Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

WA MOZART: IDOMENEO, re di Creta (Idomeneo, King of Crete) An opera in 3 acts.

This is a DVD recording of a live performance on 6 November 1982 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Using the critical edition by Daniel Heartz.

The story is based on the Iliad and other sources starting after the Trojan War. The tenor Idomeneo, King of Crete (sung here by Luciano Pavarotti), entrusted his rule to his young son Idamante (the mezzo Frederica von Stade) before going off to fight the Trojans. Idamante is also in custody of 2 enemy princesses; Elettra (soprano Hildegard Behren) the daughter of the Greek king Agamemnon (brother in law of Helen of Troy), and Ilia (soprano Ileana Cotrubas) the Trojan daughter of Priam. Both princesses are in love with Idamante, but he is a romantically economic man and only loves Ilia back... (before you scream at him for being a fool, it should be noted that Elettra...AKA Elektra, for all her good look and pedigree, is one of the most unhinged, vengeful women in literature and even has a gory opera written for her (Elektra) by Richard Strauss).

Anyhow, caught in a sea tempest that threatens to sink his entire fleet on their return from Troy, Idomeneo promises Nettuno the sacrifice of the first person he meets on the shore in return for the calming of the storm. Since this is an opera, it follows that the first person he meets is none other than his only son Idamante. A soap opera-ish theme of son being emotionally wounded by dad’s tough-love and iciness (in trying to not have to kill his own son while avoiding Nettuno’s wrath) ensues. This is compounded by the love triangle between Idamante and the 2 princesses. Having finally learned what his dad had promised Nettuno after narrowly defeating the sea monster that Nettuno engaged as the loan shark enforcer, Idamante then offers to sacrifice himself voluntarily. This touches Nettuno, who intervenes and grants peace on the condition that Idomeneo steps down from the throne in favor of his son. The opera ends with the chorus of Cretans singing their joy at the happy ending (in the original story, Idamante is sacrificed and Idomeneo goes mad from being tormented by Nemesis).

Musically, opera seria don’t get better than this thing... though opera seria it still is... long and static and possibly sleep inducing after 3 hrs or so if not staged dynamically enough. Mozart composed his vocal music to fit the cast he was given, and so the original music for Idomeneo, Elettra, and Ilia are very florid and wonderful. The original Idamante was less than wonderful a singer; however, and his music suffers for it in contrast with the rest of the principals’. This role was originated by a soprano castrato, but was later revised for a tenor. So nowadays you either have a tenor, a counter tenor, or a high mezzo as Idamante.

The most notable musical numbers among the principals are Elettra’s 3 arias (the furious ‘Tutte nel cor vi sento’ (for a glimpse of what it sounds like, open another window and go to tracks 4 and 5 at this URL http://213.188.106.66/serie37.htm), the even more furious Act III ‘D’Oreste, D’ajace’ and 1 wishful thinking hallucination of a song ‘Idol mio’), Ilia’s 2 arias (‘Se il padre’ & ‘Zeffireti lusinghieri’ and Idomeneo’s showpiece ‘Fuor del mar’, which comes in 2 versions. The original Munich version is one of the most difficult and showy tenor arias around, while the subsequent Vienna version is much tamer but every bit as elegant. This performance uses the Vienna version.

The real musical star of this opera; however, is the chorus. There are 9 choral numbers in this show and they are all wonderful and really soften the story where the principal characters can’t. My favorites are the extra-ordinary Act I ‘Pieta! Numi pieta!’ which immediately follows Elettra’s 1st rage aria without any pause in the music... giving a strange musical impression of Elettra’s rage being supernaturally transformed into the tempest that nearly sinks Idomeneo’s fleet. You can even hear the wind whistling past the mast (the solo piccolo) and the waves crashing against the ships (the strings)! And also‘Placido e il mar’ in Act II when the Cretans sings of the calm sea as Idamante is about to escort Elettra back to her homeland on a ship, and the terrifically terrifying ‘Qual nuovo terrore!’ near the end of Act II when the sea monster appears. I regret the cut of Idamante’s Act III aria ‘No la morte’, but am thankful for the cut of the ballet at the end of this long show.

Cast:
Luciano Pavarotti (Idomeneo), Frederica von Stade (Idamante), Ileana Cotrubas (Ilia), Hildegard Behren (Elettra), John Alexander (Arbace), Timothy Jenkins (The High Priest), Richard Clark (voice of Nettuno (Neptune)).

James Levine / Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera
David Stivender / Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera

See clips from this DVD at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x4lQfuChfw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfnYQTl56tQ

This staging gives a good evidence why opera seria fell out of favor in the Romantic Period. It is unshakably static. The set is static (what a waste of resource that the Met's stage turn-table isn’t utilized here), with broad stone steps covering the entire stage-front and a background of a fresco painting backdrop (there are 3 paintings of various ruins... Why ruins? I haven’t a clue since the war was in Troy and not in Crete) and almost always with the menacing face of Nettuno looming on top. Costume looks to be from 18th Century continental style (with stiff powdered wigs and all) rather than Iliad Greece... except for Princess Ilia in the white Greek-ish toga in Act I. I guess that’s reflective of Mozart’s more enlightened approach to a rather savage tale.

