Teatro Real presented a new production by Claus Guth of the unknown and rarely performed Mozart opera: “Mitridate.”

The opera is a work that the talented Mozart composed when he was 14 -years -old and that followed the rigid structure of the XVIII century Italian opera, and therefore conforms with a series of recitatives (secco and accompagnato with piano forte and with orchestra) and da capo arias, which repeat their main verse twice with a slow section between them. The singers have to add their own variations and cadenzas. Mozart wrote for the singers available and he must have had extremely talented and unique voices. The score in general is extremely decorated with coloratura similar to the Queen of the Night’s aria in “Die Zauberflöte,” and his singspiel “Die Entfürung aus dem Serail.”

Marzio’s aria might be one of the hardest arias in the tenor repertoire, known for it’s devilish fast coloratura and extremely high tessitura. This title tenor role of “Mitridate” has an extremely high tessitura rising up constantly to high C with multiple high Bs and B naturals, including impossible jumps of nearly two octaves from low Es and Ds to high Bs and Cs (it is very rare to find notes higher than A in Mozart’s repertoire for tenors). So, it’s probably due to this extremely difficult score that the opera has been rarely performed, as there have been no tenors accomplished enough to meet the extreme demands of this score.

This performance took place on April 4th, 2025 and was live streamed. It will be made available on Teatro Real’s platform. But only the people who attended this live streaming could possibly relate to my opinions because when they submit the operas in platforms, the recording is edited, which means that they can use footage from other performances to improve the performance.

Claus Guth’s Production

“Mitridate” is not only a new production at Teatro Real, but it’s the first staged production (It was presented in concert in 2005). Claus Guth, the prolific German director, was faithful to Mozart’s style which is quite singular. And this is really appreciated by the directors of the theaters that hired him, but despised by the audience which usually boos his productions (This production was loudly booed at it’s premiere). I have seen a lot of Guth’s work, and when I was waiting for the performance to begin I was wandering how long it would take for the director to put drugs and violence on stage. In Aspasia’s first aria, which is the first of the opera, she is drinking gin straight from the bottle. In the subsequent Sifare’s aria, she snorts two lines of cocaine. This was an example of what was going to follow for the rest of the night: a non-sense of character’s behaviour, non-understandable relationships and an invented plot quite far from Cigna-Santi’s original libretto. To be completely objective and without any influence I have stopped reading the notes about the staging in the program. What is more, when I don’t know the title by heart, I have decided to avoid reading the subtitles to see if I can understand the story with the staging. Guth’s production of “Mitridate” was, as usual, complete nonsense with a set which could be used for multiple operas (a revolving set with an art deco living room with two floors and a circular white wall on the other side). With the male dancers dressed completely in black (including black hoodies and masks) and the females as Aspasia, it was clear that the second set was some kind of parallel world or dimension. But I couldn’t understand what lead the characters into this new dimension (it has to be justified on the staging why the reality changes, otherwise it seems like the director is doing something “modern” just to show off how original he is). It was impossible to understand the story, the relationships between characters and the “strange” attitude and choreography of the dancers. If a director does not manage to make the opera understandable and connected to the audience today, it is a failure to me. Therefore, Claus Guth’s production was a complete failure.

Music & Cast Details

Every tenor who dares to sing the role of Mitridate deserves at least admiration and merit. But on the other hand, if the tenor doesn’t have an easy secure high register he shouldn’t try to sing this part. And that was the case of Juan Francisco Gatell. He has a leggero voice with a warm timbre, which has a pure quality in the upper range. His fraseo is impeccable and he delivers beautiful crescendos up to B flat. Being a leggero tenor, his low register is quite decent and his notes below the stave were audible. His attack of the notes and the legato were straight, clean and beautiful. He is an ideal Mozart tenor, and I’m sure that in “Cosi fan tutte,” “Don Giovanni” or “La Clemenza di Tito” he would be a great success. And therefore in Mitridate’s arias: “Quel ribelle” or “Già di pieta mi spoglio,” he sounded solvent and effortless as the tessitura is affordable, not going higher than A natural. He interpolated a strange cadenza going up to high C, which sounded weird and strain. The rest of his interventions: “Se di lauri,” and “Tu che fedel” or ”Vado incontro” were completely sullied because of the high Cs, and there are quite a lot in the score. The first and only high C in the first aria is written in a scale, so the tenor doesn’t have to hold the note, but Gatell’s interpretation of his first aria was blurred for the first high C which sounded pushed and forced. But the rest of the arias have plenty of high Cs. He delivered a clean direct attack to a high C in: “Serbami” but the note sounded strain, plain and difficult. It appears that the note could break at any point. ”Vado incontro” was his worse intervention of the night, not only for it’s seven written high Cs but because Mozart maintains the voice in the last line always above the stave (between G and high C). Gatell sounded strangled and his high Cs were sounding worse and worse. There was a moment when I thought he was going to lose his voice completely.

