Idomeneo

Fear of death is a poor guide: On his return from Troy, Idomeneo swears to the god Poseidon that he will sacrifice the first person he encounters – it is his son Idamante. Idamante is in love with the Trojan captive Ilia, which sets a fateful chain of events in motion. Mozart’s “dramma per musica“, premiered in 1781, depicts a world caught between a cruel, archaic logic of sacrifice and a political new beginning. In the end, Idomeneo abdicates, and the next generation takes over. But how sustainable is this new beginning really?