Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Idomeneo - a music drama in three acts K366 (1781)
Idomeneo, King of Crete - John Mark Ainsley (tenor); Idamante,
his son - Pavol Breslik (tenor); Ilia, Trojan princess, daughter
of Priam - Juliane Banse (soprano); Electra, princess, daughter
of Agamemnon, king of Argos - Annette Dasch (soprano); Arbace,
confidante of the king - Rainer Trost (tenor); High Priest of
Neptune - Guy de Mey (tenor)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera/Kent Nagano
Stage Director: Dieter Dorn; Stage and Costume Design: Jürgen
Rose
rec. live, Cuvilliés Theatre, Munich, 11, 14 June 2008
Directed for TV: Brian Large
TV format: 1080i; Full HD, 16:9. Sound format: PCM stereo. DTS-HD
Master Audio surround sound
EUROARTS BLU-RAY 2072444 [176:00]
In 1780 Mozart was greatly frustrated by the lack of opportunities
to stage his new singspiel - the one we now know as Zaide.
However, the summer brought news for which the composer had
longed. It was a commission to write a serious opera for Munich,
the new base of the Court previously at Mannheim. The new work
was to be presented in the Carnival Season of 1780-1781. The
subject chosen was Idomeneo. The composer sought leave
from the Archbishop with the Chaplain of the Archbishop’s
Court being chosen to write the libretto, much of which was
written whilst Mozart was in Salzburg.
The plot of Idomeneo tells the story of the eponymous
King of Crete and is set against the backdrop of the aftermath
of the Trojan Wars. The Trojan princess Ilia is held captive
on Crete, where she has fallen in love with Idamante, the son
of her country's long-standing enemy, Idomeneo. However, to
complete the love triangle Idamante is promised in marriage
to the Mycenaean princess Electra. On his return from Troy,
Idomeneo is caught up in a violent storm. In order to save his
life he vows to sacrifice to Neptune, the sea God, the first
living creature he encounters on land; this turns out to be
none other than Idamante, his son. Idomeneo, along with his
confidante Arbace, who is the only other person to know about
his terrible vow, tries to circumvent the sacrifice by sending
Idamante and Electra to Mycenae. Neptune is up to this and prevents
the boat from leaving by creating a storm followed by the invasion
of a sea monster that threatens Crete. In despair at his father's
behaviour towards him, Idamante decides to seek death in battle
with the monster and in that way to escape from the crisis of
conscience caused by his love for Ilia. The sea monster terrifies
the whole of Crete. In order to reassure his people Idomeneo
finally reveals the reason for Neptune's anger. To general dismay,
Idamante is led to the sacrificial altar, but at the very last
moment is saved by the voice of the High Priest of Neptune who
states that Idomeneo must abdicate and hand over power to Idamante
and Ilia.
In style Idomeneo is firmly an opera seria with recitative
and set arias and ensembles easily becoming rather static vocal
showpieces. It was a genre that Mozart did not return to again
until his last staged work, La Clemenza di Tito, ten
years later. By which time, vastly more experienced, he was
able to bend the traditional form of the genre to better encompass
the dramatic thrust of the work. In Idomeneo this ability
is less evident and whilst some claim it to be equal to Tito,
the great Da Ponte trilogy of the 1780s and the singspiels Die
Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte,
it is perhaps better considered as being the first of Mozart’s
truly great stage works. Mozart did make revisions for performances
in Vienna in 1786 and which involved the casting of the role
of Idamante for tenor instead of the castrato of the original.
This change is compounded here with the roles of Arbace and,
unusually, the High Priest of Neptune also being sung by tenors.
The work was premiered on 29 January 1781 in the small Court
Theatre in Munich. That theatre now bears to name of the Cuvilliés
Theatre after its builder. It is in this small delightful rococo
restored venue that this performance was recorded, the staging
presented to celebrate its re-opening after three years of restoration.
Seating just over five hundred it is, economically, unlikely
to be staged in such a small venue again. In the circumstances
it is a pity that the Bavarian State Opera did not follow the
example of the Maryinsky Theatre in 1998 who for their performances
of the 1862 original version of Verdi’s La forza del
destino reconstructed the original sets (see review).
The designer here, Jürgen Rose, follows something of the
current trend of minimalism with a stage workshop set with contemporary
accoutrements. His costumes are something of a mishmash of styles
and periods that are no aid whatsoever in helping to determine
who is who when the chorus perform.
The name part has drawn many famous tenors to the recording
studio including those not noted in Mozart in the theatre, including
Pavarotti and Domingo. John Mark Ainsley’s tenor is not
of the same mellifluous character or vocal grace as those famous
names. There are some dry patches in his voice and it lacks
a free heroic ring. Nonetheless, his act two Fuor del mar
(CH.24) is a histrionic tour de force. What he brings
to the whole performance is a dramatic commitment and involvement
that overcomes the restricted setting and vocal as well as costume
limitations. Vital for any dramatic realisation to escape this
tawdry staging is that Ainsley’s strengths are matched
by the soft-grained eloquent tenor singing of Pavol Breslik
as Idamante. The duet between father and son is the particular
and most significant highlight of this performance (CHs.31).
Apart from the singers mentioned the general standard is mediocre.
Rainer Trost as Arbace, gets both his arias (CHs.20 and 42)
but now has significant raw patches in his tone and is unable
to make any impact in this production. He looks foppish and
plain silly carrying Electra’s suitcases around! Of the
ladies, Juliane Banse as Ilia starts better than she finishes
whilst the tall and imposing scarlet-gowned Electra of Annette
Dasch barely whips up a tantrum as she is left alone from the
festivities (CH.51). In the pit Kent Nagano does not come over
as particularly adept in this music which at times not only
fails to sparkle but sounds positively turgid. This turgidity
would be fatal but for the committed histrionic performances
of John Mark Ainsley and Pavol Breslik.
Robert J Farr
Two histrionic performances cannot entirely rescue Mozart’s
early masterpiece from this messy production.