M22: IDOMENEO (Salzburg Festival 2006)

This is a DVD of a live performance of the opera from the 2006 Salzburg Summer Festival at the House for Mozart. It is a part of the M22 Project that staged and recorded for posterity all 22 operas written by Mozart. This performance uses the original Munich version of the opera. Musically this means we are sadly deprived of Idomeneo’s aria ‘Torna la pace’ and Idamante’s aria ‘No la morte’, since Mozart cut them himself in order to keep the drama of the piece flow better. On the other hand, we are treated to a splendid rendition of the obnoxiously difficult Munich version of Idomeneo’s Act I ‘Fuor del mar’ instead. Not a bad trade off, really.

The story of the opera is of the coming of age of Idamante of Crete and how his dad King Idomeneo’s refusal to fulfill his secret vow to Nettuno (Neptune) by sacrificing his only son brings about calamities and heartaches. The relationship between Idomeneo and Idamante is further complicated by the love triangle between the Greek princess Elettra (Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon) , whose love for Idamante is unreturned because he is already fixated on the Trojan princess Ilia (daughter of Priam). For more details on the story of the opera, please see this long synopsis of Mozart’s Idomeneo.

See video clips from this DVD at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfc8zceMEwU (Ramon Vargas as Idomeneo, singing his Act II 'Four del mar')
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns3nt9EP-5A&feature=related (Anja Harteros as Elettra singing the show ending 'D'Oreste e d'Ajace')

CAST:
Idomeneo (King of Crete) ::: Ramon Vargas (tenor)
Idamante (his son) ::: Magdalena Kozena (mezzo-soprano)
Ilia (Trojan princess) ::: Ekaterina Siurina (soprano)
Elettra (Greek princess) ::: Anja Harteros (soprano)
Arbace (Idomeneo’s confidant) ::: Jeffrey Francis (tenor)
Gran Sacerdote (High Priest of Neptune ) ::: Robin Leggate (tenor)
La Voce (The Voice... of Zeus?) ::: Guenther Groissboeck (bass-baritone)
Nettuno (Neptune) ::: Andreas Schlager (non-singing part)
Conductor :: Sir Roger Norrington / Camerata Salzburg
Chorus Master :: Alois Glassner/ Salzburger Bachchor
Stage Director :: Ursel & Karl-Ernst Herrmann

Staging by The Herrmanns is quite clever and effective. This is a modern, minimalistic, and quite interestingly conceptual production. The stage is divided into 2 part, with an extended front room that wraps around the orchestra pit, making it possible for the singing actors to walk forward to be between the orchestra and the audience at times. Very neat way of drawing the audience closer, I think.

The front extension also allows the actors to keep moving about during the ensemble scenes instead of just standing around while the other is singing. It works wonder in lessening the static quality of the piece. The back-room (the actual stage proper) is occasionally sealed off by the curtain, but when it isn’t, features a forward facing slope that accentuates any movement toward the back-stage nicely. Flanking the back slope are voids filled with dark blue cloth that gets blown up during the storm scenes to effectively emulate the raging sea. I love their co-ordinated use of lighting to signify clasps of thunder during Elettra’s Act I rage aria. It is quite educational how such a bare set can effectively stand in for many different scenes of the opera.

Costume is rather mixed and modern, and reflective of the characters’ personality. Ilia’s is basic white one-piece toga, while Idamante looks like a British yuppie in pant suit, for instances. I don’t know how much of the choreography is directed by the Herrmanns and how much is from the actors, but over all it works fine.

My main objection is in how Idamante is played. And the ending (supposedly) ballet is a bit odd with Idamante and Ilia running about trying to evade the curious crowd in order to share a private kiss... all with the mad Elettra looking on in the background as the two lovers break into rather childish dances. It’s a bit odd in rather humorous ways, but as a whole, I love this staging very much. It tells the story effectively without adding too many frivolous elements that many other M22 productions are plagued with.

To see photos from this production, go to: http://www.salzburgfestival.at/popup_fotoservice.php?lang=en&id=148

Nettuno the Sea God is prominent in this production as well. While usually an unseen figure that only looms over the story in the orchestral chords, in this production the green and shelly clad actor Andreas Schlager is nearly always present in the scene silently and coldly observing the humans he is toying with. He is wonderfully menacing in his silent ways (looking a bit like a slitty-eyed version of The Hulk helps, I guess).

In the title role of Idomeneo is the marvelous Mexican tenor Ramon Vargas. This role really suits him well both vocally and theatrically. Idomeneo does not require a great actor, he is the grim guy of the show who is always in some kind of distress from the beginning to the end, where the burden is lifted by Zeus’ interference. Senor Vargas shows himself a better actor than I had expected; however, making what little movements he makes count. Vocally he is an astoundingly good Idomeneo. The equal of Bruce Ford, who has owned this role for the longest time. His rendition of the difficult Munich version of ‘Fuor del mar’ is a highlight of the show. The voice is meatier than what’s captured in his recordings of Argirio and Tebaldo in the RCA CDs of the operas Tancredi and I Capuleti e i Montecchi, but still very beautifully light and agile... Though this role is probably at the dramatic limit for his rather light lyrico spinto voice. And he acts wonderfully with it, too!

