Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was only fourteen when he wrote his opera Mitridate, re di Ponto during a tour of Italy in 1770. On 26 December of the same year, the work opened the carnival season at Milan’s Teatro Regio Ducale – and despite numerous misgivings owing to the composer’s young age the performance was a huge success. The plot centres on a subject popular with many operas at the time, and one that Mozart himself returned to several times in later years: love put to the test. Mitridate, an ageing king, wishes to marry again. Following a dangerous battle he arranges for rumours of his death to be spread so that his fiancée Aspasia is left alone with his sons Farnace and Sifare … Although, in its form, the opera follows the conventions of classic Baroque opera seria with numerous virtuoso arias and only a few ensembles, Mozart nevertheless breaks new ground by introducing a psychological depth previously unheard-of in opera.

Concert performance in Italian with German surtitles

Introduction to the work 30 minutes before curtain-up