164 RECORDINGS comic role of Osmin (a significantly different character from his namesake in Entfubrung), Robert Holl is no more than adequate. There is a badly trans- lated booklet that includes the full text (in French as well as in German and English) and some elliptical introductory notes on "Mozart's First Turk' Opera." Despite these shortcomings the Orfeo recording offers a good introduction to this fascinating work, the bridge between the adolescent precocity of La fintagiardinicm and the precocious mastery of Idomeneo and Entfiihrung. Christopher Hunt Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/oq/article/8/3/164/1488651 by guest on 27 September 2021 EDITOR'SNOTE This is a revised and updated version of the author's review of the original LP issue of diis performance. That review appeared in The Opera Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 2 (Summer 1984), pp. 143-4-4- Idomeneo, re di Creta, K. 366 Idomeneo: Richard Lewis Voice of Neptune: Hervey Alan Idamante: Uopold Simoneau Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra and Chorus Ilia: Scnajurinac Sir John Pritchard, conductor Elettra: Lucille Udovick Recorded ip}6 Arbace: James Milligan EMI Angel CHS 7 6368s 2 (2 CDs) High Priest: William McAlpine. Idomeneo: Ronald Dowd Orchestre de I'Association des Concerts Colonne Idamante: William McAlpine Choeurs Elisabeth Brasseur Ilia: Teresa Stich-Randall Peter Maag, conductor Elettra: Enriquctta Torres Performance of '23 July 196}, Aix-en-Provence Arbace: Giorgio Tadeo Rodolphe Productions (distributed by Harmonia High Priest: Jacques Villisech Mundi USA) JU> 12+67!68 (2 CDs) Voice of Neptune: Antoine Sclva Idomeneo: Richard Lewis London Philharmonic Orchestra Idamante: Luciano Pavarotti Glyndebourne Festival Chorus Ilia: Gundulajanowitz Sir John Pritchard, conductor Elettra: Enriquctta Torres Performance of 17 August 196+, Royal Albert Arbace: Neilson Taylor Hall, London High Priest: David Hughes Melodram (distributed by Qualiton Imports, Voice of Neptune: Dennis Wick Ltd.) MEL 27003 (2 CDs) Idomeneo: George Shirley Voice of Neptune: Stafford Dean Idamante: Ryland Davits BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Hia: Marghcrita Rinaldi Sir Colin Davis, conductor Elettra: Pauline Tmsley Recorded 1969 Arbace: Robert Tear Philips (distributed by PalyGram) 420 130-2 High Priest: Donald Pilley (3 CDs) RE CO RDINGS I 65 Idomeneo: Werner HoUweg Mozart Orchestra of the Zurich Opera Idamante: TrudeUese Schmidt House Ilia: Rachel Takar Zurich Opera House Chorus Elettra: Felicity Palmer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor Arbace: Kurt Equiluz Recorded 1980 High Priest: Robert Tear THdec (distributed by WEA Classics) 8.JSS47 Voice of Neptune: Simon Estes ZB (j CDs) Idomeneo: Luciano Pavarotti Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Idamante: Agnes Baltsa Vienna State Opera Concert Choir Bia: Lucia Popp Sir John Pritchard, conductor Elettra: Edita Gruberovd Recorded 1986 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/oq/article/8/3/164/1488651 by guest on 27 September 2021 Arbace: Leo Nucci London (distributed by PolyGram) 4-n 80S-2DH3 High Priest: Timothy Jenkins (3 CDs) Voice of Neptune: Nikita Storojew Generally regarded as Mozart's first mature operatic masterpiece, Idomeneo is the product of much painstaking work and revision. As the composer pre- pared the score for Munich in 1781, he made frequent alterations. In his search for the right dramatic effect, for example, he wrote four different versions of Neptune's pronouncement. Other changes were motivated by the cast and die length of the work. Finding that he had a fine singer for Arbace, Mozart added two arias for that character; still later he simplified "Fuor del mar" for the aging protagonist. At the last minute, he cut three arias from the final act: Idamante's "No, la morte," Elettra's "D'Oreste, d'Ajace," and Idomcneo's "Torna la pace." Nor did the revisions end in Munich. For a Viennese per- formance by aristocratic amateurs in 1786, he recast the castrato role of Idamante for tenor, wrote a new duet for Ilia and Idamante (K. 489) and a new aria for Idamante (K. 490), and made different cuts. In his 1972 edition of the score for the Neue Mozart-Ausgabc, Daniel Heartz provides a great service by making all of this music available and untangling its history, but anyone wishing to produce the opera must sort through these equally authentic mate- rials and precedents to establish a workable performing version. The six performances listed in Opus at the time this review is being written reflect both the variety of textual decisions possible and some of xhc expedi- ents that the opera's early champions adopted. Only two recordings (the Harnoncourt and the third Pritchard) are recent enough to take advantage of Heartz's edition. Harnoncourt duplicates (nearly) the first performances, using a mezzo for Idamante and cutting the arias that Mozart cut; however, his Idomeneo sings "Fuor del mar" in its more difficult original form. Harnoncourt made a supplementary LP (Teldec 6.42650) that included both the music omitted in Munich and newly composed for Vienna, but as far as I have been able to determine, it has not been transferred to CD. Pritchard's final recording of the opera also uses a mezzo Idamante, but unlike Harnoncourt he prefers the simpler "Fuor del mar," includes all the arias written for Munich, and omits the ballet following the final chorus. 