Review: English Touring Opera in Idomeneo, York Theatre Royal, March 30

NOT the least of Idomeneo’s difficulties is that the Cretan king of the title role is such a clod. James Conway’s new production for ETO made no attempt to disguise this and, sure enough, Christopher Turner trudged ruefully around the stage, wallowing in self-pity after the catastrophic vow that meant he must sacrifice his own son.

Conway’s problem is to show that the plot has more to offer. But Mozart’s score is full of felicities that largely shone through despite the irritating histrionics of conductor Jonathan Peter Kenny, who could have achieved twice the finesse with half the movement. These gripes aside, the evening had much to offer even if it never quite achieved lift-off.

The one character whom it was impossible to take one’s eyes off was the Elettra of Paula Sides, ironically enough since the role is largely peripheral to the plot. Always poised, with voice and gesture beautifully integrated, she had a devastating mad scene up her sleeve for the finale. Her rival for the king’s son, Ilia, was the much more homely Galina Averina, whose uneasy captivity spilled into her singing for the first two acts. She relaxed at last when the prize became hers.

That prize was Catherine Carby in the trouser role of Idamante, forthrightly sung if theatrically quizzical. Conway manipulated his chorus well; they responded wholeheartedly. And the wind quartet in Ilia’s Act 2 aria was memorable. ETO is always welcome here. Martin Dreyer