Sara Blanch is a raising star and probably one of the best Spanish female voices today. She was the absolute protagonist of the night due to her warm, velvety voice, with clean coloratura and sparkling bright high notes. Her timbre is round and even throughout her whole register, her fraseo is impeccable. Her character Aspasia, opened with the first aria of the night: “Al destin que la Minaccia” where she could show her breath control in the fast and long scales, and her perfect staccato high notes. She added beautiful variations on the repetition and a stylish cadenza up to high D

Her next aria, “Nel sen mi palpita,” has less coloratura and seemed a perfect piece to show off her palette of vocal colors and her use of dynamics. She sang with great emotion and pathos. The aria: “Nel grave tormento” went back to clean and fast coloratura, sweet round high Cs and perfect Mozart style. Her staccato ascensions to high Cs in: “quest’alma” sounded beautiful. Her intervention in the duet: “Se viver non degg’io” was impeccable, as her voice melted perfectly with Dreisi.

She received the greatest ovation at the curtain call, which was well deserved.

The role of Sifare was sang by the soprano Elsa Dreisig. She began her opening aria with an astonishing crescendo in her first sustained F in: “Soffre il mio cor.” She posses a beautiful and agile lyric voice. The timbre is dark but it sounds sweet too, so it matched perfectly with Mozart’s composition. Her first high B natural in “cor con pace” was round and bright. Her variations were stylish and beautiful, showing the qualities of her voice with lyricism and musicality, rather than a showcase of coloratura and high notes to show off the voice. She sang her second aria: “Parto, nel gran cimento” with violence and aggressiveness, but always according to the delicacy of Mozart’s style. She sang the aria: “Lungi da te” with delicacy, rising up to high A naturals in: “O cara” with sweetness and a soaring mezza voce. She sang the whole line: “non rammentar le pene che provi o cara, in te” in a soaring mezza voce and her high register (A and B naturals) sounded crystalline and bright. But she controlled her voice wisely in the duet: “Se viver non degg’io,” sounding sweet and bright. The aria: “Se il rigor” requires clean coloratura and bright high notes which Dreisig sang with determination and agility. Her voice melted perfectly with Blanch on the duet: “Se viver non degg’io.”

The counter tenor Franco Fagioli played the role of Farnace. In his opening aria: “Venga pur” he showed his powerful middle and lower register in a piece which is written inside the stave, and which demands going down to a low B flat. Fagioli plays between his mezzo soprano and his bariton sound, delivering powerful low notes. His sound is even and round, and he sings clearly and clean the attack of the notes and the interval jumps that this aria demands. But his voice is comfortable singing up the stave and therefore he sang the optional high A natural. His third act aria: “Già dagli occhi il velo” gave Fagioli the chance to fill the music with sadness and melancholy in which was the big last scene of the end of the opera.

He easily sang the aria: “Va, va, l’error…,” where the voice ranges between low A natural and central E, with passion and determination. His next aria: “Son reo” had the same standards and vocal range that the counter tenor controls very well.

Soprano Marina Monzó as Ismene opened with an immaculate interpretation of her first aria: “In facia alloggetto,” imprinting her lyrico leggera voice with sweetness and control, being perfect in style, with a clarity of the attack and the singing of the coloratura. She controls her volume to make the voice sound completely even throughout her whole register, emitting beautiful round high B naturals at the end of the several scales. Her voice sounded effortless and bright. Her aria: “se quanto a te dispiace” was full of coloratura and long lines of fast scales. It was a bravura aria. She sang with immaculate perfection and a strong determination.

The character of Marzio sings several recitatives and a single aria: “Se di regnar si vago” which is probably one of the hardest arias of the Mozart repertoire. The aria is full of coloratura (It sounds more Rossini than Mozart) which navigates constantly around high  A natural and B natural. Tenor Juan Sancho did marvelous work, with clean fast scales, easy and bright high notes. But to my surprise the aria was severely cut. He basically sings half of what was written, so he didn’t have the chance to interpolate variations. I don’t understand the reasons for severely cutting this piece when it is the only aria that this character sings and the singer was doing a great job.

The stylish and expertise conductor Ivor Bolton worked with all of his Baroque and Mozart background (as the opera was written when Mozart was 14 years old, the influence of the Baroque style is strongly present). He opened with a bright and strong interpretation of the overture. He managed to create real contrasts between the bravura and powerful moments with the lyric and slow sections. Imprinting the score with deep emotions. The orchestra of Teatro Real sounded bright and full of timbre resources.

A new conceptual production of Mozart’s teenage title: “Mitridate” with a wonderful cast of singers.