166 RECORDINGS The other sets (by Pritchard and Davis), all predating 1972, employ a tenor Idamante and omit Arbace's arias. Davis incorporates the Munich version of the Arbace/Ilia duet in act 3 and the original "Fuor del mar." The recitatives are abbreviated to some degree in all three, and arias and en- sembles are also trimmed internally in the two earlier Pritchard sets. The musical text presented in these two Glyndebourne-based performances proba- bly reflects die legacy of Fritz Busch, who conducted the important 1951 revival of Idomeneo there. Peter Maag's Aix-en-Provence performance uses the version prepared by Bernhard Paumgartner for the 1956 Salzburg Festival. It removes six arias en- tirely (Arbace's arias, Idomeneo's "Vedrommi intomo" and "Torna la pace," Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/oq/article/8/3/164/1488651 by guest on 27 September 2021 and Idamante's "II padre adorato" and "No, la morte"), and much of the remaining music is shortened, particularly the choruses. Furthermore, some music in act 3 has been redistributed: "D'Oreste, d'Ajace" is moved forward, a portion of the High Priest's recitative is taken over by Arbace, and, more stardingly, part of Elettra's "Oh smania! oh furie!" is given, with slighdy altered words, to Idomeneo. On textual grounds alone, this recording would warrant little consideration were it not a souvenir of Teresa Such-Randall's Ilia. She is in good representative form: dramatic involvement in recitatives, technical accomplishment in the arias, and purity of voice to the point of glassiness. The other singers arc competent, the sound distant. Clearly a desirable acquisition for Stich-Randall's admirers, this set really cannot be recommended on any other basis. Decisions are not so dear-cut with the other five recordings. It is easy to appreciate Harnoncourt's textual choices in theory, but in practice I miss the arias he has dropped and find the final ballet music anti-climactic without the dancing itself. Theoretically, Davis's decision to omit Arbace's arias ought to be deplorable, but the character is really dramatically extraneous and his music decidedly old-fashioned. The text of Pritchard's final recording seems like a good compromise, but the performance itself (both conducting and singing) is the least satisfactory of this group. Furthermore, though heavily cut, the earlier Pritchard versions contain several distinguished performances at com- paratively low cost. A look at the singers of the principal roles may help make the difficulties of choice plainer. Davis's George Shirley is the most regal Idomeneo. His dark, almost baritonal voice suits both the king's anguish and his strength (the challenge to Neptune in act 2 is genuinely heroic). He sails through the roulades of "Fuor del mar" in full voice, and though the tessitura of "Torna la pace" seems a bit uncomfortable, he sings it nobly. His exchanges with Idamante arc especially moving. Werner Hollweg's King of Crete is also dramatic and technically assured, but bis smaller voice is less satisfying after Shirley's grander per- formance. Luciano Pavarotti makes some very attractive sounds as Idomeneo, but he seems uninvolved in the drama (inhibited, perhaps, by a desire not to break the bounds of "good Mozart style"?) and ultimately unconvincing. RECORDINGS I 67 Richard Lewis's light, slightly nasal voice does not register Idomeneo's an- guish strongly, resulting in comparatively bland, albeit musically distinguished, portrayals; the eight years separating his performances make no real difference vocally (despite a mishap in the flourish ending "Fuor del mar" in the later one), but he is more characterful in the live performance, particularly in the scenes with Idamante. Of the two mezzo Idamantcs, Trudeliese Schmidt is easily preferable, for she has both a more attractive voice and greater dramatic urgency than Agnes Baltsa, who is here uncharacteristically cool. Among the tenor Idamantes, though, choice is much more difficult, for they all possess clear virtues. Ryland Davies has a strong lower register and ornaments some of his music discreetly; Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/oq/article/8/3/164/1488651 by guest on 27 September 2021 he is the most heroic Idamante of the group. Leopold Simoneau sounds less capable of destroying a sea monster, but his voice is especially attractive and his singing elegant (apart from a few notes attacked from below). The young Pavarotti's sound is a bit darker than one might expect, and the singing is both stylish and dramatic. He is, in fact, much more convincing here than as Idomeneo.