Idomeneo
Are you ready to embark on a journey into an immersive world, where a heroic prince faces formidable foes in a quest for redemption and glory?
Death, politics and roaring crescendos – Idomeneo will crash like a wave on St Kilda’s Palais Theatre, directed by Lindy Hume and conducted by Benjamin Bayl.
In this epic production, the mythical King of Crete is faced with an impossible decision: to sacrifice his son in payment of a debt to Poseidon or exile him across the seas. The King will be joined by a vengeful, jealous performance of Elettra and accompanied by the virtuosic playing of Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.
Presented in the grand majesty of the Palais Theatre, this full staging of one of opera’s great jewels will sparkle on the St Kilda foreshore as if it were Poseidon’s bay.
A co-production between Victorian Opera and Opera Australia.
Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes, with one interval
Language: Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Feedback/Comments
Great production, excellent voices
A lovely evening - great production and staging.
Outstanding Production by the Victorian Opera
Was a great show
I enjoyed the performance, however found the acoustics of the theatre sub-optimal
Great for my first experience of opera. Singers were impressive of course. Although, I noted that acting ability is rated as less important.
Singers were great although I felt the staging could have been better. The subtitles were off and often missing. But overall an enjoyable production.
The stage design is very fresh interesting and effective. We love it.
Fabulous!!!!
Great seats!
Great show
Really beautiful
Wonderful
an incredible journey helped with the strong performances and chamber orchestra
A new experience with great visual effects & music
enjoyable night out
Modern (or postmodern?) theatrical adaptation that may (or may not) suit everyone's taste. If you're about immersing yourself in new experiences that mix new and old and change boundaries (for good or not), then
Great performances!!
Minimalist production in some ways, but excellent voices and orchestra carried it through
Steve Davislim was awesome, loved the music/orchestra. The costumes were rather drab, I did expect brighter regal colours. There needed more male vocals. It was off balance having a female voice singing a males part (kings son). Enjoyed the choruses sung by all. Great seat location and view. Venue was cold though. I sat with my puffer jacket on and hood! Staff at venue were welcoming and professional. Programme was a nice souvenir of the night.
If you go be mindful parking is hard to find unless you are happy to pay $6.80 an hour. Take public transport if you can. Tram is very close by ..
Loved it. Don't kniw much about opera but really enjiyed the music. The singers were incredible. The imagery and staging was wonderful. A very special production. Not a fan of the actual music but that's persinal taste.
Incredible performance of Mozarts early opera. Sublime arias, excellent performances, and the orchestra were wonderful. Fabulous background photography of Tasmania’s wilderness and rugged shoreline. And all in the beautiful old Palais Theatre. A real treat !
We enjoy the voices
Great show, however as others have mentioned the voices did not carry well throughout the venue (and we were seated quite close). Also the main character (male) played by a female was a tad out of place as the music is intended for a male voice. Electra's costume was beautiful and as others have mentioned it would have benefitted from better costumes. Orchestra was amazing 10/10.
Beautiful design, Great performances by all. Lovely front of house and box office staff
Great venue and fantastic opera.
Beautiful staging but costuming could have been amped up a little.
The subtitles were not large enough, and not even working towards the final few scenes
The orchestra were superb, but the voices were not as grand in the Palais space.
An impressive show with very strong vocals. Subtitles were missing from some parts of the singing. More props and detail on the stage could have been made. Costumes were also very simple. Otherwise the music was grand and again, great voices.
One of Mozart’s lesser known works. The highlight was Electra!
Magical…
We did enjoy it, loved the voices, the scenery, and the orchestra. However, we did expect more sumptuous costumes, particularly on the main characters. Like Elettra's purple gown, we thought Ilia would wear something more regal, particularly at the end with her nuptials with Idamante, the king's son.
We thought those main characters, along with King Idomeneo, would stand out more in how they were dressed.
We would like to mention that the subtitles were rather small. We found the subtitles very hard to read, which made us lose the actual storyline at the start. Once we moved to our seats in Row H, during the interval, we could read the subtitles perfectly.
Brilliant. Loved the orchestra. The acoustic doesn’t seemed to support the voices-very soft at times.
Beautiful performance
This production was a revelation. Not only excellent voices in the principal roles but a strong chorus. Mozart used little chorus in his later 'Big 4' operas so it was good to see how well he used this one to develop this mythical story but also give some members their own character - I suspect a new development for that time. Olivia Cranwell was outstanding in the role of Elettra, always rejected on the edge. She had the most exciting scene, aided by the marvellous projected backdrop. Direction by Lindy Hume, the orchestra and Steve Davislim in the title role added to the highlights.
Beautiful!
I only realised during this performance that acoustics in this theatre are very much taylored for the live music and singing without microphones. The opera sounded beautiful. Live orchestra was wonderful.
Great performance, loved it ! Everybody played well, only wish the role of Idamante was played by a man, rather than a woman, eventhough it was played very well. Orchestra was amazing, the conductor was great ! Totally loved the performance ! Well done !
Fabulous voices, magical music. Ekettra was unforgettable with her wild hair and powerful voice. The change of scenes using technology was stunning. Idomeneo would have been even more powerful with relevant costumes. Idamante was a male with masculine energy and it was disappointing that he was a woman on stage, taking away the masculinity from the role. Chorus was brilliant, orchestra also brilliant! The leads were all exceptional - each one!
Wonderful music, delivering a range of emotions, the singing was amazing as was the orchestration. The minimalist stage was underwhelming, as was the non use of a ship, monster, or God (left to imagination). Costumes could have been better, if era appropriate, as would be a background with Greek columns and not a large Georgian room. The film used for staging was lovely but needed more stage props, 30 seats were not my cup of tea. The performers could have been a bit closer to the age of their young characters, and therefore not have missed the potential chemistry between lovers.
This show is ideal for opera and music lovers. The orchestra was exceptional. The cast did a great job.