Ravinia 2022, Issue 4

CORY WEAVER/LOS ANGELES OPERA Clemency, Forgiveness, and Love By James Conlon Tutto so, tutti assolvo, e tutto obblio. I know everything, I forgive everyone, and I forget everything. —EmpEror TiTo (AcT ii, finAl scEnE) IN 1789, the French popu- lace rose up against their king and queen and brought about a revolution, eventually executing their monarchs. Thirteen years before that, the American col- onies had rebelled against the British Crown and established their own sovereign nation. None of this was lost on royals across the entire continent of Europe, who reacted with alarm and concern. The subject of “good governance,” even by monarchs who claimed to rule by Divine Right, acquired a new urgency. The French Revolution struck espe- cially close to Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, for Marie Antoinette, the last French queen, was his sister. So in 1791, when Leopold was to be crowned in Prague, a celebratory op- era was to be commissioned. And be- cause one of the contemporary mod- els of Age of Enlightenment authority was that of the “Enlightened Despot,” the new opera could both flatter the new leader and subtly suggest to him an exemplary model of authority. The chosen opera would portray a Roman emperor—and by extension the newly crowned monarch—as not only a man of justice but also of mercy. The commission went to Mo- zart. For his subject, he was given a decades-old and frequently reused libretto by Metastasio: La clemenza di Tito or The Clemency of Titus. An opera, like any other work of art, exists simultaneously within and without its cultural context. Each work is born in a specific time and place, but its inclusion in a corpus of works that we refer to as “repertory” or “canon” is proof that it has with- stood the test of time (by whatever moveable criteria we happen to be employing). Just the fact that we view it, listen to it, or watch it in a theater today, is a measure to what degree there is something “immortal” in it. In today’s world, opera is constant- ly being scrutinized for relevance. Most of this examination focuses m o z A r T ’ s L a c L e m e n z a d i T i T o RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 1 – AUGUST 14, 2022 8