the Whitsun event, and this Clemenza at the Haus für Mozart is a vehicle for her debut in the pivotal role of Sesto. This has its legitimacy — Bartoli has the wit, intelligence and artistry to centre herself without risking tedium.Robert Carsen’s updating of Mozart’s penultimate opera places the action in the Italian parliament, but consciously echoes the January 6 insurrection of 2021 — after all, La Clemenza di Tito also deals with an attack on the Capitol, though in Mozart’s version, the noble and selfless ruler twice forgoes marriage for the good of his subjects, before forgiving an attempt on his life. The recent attack on former president Donald Trump and Alex Garland’s film Civil War add two more uncomfortable layers to Carsen’s staging.Carsen gleefully subverts the notion of a benign emperor; his Tito governs with autocratic gestures and ultimately falls victim to assassins. Carsen dispenses with the gender-bending challenge of Mozart’s “trouser roles” (women playing men) by leaving Annio and Sesto as women and allowing for same-sex subplots — and why not? As the curtain falls, a victorious Vitellia — who bears an uncanny resemblance to Giorgia Meloni — takes the throne. Conductor Gianluca Capuano has a history of close collaboration with Bartoli and brings his Monaco period-instrument ensemble and excellent vocal ensemble, Il Canto di Orfeo, to the production. His presence on the podium makes sense, but he follows in the footsteps of giants. Teodor Currentzis conducted the 2017 production of this opera in Salzburg and, before him, Nikolaus Harnoncourt in 2003.Capuano’s brisk tempi and vehemence do not come close to the meticulous profundity of Currentzis’s epoch-making performances or to Harnoncourt’s startling brilliance. Perhaps opening-night nerves contributed to the fact that ensembles frequently teetered on the brink of collapse, while singers struggled to be heard, but Mozart’s exquisitely bittersweet music deserves much less brutality and much more attention to detail.Bartoli’s charisma and musical intelligence are matched well by Daniel Behle’s balanced, thoughtful account of the title role, while Mélissa Petit and Anna Tetruashvili give sweet and impassioned performances as young lovers Servilia and Annio. Alexandra Marcellier struggles audibly as Vitellia, but as the evening wears on, her voice opens up to reveal colours and phrases of arresting beauty.Carsen’s final plot twist compensates for much of the evening’s tedium, but Capuano’s mediocre musical direction drags down a performance that deserves better.★★★☆☆To August 13, salzburgerfestspiele.at
