Idomeneo – review

Mozart's first great opera is about the responsibilities of rulership and fatherhood. Absent at the Trojan war for 10 years, King Idomeneo's eventual return to Crete nearly ends in disaster due to a storm at sea instigated by Neptune. Fearing for his life, he makes a vow to sacrifice the first human he comes across on dry land if he survives; this turns out to be his own son, Idamante. Idomeneo's delay in fulfilling his rash vow and his fractured relationship with Idamante form the central pivots of the plot. Significantly, Mozart had a notoriously difficult relationship with his own father, finally escaping his control by moving to Vienna in 1782, the year after the opera was staged.

Together with Gabrielle Dalton's costumes, Charles Edwards's self-designed production mixes imagery from different periods, referencing ancient times, the 18th century and the modern world. At times enigmatic in its gestures, its emotional and political implications are nevertheless resonant of various regimes that have atrophied and lost their sense of moral responsibility. It's a slow burner of an evening, but the cast clearly understand the meaning of the text; dramatic intensity builds to a final act of tremendous power.

Many of the individual performances are excellent, although some are not quite even. In the title role, Danish tenor David Danholt cannot manage the coloratura runs of his showpiece aria Fuor del Mar, but the sheer beauty and power of his tone delineate a flawed grandeur. Austrian mezzo Daniela Lehner presents a highly expressive, keenly focused Idamante. Amy Freston deploys her fresh soprano as Ilia, the Trojan princess and prisoner of war Idamante falls in love with. Hye-Youn Lee is exciting as Elettra, whose own scarred emotional background sets the evening's initial tone, while conductor Nicholas Kraemer seeks out the detail of Mozart's magnificent score.