[ Warner the Teldec Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Monday 4 May 2009
This item is only available to us via Special Order. We should be able to get it to you in 3 - 6 weeks from when you order it.
"The depth of the music seems greater than ever, the drama more real."
(Gramophone)
"Harnoncourt has approached Idomeneo with clearly defined ideas and aims. He rejects an eclectic textual policy and takes the original version of 1781. The role of Idamante is sung therefore by a soprano, the opera ends with a ballet, and none of the music added for the Viennese production of 1786 is included. Recitative is sung dramatically with such freedom as Harnoncourt believes Mozart intended. The orchestra is of the same size as Mozart's own and special care has been taken over the strings (gut) and timpani (played with wooden beaters). Dynamics and phrasing are other matters over which the conductor has decided views. It is not surprising, then, that a distinctive performance results from all this; what might be less certain is whether one would enjoy it.
Well, I did, very much indeed. The depth of the music seems greater than ever, the drama more real."
(Gramophone)