Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: Idomeneo

RCS New Athenaeum Theatre, Glasgow - 16/03/24

John Butt, conductor | Aidan Thomas Phillips / James Schouten, tenor | Charlotte Bateman, mezzo-soprano | Nikki Martin, soprano | Rosie Lavery, soprano | Daniel Gray Bell, tenor | Fanzhuo Wei, tenor | Joshua McCullough, bass-baritone

Just six weeks after a thrilling production of Massenet’s ‘Cendrillon’ at the New Athenaeum in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Glasgow venue again presented Opera Masters students, together with student singers, 41 student instrumentalists and several student offstage creatives, in a production of Mozart’s opera seria, ‘Idomeneo’.  I caught the first of the four performances on the night of 16th March.  Music Director of the Dunedin Consort, maestro John Butt, conducted, as well as playing the harpsichord for the recitatives.  The production was directed by PJ Harris (whose RCS production of Chabrier’s L'étoile last January was indeed stellar).  Design by Anna Yates (also of L'étoileand the RCS Double Bill in November) and lighting by Kai Fischer gave us a disturbingly modern theocratic Crete.  The set was a flat-topped rocky outcrop surmounted by a shrine to the god Neptune (from which he dramatically emerges at times), consisting of a fluted column topped by a lit capital letter ‘N’.  The front centre of the rock was later magically transformed into a pink-lit grotto, from which the exiled captive daughter of the Trojan King Priam, Ilia, tended a garden at the beginning of Part 2.  The opera was sung in Italian with English surtitles.

First, a shameful admission and a repudiation.  Reviewing an excellent SCO concert in February last year which concluded with the overture and ballet music from Idomeneo, I wrote:

“… Now I had better confess now to never having been, nor am I ever likely to be, a fan of Idomeneo.  If I seek an opera seria experience, I gravitate to the masterpieces of Handel, not Mozart.  Idomeneo is long and made even longer by the inclusion in performance of the ballet music.  Only one of its arias (Tutte nel cor vi sento), and that rarely, has ever made it from the opera house to merit inclusion in the soprano solo concert repertoire.  Not to say that it is in any sense flawed, but with so many Mozart goodies to choose from, I would never choose Idomeneo.  Its overture is purpose-designed to segue into Act I, so is unsuitable as a stand-alone concert work; admittedly it is less problematic as an introduction to the ballet music.  I was very surprised when, asked at a talk given to the Friends of Scottish Opera in Bridge of Allen, which opera he had yet to conduct he would most long to perform, Scottish Opera’s former Head of Music Derek Clark chose Idomeneo.  I asked if he would include the Ballet Music: he answered, “probably not” …”.

In the RCS production, almost all of the ballet music was (mercifully) cut, while the first two ‘acts’ were combined to be the first of two ‘parts’, with only one interval.  The performance started at 6:30.  There were no moments of longueur and there were added thrills with thunder, lightning and explosions.  I can honestly say that the quality of the production was such that it did not seem long.  The opera contains some of Mozart’s best music.  I am now a fan.  As with so many things, Derek was right.

The 20-strong chorus (of Trojan captives, Cretan citizens, priests and military) had been vocally trained by Philip White and benefitted from the movement direction of Jack Webb.  They were excellent, most memorably in their terrified reaction to the appearance of the enraged Neptune’s sea monster near the end of the first part.  Mozart is generous to the chorus, with music of celebration, relief, religious devotion, military zeal and terror, all of the highest quality.  They repaid this generosity well.

The troubled title role of Idomeneo, which was to have been sung by Canadian tenor James Schouten, was fully acted by him in costume and character but, owing to a chest infection, was sung instead by New Zealander Aidan Thomas Phillips from a position in a slightly raised portion of the stalls to the front right by the stage.  Both James and Aidan have recently transitioned from the baritone tessitura to tenor.  You would never have guessed.  The voice I heard was rich and powerful over the full range, with phenomenal breath control and flawless Italian diction.  Returning victorious from the Trojan war, Idomeneo’s ship founders in a storm.  He vows to Neptune to offer a human sacrifice of the first person he meets if he is delivered safely to dry land.  The first person he meets when brought safely to his kingdom of Crete is his own daughter Idamante.  He banishes her (to save her life, but she doesn’t know this), incurring the wrath of Neptune on the island state.  His three big arias, ‘Vedrommi intorno’ (when he is washed ashore and getting his bearings), ‘Fuor del mar’ (comparing his emotional state with the stormy sea), and ‘Torna la pace’ (when he abdicates and Neptune is finally placated), were all excellent.

