Mitridate Re Di Ponto

Abstract

On December 13, 1769, the 13-year-old Mozart left his native city of Salzburg in the company of his father Leopold. Their destination was Italy, the unrivaled home of opera and a magnet to all musicians. After staying in Verona for nearly two weeks, father and son arrived in Milan in the middle of January. Here the young Mozart was not only able to hear operas by Jommelli and Piccinni, two of the leading composers of the day, but through the auspices of Count Karl Joseph Firmian, the Governor General of Lombardy, received commissions to compose two dramatic works himself. One was to celebrate the forthcoming wedding festivities of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, a serenata first given in October 1771), the other an opera seria for the Christmas festival season of 1770. The subject chosen was based around the figure of the historical king Mithridates (ca. 135 - 64 B.C.), whose courageous opposition to Rome forms the background to a plot which has little basis in historical fact. According to the contract, Mozart, who received the libretto by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi in July while he was in Bologna, would be paid 100 gold gulden for the opera. In keeping with the conventions of the day, the recitatives were written ahead of the arias, which were not composed until Mozart arrived back in Milan and was able to tailor the arias to the requirements of the singers. The resultant opera, Mitridate, rè di Ponto, follows the standard three-act format of opera seria. The first night at the Teatro Regio Ducal on December 26 was Mozart's first great success as an opera composer, the work being acclaimed by public and critics alike despite a premiere that lasted six hours as the result of the inclusion of no less than three ballets, the music for which was not by Mozart. Subsequently it was given at least 20 further performances, a success that would lead to the commissioning of another opera, Lucia Silla, K. 135 (1772).

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