AllMovie

Known for his stunning originality and innovation in mounting Mozart opera, legendary stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle staged and produced the composer's 1791 opera seria +La Clemenza di Tito in 1980 amid the ancient Roman ruins - appropriately so, given the opera's setting. Unfolding in antiquity, it tells the story of Vitellia's attempts to enact vengeance against Titus (or Tito) for deposing her father, the Roman emperor Vitellius. In Ponnelle's production, Eric Tappy portrays Titus, Carol Neblett plays Vitellia, and Tatiana Troyanos appears as Sesto. The Wiener Philharmoniker, provides accompaniment, as conducted by James Levine.