Idomeneo

Idomeneo – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Opera

Language: Performed in Italian, with surtitles in Czech and English
Premiere: September 25, 2025

Although W. A. Mozart wrote Idomeneo to commission for the Munich court and Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, a keen patron of the arts, who chose the subject himself, the opera is probably his most personal work (with the patriarchal system of blind obedience and a rebellion of the young seeming to evoke the composer’s tense relationship with his father Leopold), featuring excellently crafted characters. All the main protagonists are confronted with their own weaknesses or inability to defy fate. In the wake of the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, made a fateful vow to Neptune, God of the Sea, to be executed should he arrive home safely. Just like the Old Testament’s Jephthah and Abraham, he faces the dilemma of whether to sacrifice his own child or to offend a god. Idomeneo ultimately yields, ready to kill his son, Idamante. Prince Idamante is in love with Ilia, daughter of Priam, the defeated King of Troy, who has lost her family and homeland in the war. Ilia is fond of Idamante, but hesitates to acknowledge her love of an enemy, whose father Idomeneo helped Achilles and Odysseus take Troy. Elettra, daughter of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, is wildly jealous of Ilia, and intends to win Idamante at any cost. Mozart rendered the heroes’ extreme emotions by means of ravishingly powerful music. He and the librettist Giovanni Battista Varesco ended the Ancient Greek story happily: Idomeneo’s old order gives way to the rule of love and reason, with Idamante and Ilia ascending the throne. 

Premiered in Munich on 29 January 1781, Idomeneo is considered Mozart’s first true opera masterpiece. It was first performed in Prague in October 1887, at the Estates Theatre. The current production has been undertaken by the German conductor Konrad Junghänel, who will collaborate with the National Theatre Opera for the very first time, and the Spanish director Calixto Bieito, who has previously worked in Prague on several occasions (Flames, Katya Kabanova, Jenůfa).

Synopsis

Act 1

Island of Crete, shortly after the Trojan War. Ilia, daughter of the defeated Trojan King Priam, has been taken to Crete after the war. She loves Prince Idamante, son of the Cretan King Idomeneo, but hesitates to acknowledge her love. Idamante frees the Trojan prisoners in a gesture of good will. He tells Ilia, who is rejecting his love, that it is not his fault that their fathers were enemies. Trojans and Cretans together welcome the return of peace, but Electra, daughter of the Greek King Agamemnon, is jealous of Ilia and does not approve of Idamante's clemency toward the enemy prisoners. Arbace, the king's confidant, brings news that Idomeneo has been lost at sea while returning to Crete from Troy. Electra, fearing that Ilia, a Trojan, will soon become Queen of Crete, feels the furies of the underworld rise up in her heart (aria: "Tutte nel cor vi sento, furie del crudo averno" – "I feel you all in my heart, furies of the cruel underworld").

Idomeneo is saved by Neptune (god of the sea) and is washed up on a Cretan beach. There he recalls the vow he made to Neptune: to sacrifice, if he should arrive safely on land, the first living creature he should meet. Idamante approaches him, but because the two have not seen each other for a long time, recognition is difficult. When Idomeneo finally realizes the youth that he must sacrifice for the sake of his vow is his own child, he orders Idamante never to seek him out again. Grief-stricken by his father's rejection, Idamante runs off. Cretan troops disembarking from Idomeneo's ship are met by their wives, and all praise Neptune.

Act 2

At the king's palace, Idomeneo seeks counsel from Arbace, who says another victim could be sacrificed if Idamante were sent into exile. Idomeneo orders his son to escort Electra to her home, Argos. Idomeneo's kind words to Ilia move her to declare that since she has lost everything, he will be her father and Crete her country. As she leaves, Idomeneo realizes that sending Idamante into exile has cost Ilia her happiness as well as his own. Electra welcomes the idea of going to Argos with Idamante.

At the port of Sidon (a fictional city of Crete), Idomeneo bids his son farewell and urges him to learn the art of ruling while he is away. Before the ship can sail, however, a storm breaks out, and a sea serpent appears. Recognizing it as a messenger from Neptune, the king offers himself as atonement for having violated his vow to the god.

Act 3

In the royal garden, Ilia asks the breezes to carry her love to Idamante, who appears, explaining that he must go to fight the serpent. When he says he would rather die than suffer the torments of his rejected love, Ilia confesses her love. They are surprised by Electra and Idomeneo. When Idamante asks his father why he sends him away, Idomeneo can only reply that the youth must leave. Ilia asks for consolation from Electra, who is preoccupied with revenge. Arbace comes with news that the people, led by the High Priest of Neptune, are clamoring for Idomeneo. The High Priest tells the king of the destruction caused by Neptune's monster, urging Idomeneo to reveal the name of the person whose sacrifice is demanded by the god. When the king confesses that his own son is the victim, the populace is horrified.

Outside the temple, the king and High Priest join Neptune's priests in prayer that the god may be appeased. Arbace brings news that Idamante has killed the monster. As Idomeneo fears new reprisals from Neptune, Idamante enters in sacrificial robes, saying he understands his father's torment and is ready to die. After an agonizing farewell, Idomeneo is about to sacrifice his son when Ilia intervenes, offering her own life instead. The Voice of Neptune is heard. Idomeneo must yield the throne to Ilia and Idamante. Everyone is relieved except Electra, who longs for her own death. Idomeneo presents Idamante and his bride as the new rulers. The people call upon the god of love and marriage to bless the royal pair and bring peace.

Program and cast

Conductor: Konrad Junghänel; Richard Hein

Idomeneo - Evan LeRoy Johnson

Idamante - Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir

Ilia - Ekaterina Krovateva

Elettra - Petra Alvarez Šimková

High Priest of Neptune - Petr Nekoranec; Eduard Kácal

The voice of the Oracle - Zdeněk Plech

First Trojan - Benjamín Hájek; Michael Skalický

Second Trojan - Martin Kreuz; Dalibor Pavelka

First Cretan women - Lucia Bildová; Markéta Frýdová

Second Cretan women - Eliška Rokos Mourečková; Kristina Beyhan

State Opera Chorus
State Opera Orchestra
National Theatre Opera Ballet

Coproduction with La Monnaie / De Munt

Stage director: Calixto Bieito

Sets: Anna-Sofia Kirsch

Costume design: Paula Klein

Light design: Reinhard Traub

Video design: Adria Reixach; Lukáš Panoch

Chorus master: Zuzana Kadlčíková

Dramaturgy: Jitka Slavíková