Word: idomeneo
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...tricks are no longer new, but the cultists won't be satisfied unless they have told you about every sort of shot that Welles used for the first time. I am only slightly more annoyed when opera fans talk about Mozart's daring use of the quartet in Idomeneo; he may have shocked Vienna in 1780, but now we ought to be far more interested in the quality of the quartet as music, not music history...
...jewel-box theater was built during the reign of Elector Maximilian III Joseph (1745-77), of linden wood from the forests of Murnau, following the design of French Architect Francois de Cuvillies. In 1781 it was the scene of the first performance of Mozart's Idomeneo. But early in the 19th century the Bavarian court lost its taste for curlicues, and for a time the rococo theater served merely as storage place for scenery...
...klieg lights were installed to light the way for modern theatergoers. One evening last week, as dusk settled over Attica's brown hills, the moon over the amphitheater competed with the electric lights. An audience filled the 3,000 seats for a performance of Mozart's Idomeneo, a rarely staged opera with an ancient Greek background...
From the first note the audience was captivated by music and action. The plot: Idomeneo, King of Crete, cannot face the terrible duty of sacrificing his own son to appease the sea god Poseidon, and decides to spirit him away. But the young man doubles Poseidon's wrath by slaying one of his sea monsters, and Idomeneo realizes that he must go ahead with the sacrifice. When the boy's faithful sweetheart Ilia insists on dying with him, the god relents, and the ending is happy. After the two-hour performance, the audience applauded for 15 solid minutes...
...Idomeneo was only one attraction of Athens' highly promising first festival of music and drama, featuring Greek artists in works with Greek themes. Highlights of the five-week program...