"As remarkable as the quality of the compositions themselves is the astonishing rapidity with which Mozart composed his last two great operas, “Die Zauberflöte”, K.620, and “La clemenza di Tito”, K.621: From first sketches and drafts to finished products, some 800 pages of music penned within the six-month period from April to September 1791.

Opinions of the work at the time of its première are as varied as the history of its reception. As a “coronation” opera it initially lent itself to court festivities everywhere, and because of its aspect of “clemency”, to charitable events. It survived in its own right as opera seria through the first two decades of the 19th century, then, but for occasional performances (these sometimes with altered or added texts), fell into obscurity for the next 150 years.

The vocal score to Mozart’s „La clemenza di Tito“ is available in this hardcover edition as well as in a soft-cover edition (BA 4554-90). This means that you have the choice: perhaps you prefer a lower-priced and slightly lighter soft-cover edition with excellent lay-flat characteristics or you feel that sturdier hardcover editions of important repertoire works are more likely to survive the rigours of a musician’s life.

Mozart’s last two operas, „The Magic Flute“ and „La clemenza di Tito“, are not only remarkable for their outstanding quality but also for the astonishingly short period of time Mozart needed to write them: From the first sketches and drafts to the completed scores Mozart put on paper approximately 800 pages of music between April and September of 1791, a six month period.