Opera Exam Presented by Liszt Academy

End-of-year exams for the vocal department stretch the school’s framework to breaking point! Over the past few years they have matured into major public events. This year’s opera exam is built around the plot of The Clemency of Titus. Many have set this theme to music but the arrangement by Mozart is the most well known. The Clemency of Titus, which was the composer’s last opera, premiered in Prague in 1791 when Leopold II was crowned King of Bohemia. Although it was not considered a significant work for many years, interest in this opera has revived in the last half century. Mozart worked on a near 60-year-old libretto, the original of which was penned by Metastasio in 1734. Roman Emperor Titus stands at the centre of the plot; the conspiracy against the ruler, the emperor’s marriage policy and the tangled love network of the court are all evoked on stage.