OPERA REVIEW: IDOMENEO
13 May'10

‘Idomeneo’ a treat for ears, eyes

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

It is, in its way, an opera as much of the ages as for the ages, featuring a story from the Grecian era, gods from the Roman era, an operatic style from the Baroque era, a staging from the modern era and music that is nothing short of timeless. It’s called IDOMENEO and if it’s not exactly burning up the stage at the Four Seasons Centre right now, it’s certainly emitting a lovely, warm glow that’s more than enough to heat up a cool spring evening.

A co-production of the Canadian Opera Company and Opera national du Rhin, IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA (to give its full title) opened here last weekend — and it’s an impressive piece of work.

Story-wise, it goes all the way back to the period following the Trojan Wars, wars in which Idomeneo, King of Crete, played a prominent role. His battles now won, Idomeneo, sung here by tenor Paul Groves, is homeward bound when his ship is overtaken by a terrible storm and to save himself, the king promises Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, that he will sacrifice the first man he sees, once he is safely on shore.

And of course, the first person Idomeneo sees after washing up on the rocky shore of his homeland is his son and only heir, Idamante, sung here by mezzo Krisztina Szabo, reprising a role she played here in 2001. In an attempt to get out from under his promise, Idomeneo, coached by his advisor Arbace (tenor Michael Colvin), tries to marry Idamante off to the visiting Princess Elettra (soprano Tamara Wilson), daughter of the ill-fated Agamemnon. The attempted subterfuge not only ticks Neptune off big time, it also breaks the heart of the lovely Ilia (soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian) — a daughter of the vanquished Priam brought to Crete as spoils of war, only to fall madly in love with Idamante and who finally redeems him.

Premiered in 1781, IDOMENEO is a prime example of the often formulaic and static opera seria school (which even then was falling from favour), and it has endured largely thanks to the genius and reputation of its young composer — a rather prolific and profligate fellow named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who would, of course, go on to even greater things in his too-brief career.

And while his score provides a tremendous workout for the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra — reined on silken thread by conductor Harry Bicket — and for this hugely talented cast, backed by the glory of the COC Chorus, its stand-and-deliver libretto (written by Giovanni Battista Varesco) represents major challenges for director Francois de Carpentries and his design team as they set out to woo a modern audience.

Happily, set designer Siegfried Mayer comes up aces with a simple adaptable set, dominated by an oversized nautilus that echos the eye of an omnipotent God — a canvas transformed at the whim of Carpentries’ own lighting design into everything from temple to palace to sea-coast. And while it’s difficult to label costume designer Karine Van Hercke’s vision, it works, after a fashion — the principals all in versions of ethnic or historic dress, the chorus looking for all the world like a well-dressed choir, touring the islands in sensible shoes.

Together, de Carpentries and his team milk enough action from the stasis of the tale to keep the audience as engaged in the story being spun out by this gifted cast as we are in the music they’re making. IDOMENEO, as usual, emerges primarily as a gift to the soul to be taken aurally, but this production proves the eyes can have a pretty good time too.

A special performance of this production on May 19 will showcase members and alumni of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio program in major roles.