The secret with Birmingham Opera Company presentations is to ignore the sillinesses and concentrate instead upon the positives.
And the pluses certainly outweigh the minuses in BOC’s new production of Mozart’s King Idomeneo. Though director Graham Vick’s continued commitment to bringing a community slant to opera does involve some aimless shuffling about this disused factory both from chorus and audience, leading to almost total neglect of the wonderful music of Act One – and what a missed opportunity in a very subdued shipwreck scene – there is eventually a highly moving concentration upon the riches of the score itself.
As we sat on thoughtfully-provided mats protecting us from the earthy floor, the wonderful solo set-pieces of Act II came over with tremendous presence in this surprisingly comfortable acoustic, and the noble choruses were gloriously delivered – until the happy-clappy finale.
William Lacey drew a compact, fluid account of the score from an excellent orchestra. Paul Nilon was slightly strained as Idomeneo, Mark Wilde made a vibrant Idamante and Anna Dennis an appealing Ilia. As the baddie, chavvy Electra, Donna Bateman was disappointingly squally.
Stuart Nunn’s designs made resourceful use of the space, with orange-trees decorating the area (though why the bagged-up rotten fruits?) and volcanic slopes adding extra interest.
But the great sacrificial scene was bungled in Vick’s handling, with bathetic scrubbing down of a butcher’s slab and no reaction at all from the protagonists at the surprise intervention of the supernatural voice of the deus ex machina.
What can be remembered from this long evening is an overwhelming awareness of the magnificence of Mozart’s music in this, his first great opera, and for that BOC deserves everyone’s gratitude.
* Running time: Three hours, 30 minutes. Runs August 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 23 at 7pm (Advance booking at the Birmingham Rep box office: 0121 236 4455).
* View more scenes from Birmingham Opera's Idomeneo in our picture gallery.
