The history and evaluation of this opera was written by James Camner in his review of the recording conducted by John Eliot Gardiner in Fanfare 15:3. I would agree that is one of the best recordings of the opera, the other being conducted by Charles Mackerras on EMI. Actually there are several good performances on CD of this opera.

This recording has the virtue of being complete. Mozart, himself, made many changes in the opera, notably cutting arias and simplifying the tenor aria “Fuor del mar.” Adam Fischer, the conductor, is one who understands that Mozart’s music should be elegant. Many conductors use fast tempos that often destroy the elegance. This performance includes the ballet music on the fourth CD.

The cast is quite adequate. Kristina Hammarström’s bright mezzo is a good Idamante, Henriette Bonde-Hansen’s lyric soprano sings a good Ilia, Raffaella Milanesi’s dramatic soprano is fine as Elettra, and Christoph Strehl’s lyric tenor produces a fine Arbace. Fortunately Arbace’s arias are not cut. Unfortunately the principal role of Idomeneo is sung by Christian Elsner, whose nasal tenor is disturbing. He does manage to get through the original version of “Fuor del mar,” but only with what is obviously a great deal of difficulty.

The sound on this Dacapo release is excellent, the packaging quite fine. A large booklet contains notes in Danish, German, and English by Claus Johansen with many of the letters about the composition of the opera written by Mozart to his father. There is also a section with notes about the conductor and the singers as well as a list of the tracks, and a complete libretto with an English translation. On the whole this is a good release…

Adam Fischer attained a high profile through his work with the period-instrument Austro–Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. I don’t think the Danish Radio Sinfonietta is such a period-specific ensemble, at least not all the time—the ensemble’s repertoire takes in works of the Second Viennese School—but it certainly sounds like one here. The string sound is full-bodied yet clean and uncluttered: the Act III marcia, especially, suggests the use of gut strings, rather than steel. Chordal accents, particularly those involving the batterie, are crisp whacks that decay quickly, while stabbing violin accents add urgency to the faster numbers. Fischer prefers to keep things moving—“Zeffiretti lusinghieri” and “Idol mio,” perhaps, want more time to bloom—but the music never feels rushed, merely flowing and dramatically purposeful.

Beyond the use of historical instruments, the “applied musicology” here leans toward occasional discreet embellishments in the numbers, rather than avalanches of appoggiaturas in the recitatives. More crucial to the performance’s success, however, is the way the singers have been coached into authentically realizing the inflections and rhythms of spoken Italian, making the drama more immediate. Unsurprisingly, the Elettra, Italian soprano Raffaella Milanesi, sounds most natural in this, but all of the principals maintain a high level.

Christian Elsner is an apt Idomeneo. His basically dark timbre—in some of his recitatives, he sounds like a baritone—and full-throated tone suggest the character’s inherent authority; so does his generally forthright, incisive delivery. His smooth, even legato extends to the various runs and melismas, which he sings without aspirating. He does turn borderline shouty in parts of the Act III quartet; elsewhere in the same act, his attempts at quiet, introspective singing, however heartfelt, are croony and monochromatic. “Torna la pace,” Idomeneo’s difficult last-act aria, is omitted, as it was by Mozart himself when he was preparing the opera’s premiere in Munich in 1781.

Kristina Hammarström’s Idamante is an appropriate son for this Idomeneo. Her compact tone, as recorded, doesn’t have real alto depth, but her legato is firm, her voice secure as it ascends to the top. (The high tessitura of “No, la morte” taxes her a bit.) She maintains a poised, dignified characterization even at peak dramatic moments, and, like Elsner, she brings a nice variety of pacing to the recitatives.

The Ilia, Henriette Bonde-Hansen, gets herself and the opera off to a poor start with stressed, strenuous singing and swallowed vowels. When she relaxes later, in &ldmore....

Review By David Vickers,Gramophone,January 2011

Adam Fischer’s series of Mozart’s serious operas turns its attentions to Idomeneo (Munich, 1781). Some cuts Mozart made before the first performance are followed, such as the abridged cavatina for Idomeneo and the Priests (as they prepare for Idamante’s sacrifice), and the king’s final aria “Torna la pace” is omitted. Other music is reinstated—nowadays one expects to hear Elettra’s “D’Oreste, d’Aice”, and with its preceding accompanied recitative in full, but Fischer also restores the magnificent ballet music at the end of the opera (included separately on the fourth disc). The chunky booklet includes the libretto and a comprehensive selection of the Mozart family’s correspondence about the opera’s composition, rehearsal and production. Fischer’s Mozartian work is less hyped (and less polemical) than the corresponding efforts by René Jacobs, whose recent Idomeneo typified how superb period-instrument playing and a prestigious cast might still be greeted with mixed admiration from sceptics inclined to deplore scattered iconoclastic whimsies. In contrast, the Danish Radio Sinfonietta’s modern instruments play with impeccable sense and style, and Fischer quietly gets on with delivering outstanding results that bespeak natural judgment of Mozartian music drama: his pacing, shaping of phrases and balancing of strings with woodwind textures are magnificent, and the theatrical effects in the orchestration emerge lucidly. Richard Lewis’s harpsichord accompaniment in recitatives is astute, even if some might quibble that the keyboard continuo ought to be a fortepiano.

Christian Elsner’s beefy tenor lacks mellifluousness in the Cretan King’s loveliest arias (“Vedrommi intorno” is husky rather than beautiful), and is stretched slightly by the reams of coloratura in “Fuor del mar” (which is superbly played and conducted), but his recitatives effectively portray a mature-sounding Idomeneo whose torment at the hands of Neptune warrants a peaceful abdication. Kristina Hammarström’s ardent Idamante is almost on a par with other eminent castrato-substitute counterparts on disc (Anne Sofie von Otter, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Bernarda Fink); “No, la morte io non pavento” has the perfect characterisation of virtuous courage. Muted strings, solo woodwinds and horn play sublimely during Ilia’s “Se il pardre perfei”, and Henriette Bonde-Hansen’s sensitive singing also combines sweetly with the soft orchestration at the beginning of Act 3 (“Solitudini amiche…Zeffiretti lusinghieri”). Christoph Strehl is supple vocally and dignified dramatically as Arbace. Raffaella Milanesi’s s Baroque expertise is evident in her tormented Elettra; there is a hint of strained smokiness in “D’Oreste, d’Aiace” (which works), the Sturm und Drang character of “Tutte nel cor” is conveyed to perfection by Fmore....

Review By Jerónimo Marín,Ritmo,December 2010

Idomeneo es una de las cumbres de las óperas mozartianas con exigencias tanto vocales como para la orquesta, no en vano fue destinada a la orquesta del Elector Carl Theodor, la de Mannheim, aunque trasplantada a Munich en 1781, lo cual se ve en el virtuosismo de la escritura para las maderas entre otros detalles. Estas mismas exigencias son las que hicieron que cayera en un cierto olvido.