Idomeneo

Fear of death - a bad advisor since time immemorial: King Idomeneo, whose fleet sinks into the waters of Crete shortly before returning home from the Trojan War, swears to the sea god Poseidon that if he survives, he will sacrifice the first person he meets on the shore. But as fate - or rather the theater - would have it, this is of course his own son Idamante. To make matters worse, he has fallen in love with a Trojan prisoner, Ilia, which infuriates the Greek princess Electra. Idomeneo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's perfect "drama for music", is one of a series of Greek war dramas retold according to the taste of the 18th century. The classical logic of tragedy, according to which the inaction of the powerful has fatal consequences for the general public and can only be atoned for by the downfall and destruction of the guilty, is redirected by a binding happy ending dictated by mysterious divine voices: Idomeneo steps back, leaving Poseidon's sea monsters where they belong. Idamante and Ilia take over, peace for all and curtains please. But does such a promise still hold true today? Director Bastian Kraft and the team from the successful production Rusalka stage a reflection on the fear of fathers for their sons, traces of the archaic in European civilization, the rebellion of nature and the last generations. Idomeneo is one of the most exciting works of its time, with tone paintings bursting with imagination that compose masterful arias and choruses into larger scenic contexts. Under GMD Cornelius Meister's baton, Mozart's "Sturm und Drang" opera, composed at the age of 24, promises to be a true experience.

Dramma per musica in three acts
Libretto by Giambattista Varesco

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart