IDOMENEO

19 June - 11 July 2016

Returning from the siege of Troy, Idomeneo is saved from drowning at sea by the god Neptune, and vows in return to sacrifice the first person he sees when he reaches home. Inevitably, the first living being he encounters is his own child, his son, Idamante. Add to this an anguished love triangle between Idamante, captive Trojan princess Ilia and Greek princess Elettra and what ensues is a terrible struggle between fatherly devotion, staying true to a promise and young love: a conflict which has repercussions for everyone.

Idomeneo premiered on 29 January 1781, just two days after Mozart’s twenty-fifth birthday, and was unprecedented in its gripping dramatic sweep and unerring exploration of emotion and truth. An opera of raw, dramatic intensity, it features some of Mozart’s most sublime, audacious and inventive music.

Tim Albery, who has worked in many of the major opera houses of Europe and North America, is known for his ‘modern visual and dramatic language that combines stillness, taut economy, intense feeling, and deep musical responsiveness’ (Max Loppert, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera). Swedish conductor Tobias Ringborg and designer Hannah Clark complete the creative team, with Toby Spence making his Garsington Opera debut in the title role.

Sung in Italian with English supertitles