Boston Lyric Opera Offers an Impressive 'Mitridate'

Tenor superstar Lawrence Brownlee kicked off Boston Lyric Opera's new season with a brilliant performance as Mozart's "Mitridate, Re di Ponto." This marked a return to the troupe for the internationally acclaimed singer, who last performed with the company 20 years ago, in the early phase of his career. With its beautiful timbre, strong focus and seemingly limitless range and agility, his voice sounded every bit as wonderful this past weekend at the Emerson Majestic Theatre, as it did in 2004.

Operatic tenors have singled out "Mitridate" as being among the most grueling tenor roles ever written, a challenge for most, but apparently not for Brownlee. His voice had not lost any of its exciting ring, and the difficult, coloratura passages were tossed off with characteristic precision and ease. In addition, he sang and acted the role with conviction and passion. Hopefully, the appreciative Boston audience will not have to wait another20 years to hear this superb artist here again.

"Mitridate" was composed in 1770 when Mozart was 14 years old. It is somewhat inaccurate to term "Mitridate" an early work, as Mozart was already a veteran composer by his early adolescence. Certainly not up to the level of his mature operas, it has all the hallmarks of the early Classical style of Gluck and the young Haydn, such as regular, standardized, harmonic patterns., and lengthy, ornate, da capo arias that hearken back to the Baroque tradition. Occasionally, there is a glimmer of what will come, in arias where Mozart writes concisely, and in a more adventurous, Sturm und Drang style. The vapid plot concerns the romantic intrigues in Mitridate's court between his fiancée, Aspasia, and his two sons, Sifare and Farnace. The roles of the two sons, and of the governor, Arbate were originally written for castrati. In BLOs production they were sung by sopranos and a countertenor; and Sifare is characterized as the daughter of Mitridate, making her affair with Aspasia a same-sex relationship.

As the story takes place in Roman times, the simple set consisted of a concave horizontal flat with niches containing portrait busts, on which a variety of interesting visuals and lighting effects were projected. As the costumes did not suggest any period, it was not clear whether the BLO production was supposed to have been updated; though Mozart's libretto obviously places the action during a very specific historical time frame.

LA based stage director James Darrah supervised much of the artistic elements of the "Mitridate." His conception followed the well-worn Peter Sellars tradition in which any opera written before 1800 is made into a comic parody in order to appeal to contemporary audiences. One can forgive it somewhat in this case, as "opera seria" is highly formulaic, with prolix arias, so some stage action certainly helps. And many of Darrah's ideas were fun, and worked nicely; but some were distracting, as when silly comic business was going on behind Brownlee as he sang one of Mitridate's major tours de force.

Though not quite at Brownlee's level the other cast members fared admirably. Sopranos Brenda Rae as Aspasia, and Vanessa Goikoetxea, as Sifare displayed steadfast courage in negotiating Mozart's brutally demanding vocal lines. Both singers were a bit strident in the upper register, yet both sang with much dynamic nuance and excellent musicality.

As Farnace, John Holiday employed his fine male alto to great effect. It is an instrument of unusual beauty, with a wide spectrum of colors. His act 3 aria, "Gia dagli occhi," was clearly the lyrical highlight of the performance.

This impressive "Mitridate" bodes well for a particularly exciting BLO season ahead. In November the company will mount one of the grandest of all operas, Verdi's "Aida." A variety of interesting stage-works will be offered in 2025, including Korngold's "Die Tote Stadt," Britten's "Noah's Flood," the "Carousel" of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and an opera based on Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." For subscription and ticket information, visit the company's website.

The Boston Lyric Opera presented "Mitridate" for two performances, Friday, September 13, and Sunday, September 15, at Boston's Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. For more information about the Boston Lyric Opera, visit the company's website.