Mozart: Mitridate, re di Ponto

It’s the 250th anniversary of the 14-year-old Mozart’s ambitious opera – hear it performed on period instruments by The Mozartists.

Mitridate, re di Ponto was first heard at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan on 26 December 1770.

It marked the end of Mozart’s first trip to Italy, and was the first operatic success for a composer still a month short of his 15th birthday.

Ian Page conducts an outstanding cast in a concert performance for the opera’s 250th anniversary.

The opera is based on Racine’s tragedy Mithridate.

It takes place in a port on the southern shores of the Black Sea.

A king, Mitridate, has just been defeated by the Roman army, and is rumoured to have been killed.

His two sons see the opportunity to make advances on Mitridate’s beautiful fiancée, but all is not as it seems.

Infatuated love, filial duty and the lust for power are played out in an astonishing score.

The young Mozart’s music displays stunning virtuosity, insight and beauty.