As his heroic son Idamante is the Czech mezzo Magdalena Kozena. With her feminine high-mezzo voice, it might take a while to get used to the idea that she is singing a male role, but once you get past that she is vocally wonderful with beautiful floated top notes, and great control of the voice (though some of her ornamentation doesn’t fit all that well to the musical mood... to my very unprofessional ears). Theatrically... I guess I’m still not used to her style and keep reading the wrong message from her body language. This is quite a mentally unstable Idamante, given to exaggerated fits of mania and exaggerated bouts of depression (is this really in the music? I’ve always thought of Idamante as temperamental but well grounded young man. This one is more a cross between a loony bin escapee and spoiled grade-schooler who stomps his feet when he doesn't get his candy). At any rate, I find the scenes with her in it more enjoyable with my eyes closed (I did mention that she sings well, right?). As hot-headed as Idamante supposedly is, one is supposed to root for him to slay the Sea Monster and for Idomeneo to not sacrifice him. Alas, this portrayal leaves me rooting for the Sea Monster to eat him for lunch (if anything, the red hair might add to its dietary carotenoid intake) and for Idomeneo to go ahead and chop his head off. The dude is just too outlandish to be allowed to live!

As his lover Princess Ilia is the Russian soprano Ekaterina Siurina. Her gorgeous lyric soprano voice is surprisingly strong for this lyric soprano role. One must keep ones’ eyes open to appreciate her acting, because somehow not a lot of it gets translated into her singing. The touching aria ‘Zeffiretti lusinghieri’ that opens Act III suffers the most. All the notes are there and are sung at the correct tempo and all... but I don’t glean much of Ilia’s characters out of it. Hers is a beautiful (though not quite characterful) vocal performance, and a very touching theatrical one.

The best actress in the cast and a great singer to boot is the German soprano Anja Harteros’s fiery Elettra. Tall and graceful, yet with expressive Grecian face, Frau Harteros steals practically every scene she appears in. Hers is a dream lyrico spinto soprano voice (lyrical voice with dramatic thrust); wonderfully full of texture and about the same color as her gorgeous blood red gown. And as demented her Elettra is, she isn't one dimensionally batty. This Elettra shows concerns for her beloved Idamante when she sees him in distress, but where they have conflict of interest, her wishes always trump his. Vocally, Frau Harteros sings every syllable of her 2 rage arias and never shouts even once! The mad scene ‘D’Oreste e d’Ajace’ near the end of the opera is The Highlight of the show. As beautiful as this singing actress is, I really would not want to run into her when she is angry. The girl is splendidly terrifying. Keeping her around on-stage after that flight of sanity is a brilliant move by the Herrmanns indeed. Can you guess what Elettra’s hallucinations during that last aria is? (Ssssst, hint! It’s in the strings’ music)

American tenor Jeffrey Francis is a good Arbace, though like Ms Siurina’s Ilia, he projects drama mostly in his acting rather than in his voice. Tenor Robin Leggate is excellent as the High Priest of Nettuno both vocally and theatrically. The German bass-baritone Guenther Groissboeck is appropriately sonorous in his unseen part of La Voce (probably of Zeus in this case, since Nettuno is actually on-stage in the scene and doesn’t seem to agree with The Voice’s verdict).

Also excellent is the Salzburger Bachchor (Bach Choir of Salzburg), which is asked to do quite a lot of acting as they sing the 9 choruses in this opera. I must say the Germanic love for the theater really is serving the opera well when the chorus can act as well as it can sing, as demonstrated in this production (and other M22 productions, for that matter).

Sir Roger Norrington and his Camerata Salzburg is a delight from the orchestra pit. While some of his singing cast are not characterful in some of their arias, his orchestra reading never lacks character. The pace is on the brisk side through out, though no nuance is lost. The only thing I’m not keen on is his clapping very visibly after each aria. It’s weird, to say the least, as the orchestra is not really visible in that middle pit. And all of the sudden you’d see Sir Roger’s hands clapping high over his head as if his singing cast really need cheer-leading in order for them to get applause from the very appreciative audience. They actually don’t!

All in all, this is the best DVD of this opera I have seen to date. I don’t love everything in it, but it all works very well as a whole. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

1 HD- DVD. Region: 0. Run-time: 165 min. Sung in Italian with subtitle in: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese. Booklet contains cast list, a note on the production, and track-list with synopsis in English, German, and French.
Extras: 'Making of' short documentary, clips from other M22 productions and from Mozart operas films by Peter Sellars.

Review of other Mozart opera:
Apollo et Hyacinthus (Salzburg 2006), Ascanio in Alba (Salzburg 2006), Bastien und Bastienne/Der Schauspieldirektor (Salzburg 2006), La clemenza di Tito (Salzburg 2003), La clemenza di Tito (Zürich 2005), La clemenza di Tito (Munich 2006), La clemenza di Tito (JE Gardiner), Cosi fan tutte (Ponnelle film), Don Giovanni (Met 2000), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Salzburg 1998), La finta giardiniera (Salzburg 2006), La finta semplice (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Met 198-), Lucio Silla (Salzburg 2006), Mitridate (Salzburg 1997), Mitridate (Rousset), Le nozze di Figaro (live performance- SDO 2007), Die Zauberflöte (ROH 2001), Die Zauberflöte (Modena 2005), Die Zauberflöte (Zürich 1999)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12