Martin Kušej’s Idomeneo cast as gripping political power struggle

Mozart: Idomeneo ****

Royal Opera, 3rd November 2014

“Here be dragons!” warned seafaring maps of yore, denoting uncharted territories. Martin Kušej, undertaking his first Royal Opera exploration, excised the sea monster from his vision of Mozart’s Idomeneo. Well, there was a baffling appearance from a plastic shark, but we’ll file that under ‘Red Herring’. For Kušej, the monster takes on another, more relevant, more believable form: a brutal regime. Kušej’s is a thoughtful, intelligent production – challenging, but nowhere near as provocative as his Josef Fritzl inspired Rusalka or his asylum-seeking Flying Dutchman.

© Catherine Ashmore/ROH

© Catherine Ashmore/ROH

Read the full review on Bachtrack.

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