Caitlin Oldham/Washington Concert Opera

While I don’t have anything against togas and distressed columns, Clemenza does seem particularly well-suited to the concert setting, where one can forgo the challenges of making opera seria work on a modern stage and just focus on the incredible parade of Mozart hits you never knew you were missing.

Soprano Tamara Wilson headlined the evening in her first outing as Vitellia, returning to the company after a 2014 Il Corsaro with Michael Fabiano. Wilson’s seasoned stage presence added some critical lift amidst all the very earnest Romans, delivering jokes for days in the recit and finely sketched shades of haughtiness, vulnerability, and cruelty that leapt out from behind the music stand.

Wilson traced a series of satisfying emotional arcs in Vitellia’s key showcases, an Act I “Deh se piacer” purred with coquettish restraint until opening up into a blazing conclusion, while her great Act II plea of contrition, “Non più di fiori,” subdued and almost bewildered at the outset, triumphed in a flash of steely brilliance in the final bars. That brilliant top was not always immaculate, with the occasional pinched climax outside of the big numbers, but it delivered in the important moments, complemented by the occasional dip into a bracing chest register that rounded out the colors at Wilson’s disposal.

Stephanie Doche made a considerable impression as Sesto, offering an ample mezzo that soared over the orchestra with an unusual consistency and depth. At times it could be a bit of blunt instrument–in the opening section of Sesto’s great showpiece “Parto, parto,” that steady sound seemed to come at the expense of shape and nuance in the vocal line, though her confident charge through the finale’s runs was an unabashed triumph.

Sesto’s Act II scena of internal struggle was some of Doche’s most effective dramatic work of the evening, though she couldn’t quite maintain the same interest in the ultimate confrontation with Tito. The character’s final plea, “Deh per questo istante” had a sort of all-purpose gravitas but not much pathos, again redeemed by impressive handling of the up-tempo close.

All around nice guy and *Roman emperor* Tito is a tough assignment–the character seems awfully basic relative to the iconic troubled authority figures of Mozart’s comedies, while having to shoulder the work’s abstract central plot point about whether or not he’s going to be merciful. (Spoiler warning: the title of the opera.) Uruguayan tenor Edgardo Rocha took these challenges in stride, however, bringing a fine musicality and facility with the text that enlivened the extended monologues for the title role.

These attributes kept Tito’s arias engaging as well, Rocha’s flexible instrument delivering sensitive insights in the Emperor’s searching statements. Unfortunately Rocha had trouble finding answers for the part’s heavier musical demands throughout the evening, his sound growing pale and effortful whenever it came under too much pressure in the upper register.

Caitlin Oldham/Washington Concert Opera

Meridian Prall and Raven McMillon presented a pair of exquisite debuts with the company as Annio and Servilla respectively. Prall’s warm, elegant mezzo made for irresistible traversals of her two highlights, “Torna di Tito a lato” and “Tu fosti tradito,” while enchanting creamy high notes distinguished McMillon’s late breaking “S’altro che lacrime.” Matthew Scollin’s attractive bass-baritone turned in a fine rendition of Publius’s paean to what an extremely great guy Tito is.

A reduced band (relative to WCO’s usual 19th century fare) contributed to a particularly tight reading of the score, with nicely unified strings and precise support from the winds and horns. Walker kept things moving in both the orchestral highlights, including the stirring entrance to the final scene, and big arias, always at the ready to inject some extra pace where needed. A similarly streamlined WCO chorus made much of the full ensemble passages, allowing Walker to add additional depth and variety through well-calibrated balancing across the orchestra and chorus.

The instrumental coup of the evening, however, was surely the participation of former Cincinnati Symphony member Jonathan Gunn, who appeared with the soloists at the front of the stage for splendid interpretations of the basset clarinet and basset horn solos that accompany “Parto, parto” and “Non piu di Fiori,” respectively.