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Oblong quarto. Full dark orange cloth with "J.B." gilt to lower outer corner of upper board, titling gilt to spine. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-87, [i] (blank) pp. Lithographed. Binding slightly worn, soiled, cockled, and shaken. Minor internal wear; uniform light browning, slightly heavier to title; occasional pencil markings; small tear to final leaf archivally repaired. La Clemenza di Tito, an opera seria in two acts to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio adapted by Caterino Mazzolà, was first performed in Prague at the National Theatre on September 6, 1791, approximately 3 months before Mozart died on December 5, 1791. He had arrived in Prague on August 28 and, despite his illness, finished work on the opera on the eve of the performance. "Although mostly composed after Die Zauberflöte, La clemenza di Tito was performed first. The reception was modest until a triumphant last night was reported to Mozart (who had left Prague on 15 September) on the day of the première of Die Zauberflöte (30 September). Had he lived to prepare further performances, Mozart would surely have replaced Süssmayr s simple recitatives (which do not always end in an appropriate key). He might have increased the orchestrated recitative to a quantity approaching that in Così and, as he had planned for Idomeneo, rearranged the vocal forces, with a tenor Sextus. Now that performances and recordings, and a general revival of 18th-century repertory, encourage reassessment of its virtues, La clemenza di Tito clearly appears a conception not fully realized, but still masterly and amply rewarding study and performance. Until about 1830 La clemenza di Tito was one of Mozart's most popular operas; it then went into eclipse. It has never fully entered the modern repertory and is often described as unworthy of Mozart, hastily assembled for a commission he could not refuse. Critical estimates have risen since World War II, and it is now seen as a positive step towards further reform of opera seria." Julian Rushton in Grove Music Online. Seller Inventory # 36322
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