Opera Scotland

La clemenza di Tito in Scotland

Posted 18 Jul 2025

La clemenza di Tito received its first performance in Scotland on 8 April 1938 at the Athenaeum Theatre, Glasgow.  The performers were the Barony Musical Association, under the musical direction of Dr Erik Chisholm.  He was the leading musical figure in Scotland during the 1930s, before moving to continue his career in South Africa.  With Glasgow Grand he conducted UK premieres of Mozart's Idomeneo and Berlioz's The Trojans and Beatrice and Benedick.  The Barony Association was established to produce works on a smaller scale, including Gluck and Mozart.

The tenor James Newall, previously seen as Idomeneo, now sang another title role.  Vitellia was taken by Mary Brown.  Surprisingly, to our ears at least, the parts of Sesto and Annio were transposed down, to be sung by men.

The opera was not seen again in Scotland until 9 October 1970, when it was staged at the Ledlanet Nights Festival at Kinross.  The conductor was Peter Gellhorn, a veteran of Covent Garden and Glyndebourne.  The singers were generally from Sadler's Wells (ENO) or Glyndebourne.  These included Terry Jenkins, for many years a leading character tenor with ENO, in the title role.  The Glyndebourne mezzos Lorna Brindley and Eiko Nakamura both sang movingly as Sesto and Annio, while Janice Chapman, from Sadler's Wells, was a highly dramatic Vitellia.  The English translation used was still the one by the Radford sisters, from their staging in Falmouth, back in 1930.

The first Edinburgh Festival production was in a 1981 visit by the Cologne Opera. The conductor was the company's musical director, Sir John Pritchard, while the elegant staging was a famous one, directed and designed as part of a Mozart cycle by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.  It had already been seen in London a few years before.  The internationally famous soloists were Brigitte Fassbaender (Sesto) and Werner Hollweg (Tito).  Kathryn Montgomery was the excellent Vitellia.

The opera's next appearance was in a staging by Scottish Opera, which opened at the 1991 Festival before joining the company's Autumn tour.  A new translation by Amanda Holden was employed, and the conductor was Nicholas McGegan, in a staging by Stephen Wadsworth.  The cast included an Australian tenor, Glenn Winslade, as Titus, with an American soprano, Julians Gondek, as Vitellia.  Sesto was sung by Anne Mason, in the first of many roles with the company, while another Australian with a bright future, Cheryl Barker, was Annio.

Since then the opera has been seen twice in the form of concert performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival.  The first of these was in 2000, conducted by Harry Bicket.  The concert had casting difficulties as Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Sesto) and Ian Bostridge (Tito) both had to withdraw.  However the Scottish soprano Lisa Milne made a notable debut as Servilia.  Geraldine McGreevy and Neal Davies made effective appearances as Vitellia and Publio.

The second came in 2005, when Sir Charles Mackerras led a highly dramatic performance led by Magdalena Kozená (Sesto), Rainer Trost (Tito) and Hillevi Martinpelto (Vitellia).  Aberdonian soprano Lisa Milne, now very much an international star, returned as Servilia.  The cast is preserved in an enjoyable recording.

English Touring Opera brought an excellent production to the 2011 Perth Festival.  Richard Lewis conducted the staging by James Conway.  The accomplished soloists included Julia Riley (Seto) and Gillian Ramm (Vitellia).

By 2014 this vocally demanding masterpiece was seen as fair game for students at the Conservatoire in Glasgow.  The director of opera, Timothy Dean, conducted an effective performance in a simple staging by Ashley Dean.