Choreography is basically, walk to the designated spot and sing... even with the chorus. And no ship or stormy sea to be found during Elettra’s 1st rage aria! I usually enjoy ‘conceptual and minimalistic’ staging from Europe, but this scene absolutely calls for at least a ship being rocked about on stage ....or even a mere fresco of a stormy ocean as the backdrop would do better than a dark stage with chorus members staggering about. It’s like watching the three piglets having dinner to the music of The Ride of the Valkyries...a very untheatrical experience (go here http://theginnfamily.net/wagner/walkure.htm for a taste of what Ride of the Valkyries sounds like). The music is a big acoustic sea-scape painting, but not a glimpse of water or sea is ever seen on stage. And no sea monster either at the end of Act II either (Idamante slays it off-stage later).

The beloved Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, is surprisingly good as Idomeneo (he is known more for his Puccini and bel canto roles). His singing is fine and very noble, though not very Mozartian in style...an odd fit to the music that requires a lot of finesse. He does the Vienna version of the famous aria Fuor del mar instead of the ball-busting Munich version, which I think is a good choice. And he acquitted himself well in the beautiful ‘Torna la pace al core’. The static stand and sing choreography works well for him. All in all, a good (but not great) performance.

As his son, Idamante, is the legendary American mezzo Frederica von Stade, who looks quite handsome and passably manly as the Greek prince, but neither her voice nor her acting is strong and/or heroic enough to be convincing in this travesti role for my taste. She has beautiful legato (smooth transition between notes), but isn’t agile enough to cope well with Idamante’s coloratura (here pretty blurry and there is not a trill to speak of). There isn’t a lot of manly outrage to be heard from that light voice in the opening aria ‘Non ho colpa’ either. She is sadly deprived of the heroic Act III air ‘No la morte’ (which was cut). During the Act III scene when Idamante enters the temple after having killed Nettuno’s monster to a majestic fanfare, I find myself strangely plagued by a curious vision of this Idamante slaying the sea monster only accidentally by throwing his handkerchief at it, and it chokes to death swallowing the thing. It’s only a vision in my head, of course. She has that darn dreamy looks in her eyes the whole opera long, but I think Idamante should be more heroic and solemn than that! After all, he was effectively ruling Crete in his father’s absence... so why is he such an innocent and sappy young pup now?

Ileana Cotrubas’s Ilia fares a bit better vocally from her show-opening aria to the end, but isn’t very varied theatrically. She is touching the showcase air ‘Se il padre’, and the sweet Act III opening ‘Zeffiretti lusinghieri’... Maybe it is just me not being born and raised in the Sutherland era, but the acting looks like acting and not a spontaneous action borne out of true feeling.

The bad girl of the show (who always gets the best music... I’ll bet quite a lot that Mozart loved feisty women) is Elettra the raging Greek daughter of Agamemnon and Klytamnestra, played here by Hildegard Behren... who is just about the last dramatic soprano one would associate with Mozart. Frau Behren is a Wagnerian/Straussian soprano, and her (by now rather shredded) voice is severely tested by the fluidity and agility of Elettra’s music... especially in the showpiece ‘D’Oreste, D’ajace’. That said, hers is one of the best dramatic portrayal of this dementedly angry character that I’ve seen or heard. Totally unhinged and deranged. Totally relatable (which is a somewhat scary notion.... come to think of it). Her singing alone would give Mozart a heart attack, but her acting and passion would have pleased him. So I guess she comes out even.

The rest of the cast did ok. John Alexander and Timothy Jenkins sing well as Arbace (Idomeneo’s confidante), and The High Priest. I’d prefer a more imposing voice than Richard Clark’s for Nettuno the touchy sea god who only gets to recite 2 lines near the end of the show. The chorus is rather varied... I find them rather bland in Act I and in Act II’s Placido e il mar, but they catch fire from the end of Act II on and are superb in the final act. I wish the choreography is better for them, too. This one doesn’t make much sense in story telling.

Maestro James Levine gives a precise read from the orchestral pit with his superb Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. It isn’t as passionate as I’d prefer, however. I think more highlighting and rubato (varying the length of individual notes while maintaining same overall tempo) would help save some scenes in this production from being sleep inducing.

This is a fine performance, I think, but not superb. It would be a curiosity item for those wondering how Pavarotti and Behren would fare in Mozart opera. But for non-hardcore fans, this isn’t a good performance to try to fall in love with this opera with. If you aren’t already a fan of opera, this is likely to be a good substitute for a sleeping pill...

I am very keen to see the DVD of this opera from the Salzburg Festival last year, featuring Ramon Vargas in the title role and the Czech mezzo Magdalena Kozena as Idamante, and the mesmerizing Anja Harteros as Elettra. That DVD is supposed to be released next month.

2 DVD. Run-time: 182 min. Sung in Italian with subtitle in: English.

My reviews of other Mozart operas:
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: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8