Interview, Laurence Equilbey on Lucio Silla

Written for the Teatro Regio Ducale in 1772, Mozart's Lucio Silla was the young composer's third opera for Milan, with one of the major attractions at the premiere being the presence of the star soprano castrato Venanzio Rauzzini (for whom Mozart would later compose Exsultate, jubilate) as Cecilio. Due to its high tessitura, the role has hitherto been allocated to sopranos and coloratura mezzos on recordings, but a new account from Laurence Equilbey and Insula has Argentinian super-countertenor Franco Fagioli stepping into Rauzzini's flamboyant shoes.

In between rehearsals for Insula's European tour with Beethoven's Fidelio, Laurence answered a few questions over email about the teenage Mozart's evolving voice, the many and varied demands of all the principal roles and the singers who created them, and Insula's plans to branch out into Romantic operatic repertoire in the nearish future...

Lucio Silla was a relatively popular libretto in the eighteenth century - is there any evidence that Mozart had heard other settings of the text?

Mozart heard JC Bach's Lucio Silla in Manheim in 1777; he had already composed his own setting by then, but he liked it very much. Indeed, a Salzburg production of Mozart's opera added an aria from JC Bach's score for Lucio Silla.

Given Mozart's extreme youth when he composed the opera, are there any passages where you're aware that this is the work of a composer with limited experience of writing for the theatre?

When he composed Lucio Silla for the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan, Mozart was only sixteen years old, and through the torments of the young Roman dictator, we can perceive the emotions and preoccupations that the young composer was himself experiencing.

Even though Mozart was still a teenager and had limited experience in writing for the theater, he did what he did best: he appropriated the framework to better implode it. In the macrostructure, he respects the conventions of the opera seria, but in the content he operates a true revolution.

In this opera, his innovations are invaluable and lead the opera towards other paths. Mozart does not hesitate to give more importance to the ensembles, to the chorus. The accompanied narratives are incredibly developed; most of the arias are exceptional, and the dramatic tension does not stop growing until the final liberation.

How much do you think his voice and style had evolved in the two years between Mitridate and Lucio Silla?

The vocal qualities required are very similar. The arias are often virtuosic and the tessituras wide. In Lucio Silla, the vocal characters are very specific, especially the three sopranos who are very different from each other.

Conversely, do you see any foreshadowing of the mature operas in the score? (I'm wondering in particular about La Clemenza di Tito here, given that there are some parallels in terms of the subject-matter...)

The themes of Lucio Silla already bear the seeds of those of the mature operas. The libretto is fascinating. We have many elements which will often come to participate later in the Mozartian drama. The overwhelming image of the father, the cemetery, passionate love, danger, betrayal.

There is the psychological, initiatory journey of Lucio Silla, who could resemble the future Sarastro, with his ambiguity. There are also, instrumentally, premises of Don Giovanni with the scene in the cemetery. Here the horns replace the trombones, but the effect is striking. And the young Mozart already knows how to translate the smallest inflections of the characters' feelings into music, and already possesses a melodic genius.

Concerning La Clemenza, the scenario is very similar to Lucio Silla. It remains an opera seria, which aims to highlight the greatness of a monarch's soul, although for me Lucio Silla is much more cruel than Titus. We also find the codes of this lyrical style, for example the bravura aria (Cecilio in Lucio Silla, Sesto in La Clemenza).

Lucio Silla was Mozart's third work for the Teatro Regio Ducale - what was the story behind the young composer's relationship with the theatre, and how much do you see him catering specifically for the tastes of the Milanese audience?

The first two operas composed for Milan were Mitridate (1770) and Ascanio in Alba (1771). In these two operas, Mozart was more in line with the conventions of the Italian opera seria. With Lucio Silla, Mozart continues to respect the framework, but he manages to innovate and his work is more personal, which perhaps appealed less to the Milanese public. In particular, we see a more subtle use of virtuosity and a tighter dramatic and sentimental control.

Yours is, to my knowledge, the first commercial recording to cast a male singer in the demanding role of Cecilio - were you always clear that you wanted to do this, and had you worked with Franco Fagioli before?

The role of Cecilio was composed for the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini. It is a role of great difficulty, with a formidable tessitura for a countertenor, which makes it almost exclusively cast for women nowadays. With Franco Fagioli, worthy heir of the castrati, we had the great fortune to be able to benefit from a man who possesses all the qualities to incarnate the Roman senator.

How much do we know about the other singers who created the roles, and how closely did you try to reflect their vocal qualities in your casting?

Mozart had to deal with the singers who were recruited by the theater in Milan. The tenor originally intended for the title role fell ill and was replaced by a church singer of more limited means, and this is why Silla's arias are less difficult. However, Mozart tried to get the best out of them.

On the other hand, Mozart was particularly happy to work with Anna de Amicis, the interpreter of the role of Giunia, whose voice he knew very well. Anna came late in the composition process, but Mozart refused to work on his arias without her. Leopold, her father, says that Wolfgang adjusted the arias like a tailor, and that Anna was 'archicontentissima'.

For the three female roles, we tried above all to characterise each one with very different voices. Like Cecilio, the three soprano roles require a great deal of agility, a very wide range and infinite breath: Olga Pudova, Chiara Skerath and Ilse Eerens possess all these qualities.

Finally, Alessandro Liberatore brings the ideal color to the Roman dictator, written in a very central tessitura.

Can you tell me a little about the staging concept for the 2016 production? Does the piece pose any particular theatrical challenges for modern audiences and directors?

The work of Rita Cosentino, who plays on symbolic props and careful lighting, contributes greatly to the enhancement of this rare opera. The places differ from one scene to another, very quickly and without transition, so her pivoting panel system was a very good idea. She put a lot of effort into directing the actors: like many directors, she tried to universalise the subject, as there are still many dictators today, and similarly many political prisoners. I worked with her on the dramaturgy so that the tension would only increase until the act of clemency.

Do you have plans to perform/record more opera with Insula?

Yes, definitely! I'm waiting for some operatic proposals for that, probably Marschner's Der Vampyr, after having already recorded Gounod's La Nonne sanglante. I would also like to dig into Schubert's operas.