SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK OPERA REVIEW


 

Edinburgh International Festival 2010 (7) - Mozart, Idomeneo: Soloists, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, SCO Chorus. Conductor: Sir Roger Norrington. Usher Hall, 21. 8.2010 (SRT)

Idomeneo – Kurt Streit

Idamante – Joyce DiDonato

Ilia – Rosemary Joshua

Elettra – Emma Bell

Arbace – Rainer Trost

Priest of Neptune – Keith Lewis

The great absentee from this year’s Edinburgh International Festival is the late, great Sir Charles Mackerras. For more than 16 years Mackerras delighted festival audiences with his distinctive, remarkable brand of music-making and his relationship with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra was particularly close. He had been scheduled to conduct this evening’s performance, apparently his favourite opera, and it was entirely appropriate that Festival director, Jonathan Mills, began this evening’s concert with a tribute to the late maestro.

The Festival did well to secure Sir Roger Norrington as a replacement. I haven’t always been complimentary about Norrington in these pages, but his way with Mozart was considerably less intrusive than I’ve heard him elsewhere. He allowed the music to breathe naturally, aided by the not-quite-period instruments of the SCO and he communicates well with his singers. I was most impressed with the way he kept the pace up: the recitatives zinged along and the whole evening was kept moving so that the action never flagged, though it was a mistake to conclude with the ballet music as this sapped all the energy of the final chorus.

It’s difficult to imagine a better cast of singers for this opera. The three ladies were very well contrasted: Rosemary Joshua’s Illia was bright and vulnerable while Emma Bell’s timbre was cold and icy, entirely appropriate for her characterisation of Electra. Joyce DiDonato sprinkled a touch of stardust on proceedings, lifting the excitement every time she appeared. She colours her voice remarkably, inflecting every phrase with just the right touch of light and shade and she also acted most convincingly. The men were just as fine: Kurt Streit was the finest Idomeneo I have heard, capturing the King’s flawed nobility to perfection. His vocal colour, not altogether beautiful, was just right for the horror of the trap in which he finds himself and his technical security in Fuor del Mar raised the biggest ovation of the evening. It was luxury casting indeed to have Rainer Trost as Arbace, for once making me regret that his second aria was cut, and Keith Lewis’ brief appearance as the Priest was individually memorable.

The SCO chorus were just the right size for this music and sang brilliantly with great articulation: they seem to have been lifted to a new level with the appointment of their new director, Gregory Batsleer. Underpinning all of this was the playing of the SCO, a crack Mozart team who own this music. More than once I was reminded of the excellence they brought to this score when they played it under Mackerras in the 2001 Festival: I can think of few greater compliments. The concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for transmission on Saturday 18^th September.

The Edinburgh International Festival runs until Sunday 5^th September in venues across the city. For full details and to book tickets go to www.eif.co.uk.

Simon Thompson

Back to Top                                                 Cumulative Index Page