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And boredom killed Neptune’s monster Madrid
Teatro Real
01/23/2025 - & January 29 (Barcelona), 31 (Antwerpen), February 2 (Hamburg), 4 (Freiburg), 2025
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Idomeneo, K. 366
Polina Pastirchak (Ilia), Olivia Vermeulen (Idamante), Kateryna Kasper (Elettra), Mark Milhofer (Arbace), Ian Koziara (Idomeneo), Kresimir Spicer (High priest, Voice of Neptune)
Zürcher Sing-Akademie, Zoltán Pad (chorus master), Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs (conductor)
During the Age of Enlightenment (the late seventeenth to early nineteenth century), the authority of the monarchy and church were questioned. Composers of the day who advocated for these institutions also questioned the excesses of baroque opera, particularly its stolid characters, predictably superficial plots, exuberant, florid vocal passages, and certain liberties taken by its celebrated singers.
Christoph Wilibald Gluck (1714-1787) thought it necessary to rein in these opera divas and divos (castrati). An advocate for clarity in opera, he favoured the streamlining of opera plots; for texts to be set according to normal speech and declamation; to erase the difference between recitatives and arias; and that performers should be actors as well as singers.
Gluck’s opera reform reflected the eternal question: “Prima la musica o le parole?” (what matters most–music or text?). Gluck’s response was that text and music were of equal importance, and that opera was the fusion of the two rather than a pretext for florid virtuosity. His Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) was Gluck’s first “reform” opera, in which he manifested his arguments for change. These revisions would influence not only his near-contemporary Mozart, but also such future giants as Weber, Wagner and Berlioz. The latter, especially in his masterpiece Les Troyens (1863), was the most ardent disciple of Gluck and the unofficial heir to his ideas.
Idomeneo is Mozart’s first operatic masterpiece. While such earlier operas as Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770) and Lucio Silla (1772) contain stunning virtuoso arias, they are merely the work of adolescent genius, emulating (and surpassing) the opera seria then in vogue. In contrast, Idomeneo (1781) is a colossally innovative masterpiece by a twenty-four-year-old who had assimilated Gluck’s “reforms.” Indeed, some claim Idomeneo is truer to Gluck’s desired standards than most of Gluck’s own operatic output.
The opera takes place in Crete after the fall of Troy. Ilia, daughter of the defeated, slain King Priam of Troy, is held captive. She feels conflicted about her love for Idamante, son of Crete’s King Idomeneo, one of the Greek kings who brought about her city’s destruction. Elettra (Elektra), daughter of King Agamemnon of Argos, is jealous of Ilia and invokes the Furies. Idomeneo’s ship, sailing back to Crete, is struck by a storm and is nearly destroyed. Idomeneo swears to sacrifice the first person he meets on shore if Neptune spares him. He is saved, and the first person he meets is his own son, Idamante. As Idomeneo was at war for years, the two don’t initially recognize one another. But when Idomeneo recognises his son, he orders him not to seek him out in future; young Idamante is grief‑stricken.
In Act II, Idomeneo orders Idamante to sail Elettra back to Argos, hoping that exile will spare his son. However, Neptune sends a sea monster who destroys the harbour from which they were to sail. In Act III, Idamante slays the monster but realises this will further enrage Neptune, so he offers himself in sacrifice. Idomeneo is about to slay his son when Ilia offers herself in Idamante’s place. Neptune, appeased by Ilia’s willingness to be sacrificed, orders Idomeneo to abdicate the throne in his son’s (and Ilia’s) favour. Everyone rejoices except for the spurned Elettra.
Idomeneo is one of my favourite Mozart operas; I never tire of it. But alas, this was the first time I yawned or looked at my watch during this favourite opera. This surprised me, as I had huge expectations, as it was led by early music giant René Jacobs, who’d dazzled Madrid’s Teatro Real with Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice eighteen months ago.
In both performances, the works were billed as semi-staged concert performances. That was true of Orfeo ed Euridice in 2023, but it certainly was not for this Idomeneo. At best, this work was semi‑acted. The singers wore costumes and gesticulated, but this is hardly acting. There was little interaction between the singers and there wasn’t a prop in sight. Had the voices been of the calibre Jacobs routinely recruited for his monumental recordings of Mozart’s operas, this would have been a relatively minor problem. Alas, the singers varied from the acceptable to the ill‑suited.
Hungarian lyric soprano Polina Pastirchak is an expressive singer who’d performed impressively in the aforementioned Orfeo ed Euridice. She’s definitely up for the task as the Trojan princess Ilia. Though her Act I aria, “Padre, germani, addio”, was well sung, it lacked depth and pathos. However, allowances can be made as it’s Ilia’s opening aria. There was more feeling in her Act II aria, “Se il padre perdei”. Unfortunately, her Act III aria, “Zeffiretti lusinghieri” was quite dull. In her interactions with Idamante, one felt little chemistry.
Dutch mezzo Olivia Vermeulen is a Mozart specialist who’s noted for her interpretation of Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Idamante, a trousers role, requires a heftier voice to contrast with Ilia’s lyric soprano, and to convey the young prince’s ardour. Her Act I aria, “Non ho colpa,” was as vapid as her Act III aria “No, la morte io non pavento”. Thankfully, her Act I aria “Il padre adorato” showed much more involvement and was technically superior.
Ukrainian soprano Kateryna Kasper was the most accomplished singer of the cast. She was proficient in her two arias, Act I’s “Tutte nel cor vi sento furie del cupo averno” and Act III’s “D’Oreste, d’Ajace ho in seno i tormenti”, but she lacked the right timbre for Elettra. Kasper is a lyric soprano who may extend into spinto, but Elettra is a role for a soprano drammatico, which the Ukrainian soprano is decidedly not. Birgit Nilsson, Lucille Udovick, Edda Moser, Pauline Tinsley, Josephine Barstow, Hildegard Behrens, Iano Tamar and Alexandrina Pendatchanska are famous sopranos who’ve sung Elettra, and they are anything but lyric sopranos. In her Act I aria, her voice sounded forced in some passages. Dramatically, Kasper’s jealousy and fury were rather underwhelming.
American tenor Ian Koziara had sung the role of Idomeneo previously and was even praised for his interpretation. He does have stage presence but his acting is over‑the‑top. More concerning, his style is anything but Mozartian. He lacks elegance and almost always sings forte. Vocal volume does not signify emotional intensity. His Act I aria “Vedrommi intorno” was as botched as Act II’s “Fuor del mare”. His final aria, Act III’s “Torna la pace”, was less forceful, and therefore marginally better.
English tenor Mark Milhofer was a competent Arbace. His two arias, “Se il tuo diol” and “Sevcolà ne’ fati è scritto”, were well sung. Though not as technically demanding as Idomeneo’s arias, they were at least elegantly sung and phrased in a Mozartian style.
The chorus, the Zürcher Sing-Akademie, was the most enjoyable aspect of this performance. Even the Freiburger Barockorchester was not as brilliant as usual.
One wonders if the sea serpent was in fact slain by Idamante. I suspect a plot change was afoot: Neptune’s monster died of boredom. Though some in the audience were aware of this sad twist (a few even left at intermission), others applauded merrily.
Ossama el Naggar
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