The ageing King Mitridate wants to marry again. But he senses that his two sons could steal the love of his fiancée Aspasia as well as the throne.
After a defeat against the Romans, Mitridate spreads the rumor that he died in battle. His eldest, Farnace, promptly pressures his father's young bride to marry him instead. But Aspasia secretly loves his younger brother Sifare and asks him for protection against Farnace's advances. Then the King of Pontus, who was thought to be dead, appears; he is accompanied by Ismene, to whom Farnace once promised marriage. The characters begin to eye each other suspiciously. Farnace, who is in league with the Romans, plots against his father, while Sifare and Aspasia are torn between their mutual love and their loyalty to Mitridate. At the mercy of the jealous king's vengefulness, their desperation brings them close to death.
The psychological sensitivity with which the 14-year-old Mozart translates the extreme emotional states of the characters into music is almost unbelievable! A series of arias, some of them highly virtuosic, set to the sounds of a no less virtuosic orchestra, not only testifies to Mozart's gift for invention, but also provides realistic insights into the emotionally charged family relationships. The child prodigy makes the rigid form of opera seria sparkle in a way that touches us deeply, even in this youthful work with his unerring theatrical instinct and craftsmanship.
Premiere December 7, 2025
Further performances: December 11, 14, 20, 22 and 28, 2025, January 4 and 10, 2026
