“Idomeneo,” one of the lesser-known Mozart operas, explores the aftermath of the Trojan War. The libretto is filled with broken promises, vengeful gods and monsters and unrequited love, and it builds to a surprisingly cheerful ending.
“afterWARds,” director David Paul’s abridged version of “Idomeneo” that runs through Sunday at Pittsburgh Opera, reduces the cast to four principal roles, shortens and rearranges the music to about 80 minutes and focuses the story on the interpersonal relationships of four refugees. This production doesn’t really work, despite a gorgeous score and excellent vocal work from the singers on Tuesday at the CAPA auditorium in Downtown.
The opening set piece is a film montage that sets up the premise of a shipwreck and rescue set to Mozart’s overture. The cinematography is handsomely stylized, but having the vocalists appear onstage to interact with the projection was distracting and unnecessary.
The orchestra, conducted by Glenn Lewis, delivered the overture with an almost perfunctory air. Throughout the work, there were consistent intonation problems, balance issues in chords and an uncharacteristic lack of precision and grace.
After the overture, the canvas screen lifted and resettled on stage in the shape of a canvas tent surrounded by orange life preservers, presumably to evoke a refugee camp. Soprano Ashley Fabian (Ilia, last surviving member of her Trojan family) opened with a voice that sounded small at first but warmed and became more expressive over the course of the evening.
Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy (Idomeneo) was a convincingly distraught and displaced king of Crete. Mezzo-soprano Antonia Botti-Lodovico (Idamente, in a pants role) looked and sounded every bit the spurned prince, and soprano Caitlin Gotimer (Elletra) shone in her finale as she suffers a jealous breakdown.
This transformed production uses lyrics from the original libretto, stitched together to create a new tale. It’s an awkward fit, with character motivations simplified to the point of parody and plot developments that feel like they’re appearing out of left field.
Still, the vocals were strong. All four cast members belong to Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artist program, one of the premiere training programs for developing opera singers. Mr. Chin-Loy and Ms. Gotimer were especially powerful, their solo and ensemble work alike fizzing with tension and nuance. Ms. Botti-Lodovico was superb, increasingly desperate and wild, as her character is repeatedly rebuffed and pushed away by his father.
Traditional opera is notorious for its length — some of the staples can easily run three or four hours — and shortening works as evening-length entertainment is a worthy experiment. But this production doesn’t just cut, it adapts. The refugee aspects feel largely tacked on, perhaps as a way to make the opera more “relevant,” and this seems contrived, however well-intentioned.
This production continues Friday and Sunday at CAPA, Downtown. Tickets, $52, available at pittsburghopera.org.
Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1634; twitter: @Reynolds_PG. Mr. Reynolds' work at the Post-Gazette is supported by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.
First Published: January 30, 2019, 8:18 p.m.
