Op­era ser­ia in three acts K. 87 resp.v74a (1770)
Lib­retto: Vit­torio Amedeo Cigna-Santi

Widely ac­claimed as one of the ab­so­lute top pro­duc­tions of the Moz­art 22 cycle in Salzburg, "Mitrid­ate" has everything go­ing for it. It is a wild story of erot­ic de­sire, jeal­ousy, in­trigue and be­tray­al; a dra­mat­ic­ally fo­cused sta­ging that does full justice to the con­flic­ted re­la­tions; a cast of sing­ers who are all of the hight­est caliber; and a sen­sa­tion­al mu­sic­al en­semble led by a sin­gu­larly power­ful and cha­ris­mat­ic con­duct­or.

"Mitrid­ate" is the first ma­jor op­era ser­ia fo the 14-year-old Moz­art, and its plot typ­ic­al of this genre, which had its hey­day in the mid to late 18th cen­tury. King Mitrid­ate, blinded by his lust for power, be­lieves his sons Far­nace and Si­fare as well as his be­trothed As­pasia, are be­tray­ing him. He wants to put them to the test by sta­ging his own death. The two sons, who want to go their own ways, are thus forced to op­pose their fath­er, even as they long for his love. Mitrid­ate is ready to sac­ri­fice all three – but in the end he is the only one who dies.

Richard Croft, Mitrid­ate
Netta Or, As­pasia
Mi­ah Persson, Si­fare
Be­jun Me­hta, Far­nace
In­gela Bo­hlin, Is­mene
Colin Lee, Mar­zio
Pas­cal Bertin, Ar­bate

Marc Minkowsksi, con­duct­or
Günter Krämer, stage dir­ect­or
Peter Schönhofer, video dir­ect­or

Les Mu­si­ciens du Louvre - Gren­oble

Re­cord­ing dates: 21.08.| 26.08.| 28.08.2006
28.08.2006 live broad­cast with timeshift on 3sat
Ven­ue: Res­id­en­zhof