With Idomeneo Mozart created his first great opera.
It stands out from the rest of his operatic production as a
solitaire in more than one respect. On the surface it is an
opera seria, which was a genre that in Mozart’s time
was beginning to lose its appeal. But it’s not a slavish copy
of an established structure; it’s rather brave and innovative
and filled with drama of a kind that not even Mozart himself
was able to create later in life. Figaro, Don Giovanni and
Così are comedies – more or less – and Entführung
and Zauberflöte are Singspiele so the only direct
competitor is La clemenza di Tito and, although a musically
wonderful opera, it is more retrospective.
Idomeneo is outstanding in its dramatic use of the chorus
– here Gluck is the godfather – and also the first great example
of what was to be Mozart’s hallmark as an opera composer: the
ensembles. I am talking about the quartet in act III. To Mozart
this was not just a blueprint of what was to be during the next
few years. He regarded Idomeneo as his favourite opera
and it is more daring, more modern than his later masterpieces,
pointing forward to the 19th century.
Recordings of Idomeneo are not rarities and when making
a choice one has to decide whether one wants a ‘traditional’
version with a modern orchestra, or an ‘historical’ one with
period instruments and lower pitch. In the second category John
Eliot Gardiner’s DG recording from 1990 and René Jacobs’ Harmonia
Mundi from 2009 are both highly interesting and generally well
sung. In the first category there are loads of recordings starting
out with a Vox set, released in 1950 and with many of the great
opera singers of the last sixty years represented. Thus both
Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti have essayed the title
role.
In my collection I have an EMI recording from the early 1970s,
conducted by the noted Mozartean Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt with
Nicolai Gedda in the title role, Peter Schreier as Arbace, Anneliese
Rothenberger as Ilia and Edda Moser as Elettra. Idamante is
here sung by the tenor Adolf Dallapozza. Gedda was a great Mozart
singer, as can be heard on several sets: Krips’ Entführung,
Klemperer’s Don Giovanni and Zauberflöte to
mention three but on this Idomeneo he is uncharacteristically
strained. Rothenberger is perhaps best known as a very good
operetta soprano but she also sang several Mozart roles and
her Ilia is sensitively performed. Edda Moser has both the technique
and the power for Elettra’s role, and Peter Schreier’s credentials
as a Mozart singer are well known: not the most ingratiating
of tenor voices but singing with deep insight. A Philips recording
from 1991 conducted by Colin Davis has now become my favourite,
sporting Francisco Araiza in the title role, Uwe Heilmann as
Arbace, Barbara Hendricks as Ilia, Roberta Alexander a very
good Elettra and Susanne Mentzer as a mezzo-Idamante. I must
proclaim, however, that I have not heard all the other versions.
The present issue, recorded six years ago at San Carlo in Naples
before an audience that wasn’t always the most discreet and
further adorned with some substantial helpings of stage noises,
has some advantages but there are also drawbacks.
Marco Guidarini generally chooses sensible tempos and he is
excellent in the choruses, drawing committed singing from his
choristers. Qual nuovo terrore in act II, O voto tremendo
in act III and the short final chorus are among the best things
in this recording. The orchestral playing is also up to scratch,
occasional patches of shaky ensemble notwithstanding, but that
happens in almost every live performance. The recorded sound
is good.
The singers are a mixed bag. Kurt Streit in the title role has
been a leading Mozart tenor around the world for almost 25 years
and he is booked several years ahead but his busy schedule –
including many roles besides his Mozart signatures – has no
doubt taken its toll. As reproduced here the tone, even six
years ago, is worn and the mellifluousness has been replaced
by a certain hardness and also a widened vibrato. That he is
an expressive and dramatic singer is never in doubt. Fuor
del mar, his big aria in act II, is sung with appropriate
temperament and in the last resort I have to admit that his
reading of the role is very convincing, in spite of the deficiencies.
Jörg Schneider, who sings Arbace, delivers full-throated singing
but very little of nuance and interpretative insight.
The Idamante, Sonia Ganassi, instantly became a great favourite
when Naxos in 1992 issued Il barbiere di Siviglia, a
recording that has been hailed by an almost unanimous body of
reviewers. Her Rosina may not be quite in the Berganza class
but not far behind. Also for her the years haven’t passed unnoticed
and here she sings with a widened vibrato. As an interpreter
she is, like Streit, deeply satisfying.
Angeles Blancas Gulin, who sings Ilia, has a beautiful voice
but even she has a somewhat annoying vibrato and the tone is
rather fluttery. Stylistically she is good and she sings the
best-known aria in this opera, Zeffiretti. lusinghieri in
act III neatly but occasionally with hesitant intonation.
Quite the best singing on this set comes from Georgian soprano
Iano Tamar. Elettra is one of the most formidable soprano roles
in all Mozart, surpassing even Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
The biography in the booklet reveals that she also sings Lady
Macbeth and Norma, which says something about her voice type.
And it is a grand dramatic voice. Listen to Tutte nel cor
in act I (CD 1 tr. 9) and even more impressive is her Idol
mio in act II (CD 2, tr. 6). Not only has she got all the
power needed but it is also a well focused voice and it has
that thrill that makes the hair stand on end when she engages
the turbo. In the third act she again impresses in D’Oreste,
d’Ajace (CD 3, tr. 18). This is a singer I long to hear
more of.
As a total experience this Idomeneo is not competitive,
considering how many other versions that are available. Streit
and Ganassi give deeply committed performances, Gulin has her
moments but the really great singing comes from Tamar. Readers
wanting a cheap set can still find a lot to enjoy and the recording
gives a fairly good picture of the strength of this opera, which
still hasn’t been quite established as a Masterpiece in the
Mozart canon.
Göran Forsling
Kurt Streit (tenor) – Idomeneo; Angeles Blancas Gulin (soprano)
– Ilia; Iano Tamar (soprano) – Elettra; Sonia Ganassi (mezzo-soprano)
– Idamante; Jörg Schneider (tenor) – Arbace; Dario Magnabosco (tenor)
– Il Gran Sacerdote di Nettuno; Deyan Vatchkov (bass) – La voce
dell’Oracolo 
