An Idomeneo with visual depth and musical incisiveness from San Francisco Opera

United States Mozart, Idomeneo: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Eun Sun Kim (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 14.6.2025. (HS)

At their hearts, all of Mozart’s great operas are investigations into human behavior, and Idomeneo, the composer’s early opera seria, is no exception. Australian director Lindy Hume’s staging for San Francisco Opera takes a deep dive into the emotional wreckage we humans can be in the wake of calamity.

The production – which was first staged by Opera Australia in Melbourne in 2023 – was now making its United States debut at the War Memorial Opera House and provided a thoughtful, eye-catching frame for some glorious singing. The four key roles were cast with artists familiar with their roles, and it showed. Tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, dramatic soprano Elza van den Heever and, especially, lyric soprano Ying Fang fashioned the music with clarity and conveyed the essence of each character.

But the thing that put this three hours-plus performance over the top was the inventiveness of the production and the keen attention to details that made it all come to life.

The story, rooted in ancient Greek myths and legends, is set in Crete, Greece’s largest island. Images from Tasmania, Australia’s biggest island, provide the atmosphere here with evocative projections using freshly shot videos of the sea, rocks and forests of the scenic island, which has its own ancient civilizations and legends. The creative team even issued a message of ‘respect to the Palawa/Pakana First People and traditional custodians of the lands, coastal waters and forests’.

Uncannily, these projected images, sometimes moving so slowly that they appear to be still, reflected the specific emotions the characters are dealing with. They also added necessary splashes of color to the mostly gray and white sets and costumes. The basic set is a rectangular room with walls made of white scrim material. A single door on each wall is framed in eighteenth-century style in white, making for a setting that evokes Mozart’s era. Anna Cordingley’s costume designs clothe everyone in modern dress, further extending the humanity-centric interpretation of the story more than classical Greek garb would.

The contrast between the human-made room and the vivid projected scenes underlines the theme of humanity vs. the forces of nature that pervade the story. In the first scene, King Idomeneo survives a storm as he returns from a victory over Troy. He thanks the god Neptune for saving him by promising to sacrifice the first human he sees. When that turns out to be his son, his refusal to do so unleashes a sea monster that (literally) plagues the populace. Closeup images of rocks look like bacteria hovering.

Story complications center on a budding romance between Idomeneo’s son Idamante and the Trojan princess Ilia (who is often bathed in green images and lighting), and the jealousy of Elettra, a princess from Argos, who has her heart set on Idamante. Images of splashing storm waves tinted red reflect her fury in the dramatic Act III aria ‘D’Oreste, d’Ajace ho in seno i tormenti’ (‘I feel Orestes’s and Ajax’s torments in my heart’), which van den Heever delivered with savory explosiveness.

That was one of the highlights on the musical side. Even more beguiling were Ilia’s arias, which benefitted from Fang’s gorgeous, pliant ease and sincerity. ‘Padre, germani, addio’ (‘Father, brothers, farewell’) opened Act I with sheer beauty of tone and presence, and ‘Zeffiretti lusinghieri’ (‘Zephyrs caressing’) set a deceptively meditative tone for the action-filled final act. Making her company debut (she has sung this role with the Metropolitan Opera), she rose to the occasion magnificently.

Matthew Polenzani in the title role demonstrated tireless command of the king’s challenging music as he responds to all the catastrophes surrounding him, supplemented with acting that caught all the shifts in fortune. If the florid passages in his Act II aria ‘Fuor del mar’ (‘Out of the sea’) elided a bit too much, the piercing effect of his clear, bright tenor made the most of the noble closing aria. ‘Torna la pace’ (‘Peace comes again’) brought the long evening up to the mountaintop.

Before Act III, general director Matthew Shilvock announced that mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack was feeling under the weather. This may explain why her Acts I and II were note-perfect but with not quite the emotional intensity of her best performances (including this role the last time this company staged the opera in 2009). Act III, it turned out, was much better, her voice blending well with the others.

As Arbace, Idomeneo’s confidant, tenor Alek Schrader made the most of ‘Se il tuo duol’ (‘If your pain’), an aria that is usually cut, and he provided a welcome baritone sound against Polenzani’s shine. Arbace’s Act III aria was trimmed to just the recitative, as were the ballet music and numerous recitatives to bring the run time to about 3½hours.

Also making strong contributions vocally were tenor Samuel White as the High Priest of Neptune and bass-baritone Jongwon Han as the Voice of the Oracle. Both are current Adler Fellows.

The company’s music director, Eun Sun Kim, conducting this opera for the first time, drew plenty of Mozartian vigor from the orchestra which now knows her so well. She also got ideal balances with the voices and created a remarkable sense of inevitability in the many arias, ensembles and choruses.

Harvey Steiman

Creatives:
Director – Lindy Hume
Sets – Michael Yeargan
Costumes – Anna Cordingley
Original Lighting designer – Verity Hampson
Revival Lighting designer – Justin A. Partier
Projections – David Bergman
Set design consultant – Richard Roberts
Cinematographer – Catherine Pettman (Sheoak Films)
Chorus director – John Keene

Cast:
Idomeneo – Matthew Polenzani
Idamante – Daniela Mack
Ilia – Ying Fang
Elettra – Elza van den Heever
Arbace – Alek Shrader
High Priest of Neptune – Samuel White
Voice of the Oracle – Jongwon Han