Mitridate, re di Ponto

Theater an der Wien, Wien

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was only 14 years old when he composed his opera Mitridate, re di Ponto during a trip to Italy in 1770. On December 26 of the same year, it opened the carnival season at Milan's Teatro Regio Ducale - and despite all reservations about the composer's youth, the performance was a great success. At the heart of the plot is a popular theme in many operas of the time, which Mozart would later return to several times: the trial of love. Mitridate, an ageing king, wants to marry again. After a dangerous battle, he spreads the rumor of his death, leaving his fiancée Aspasia alone with his sons Farnace and Sifare ... Although the opera formally resembles a classic Baroque opera seria with numerous virtuoso arias and few ensembles, Mozart breaks out of this corset with psychological depth that was unheard of in opera history at the time.

Concert performance in Italian with German surtitles
Introduction to the work 30 minutes before the start of the performance