In the original opera, Idamante is actually Idomeneo’s son and is a male castrato role, though it was subsequently rewritten for tenor.  In the RCS production, the original vocal role is preserved while simultaneously bringing the opera into the 21st century by making it a female role.  Thus the love triangle between Idamante, Ilia and the jealous Elettra gains a Sapphic dimension and opens up a whole new world of dramatic possibilities.  Mezzo-soprano Charlotte Bateman, who had portrayed a vulnerable bereaved mother Mrs Nolan in ‘The Medium’ and the ‘ugly sister’ Dorothée in Cendrillon, delivered a stunning performance, both vocally and dramatically, as a crestfallen daughter believing her father to be lost at sea, only to then believe herself to be rejected by him, a conflicted lover attracted to her ‘enemy’ the Trojan princess, then finally a heroine who slays a sea monster and offers herself as a human sacrifice to placate the vengeful Neptune and save Crete from his wrath.  Her arias, ‘Non ho colpa’ (troubled at her love for Crete’s enemy), ‘Il padre adorato’ (discovering that her father is not dead but then being banished by him), and ‘No, la morte io non pavento’ (offering herself as a sacrifice) were moving, but the joyous and tender love duet with Ilia, when her imminent departure to tackle the sea monster forces them to finally declare their love, was surpassingly lovely.  I notice in the programme that there was an Intimacy Coordinator, Sharon Mackay, on the production.  Her work on this scene alone deserves the highest praise, as it was unforgettable.

Soprano Nikki Martin, a delightful Cendrillon a few weeks ago and an enchanting Monica in Menotti’s ‘The Medium’ in November, was a stunning Ilia.  She opens the opera with her aria ‘Padre, germani, addio’ revealing much of the ‘story so far’, and we learn of her love for Idamante, despite her being her ‘enemy’, but believing that Idamante only has eyes for Elettra, the Princess of Argos.  The kindness shown to her by the Cretans and Idomeneo moves her to forsake her attachment to the vanished Troy and declare Crete to be her country and Idomeneo her adoptive father: ‘Se il padre perdei’.  This further enrages the jealous Elettra, of course, at the thought of a Trojan, no matter how regal, being adopted into a Greek royal family.  At the beginning of the second part and immediately prior to the love duet, she is tending the garden and in her beautiful aria ‘Zeffiretti lusinghieri’ asks the caressing breezes to carry her love to Idamante, who then arrives.  This aria stood out for me as pretty well perfect and confirmed for me that Nikki can surely have her pick of Mozart soprano roles.  When her beloved returns from killing the sea monster and is about to be willingly sacrificed to appease the vengeful Neptune, Ilia offers herself in her place.

Scottish soprano Rosie Lavery, most recently the hilarious other ugly sister Dorothée in Cendrillon, and an emotionally charged Bea in Heggie’s ‘Three Decembers’ in November, was a thrillingly (and terrifyingly) malevolent and violent Elettra.  She detests all things Trojan and doesn’t hold with the kindness being shown to the captives in general and Ilia in particular.  She wants Idamante for herself.  Lest there be any doubt, her aria ‘Tutte nel cor vi sento furie del cupo averno’ (I can feel you all in my heart, furies of dark hell) is a tour-de-force of blind rage with stormy orchestral accompaniment to match, and it was phenomenally good.  She thinks that things are going her way when Idomeneo instructs Idamante to accompany her back to Argos, but this is just the king trying to escape making good on his oath to Neptune, and the sea monster puts paid to those plans anyway.  Much the same malevolent sentiments are reprised in ‘D'Oreste, d'Ajace ho in seno i tormenti’ at the end, when Neptune finally intervenes on the side of those with pure motives, instructs Idomeneo to abdicate in favour of Idamante and Ilia, who are wed and will rule jointly.  Rosie’s vocal performance in these arias and throughout was stunning.  However, I cannot leave unmentioned the masterly piece of dramatic and movement direction, acting and pure visual spectacle which followed the love duet, when Idomeneo and Elettra discovered the lovers together,  When Ilia and Elettra were left alone together, Elettra trashed Ilia’s grotto and destroyed her potted plants in a fit of spite.  Elettra is not a character to cross.  To be honest, after that, I would think twice about crossing Rosie.

An important supporting tenor role, Idomeneo’s advisor Arbace, was sung by Daniel Gray Bell, who had played Prince Charmant in Cendrillon and the mute role of Toby ‘The Medium’ in November.  Arbace’s efforts to help Idomeneo to circumvent the fate he has brought upon himself and Crete are, of course, doomed in the face of Neptune’s malice.  Much of the role is recitative and duet with Idomeneo and the delivery of news of offstage events, but he does have one great aria towards the end of the opera, ‘Se colà ne' fati è scritto’, where he accepts the folly of trying to outwit divine will, and it was thoroughly excellent.

Tall and with a commanding stage presence, Aberdonian baritone Joshua McCullough (Le Roi in Cendrillon) was, in this production and pleasingly, not merely a voice but a visible manifestation of deus ex machina, (or at least ex columna and, at the end, ex spelunca) as Neptune, no more to be messed with than any Princess of Argos.  Chinese tenor Fanzhuo Wei was a dignified and credible High Priest.

This was another great RCS production, showcasing emerging talent through a captivatingly revitalised work from the margins of repertoire, with compelling vision and virtuosity in all the elements of music and dramatic direction and excellence in stagecraft.  It converted this reviewer from a dismissive sceptic to an enthused fan of what I now consider to be an unjustly neglected Mozart masterpiece.  John Butt’s credentials as a great Mozartian have long been cemented since his recording of the ‘Requiem’ with the Dunedin Consort won a Gramophone award and was nominated for a grammy.  This production is therefore a great experience for the student performers, just as it is for the audience members.  Full marks from me.

Cover photo: Robbie McFadzean