Washington National Opera has two more operas scheduled for this season, and DCist went to the prima of the first of them Saturday night, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

Michael Hampe’s handsome production, created for the Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile, places characters in 18th-century Napoleonic costumes (designed by Germán Droghetti) — Tito’s imperial robes in the final scene appear to be derived from Ingres’s coronation portrait of Napoleon I — in sets clearly showing imperial Rome. In the background, we see the famous Pantheon, but in its present-day form, which was not built until the second century by a later emperor, Hadrian. The earlier Pantheon was indeed destroyed by fire in 80 A.D., but in this production it is part of the fire that Sesto sets in the Campidoglio. For the record, the Pantheon is not located on the Capitoline Hill.

Tenor Michael Schade, who has sung the title role to great acclaim in Europe, was a convincing Tito, with strong sound, but showing slight weakness in some of the challenging runs. Power was certainly not an issue for Russian soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya, who with her blood-red gown and Queen of the Night sorceress’s staff seemed to be auditioning for the role of Lady Macbeth. Mozart wrote some striking low notes for this role, all of which Pavlovskaya sang with perhaps overpowering strength, including the lowest one, in the second act, which was the only moment where her voice almost gave out.