January 1997

Idomeneo (1780) - Plácido Domingo (Idomeneo) Idomeneo, Cecilia Bartoli (Idamante); Heidi Grant Murphy (Ilia); Carol Vaness (Elettra); Thomas Hampson (Arbace); Frank Lopardo (High Priest of Neptune); The Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra/James Levine - Deutsche Grammophon 447 737-2 - three discs 175:52 DDD

The idea of Plácido Domingo singing Wagner's Siegmund one moment and then turning to tackle Mozart's Idomeneo the next, both very much autumnal flowers in his career, seems to me to be largely an assertion of the singer's fabled versatility. If you want to listen to a magnificently groomed voice applying itself to the notes, but only intermittently to the sentiments, of Mozart's great tenor role, then this recording is for you. If you are a wild Domingo fan, then you will want to have another scalp (as it were).

As usual the star is performing behind an impersonal golden voice-mask, though Idomeneo has passages where he has to communicate some semblance of concern and involvement. But far too often in this recording haunted by the spirit of Karajan, and not solely in the case of Domingo, the issue seems to be burnished surface sheen rather than dramatic substance. Domingo performs, or rather utters, at full tilt, screwed down for maximum pressure - and of course he delivers superlatively as he always does, though the exercise seems to me largely pointless since his singing has almost no genuine spiritual conviction within it. If you are seeking a comparatively heavyweight Idomeneo performance, a far better idea is to go for the 1983 Decca version conducted by Sir John Pritchard; Pavarotti's use of words there was as immaculate and understanding then as ever.

Pritchard's slightly laid back and "Glyndebourne-rustic" approach to rhythm and orchestral balance is more idiomatic than James Levine's nastily over-pressurised and self-conscious new version. Of course, there are advantages in the line-up provided by Levine. For instance it is a real treat to have Thomas Hampson singing Idomeneo's confidant Arbace, complete with his (usually cut) arias. Frank Lopardo acquits himself well as the High Priest of Neptune. There's even an echoey and rather too vibrant Bryn Terfel as the voice of Neptune - though with Levine the trombones sound a good bit less chilling as they should. The New York maestro also makes the various choruses sound to me more like well-managed choral rhubarb than convincing theatrical action.

It's all very odd, since Levine runs one of the best opera shops in the world at the New York Met - and has (as this recording shows) a sublimely disciplined and accomplished orchestra to do his bidding. The three women's voices are excellent in principle, used with great urbanity, but not very enjoyable in these roles. Carol Vaness is too machined and house-trained for an exciting Elettra. Heidi Grant Murphy's unbelievably sweet Ilia is none too credible in Italian, and a soppy dramatic interpretation. Cecilia Bartoli's voice and singing can scarcely be bettered, but she remains all woman here which is not exactly what you want in the role of Idomeneo's son the Prince Idamante. It's lovely to hear her singing on the edge of the breath, exploring the emotion of the text. But that's not enough to make up for the hyper-stressed and glossily laminated quality of so much of the rest of the performance.

- Tom Sutcliffe