The Paris Opera’s new season may have begun with a revival of its striking production of Richard Strauss’s Salome, but those who still remember the traditional Palais Garnier’s legacy as the main operatic stage in the French capital can comfort themselves with this delightful production of Mozart’s last opera. Dating from 1997, Willy Decker’s effort reduces the work’s heavy imperial Roman idiom to stylized surroundings that suggest Mozart’s own era en grotesque, mainly through the costuming of soloists in mild colored eighteenth-century dress and the chorus in severe black with eccentric hairstyles and odd accoutrements. John MacFarlane’s set centers on a large block of marble that is rotated after each scene and progressively sculpted into an accurate bust of the historical Emperor Titus. Just as each scene opens with more of the man’s image revealed, we follow the evolution of Tito’s character to the extreme magnanimity on display in the opera’s conclusion. The effect reminds us that the opera was written for one of the composer’s principal patrons, the Habsburg Emperor Leopold II (reigned 1790-1792) and that the clemency shown by the title character represents a plea for measured rule on principles of charity and reason. Since I last saw the production in 1999, it has been streamlined to eliminate extraneous action that detracted from the larger theme.

It is always a great pleasure to see larger repertoire works presented in the Garnier, but the evening’s musical talent made this especially true. Klaus Florian Vogt’s successful career in the lighter Wagner tenor parts did not make him a natural choice for Tito’s more sensitive music, but he accomplished the role with suitable restraint. Hibla Gerzmava played a sultry Vitellia, at first a spurned woman who engages in political and sexual intrigue to bring about Tito’s death but who, however unlikely, becomes a paragon of virtue and honesty once she learns that her affections are returned. A really artful interpretation of the early coloratura runs written for the part eluded her, but the overall portrayal was effective and memorable. In the trouser part of Tito’s friend-turned enemy-turned friend again Sesto, Stéphanie d’Oustrac delivered a virtuoso performance. I found the role’s signature aria “Parto, parto” a touch restrained, but it was not clear that this was the fault of the singer. Amel Brahim-Djelloul sang a clear voiced Servilia. Allyson McHardy’s Annio and Balint Szabo’s Publio were welcome additions to the cast. Adam Fischer led the orchestra with superb musicianship and relayed the score with a worthy delicacy.