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Tenor Matthew Polenzani Stars in Mozart’s Idomeneo
BY SARAH SHAW Festival Focus Writer
On Thursday, August 17, the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS (AOTVA) program presents Mozart’s Idomeneo in the Benedict Music Tent. World-renowned tenor Matthew Polenzani, whom Aspen Music Festival and School Vice President for Artistic Administration Patrick Chamberlain calls “one of the great tenors before the public today,” reprises the title role he performed to much acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera.
Based on Homer’s tale of the ancient Greek King Idomeneo of Crete, Mozart wrote this large-scale work when he was just 24 years old. Conceived as an opera seria, a highly formal and stylized musical formula that was the “in thing” with European aristocrats at the time, Idomeneo is a departure from some of Mozart’s more famous operas that were written in the opera buffa or comic and semicomic genre.
Set in Crete in 1200 BC, the opera tells the story of King Idomeneo’s return from victory in the Trojan war. When a great storm destroys his ship, Idomeneo, desperate to save his own life, begs Neptune, the god of the sea, to spare him. In return, Neptune asks him to sacrifice the first living person he sees. Upon safely returning to shore, Idomeneo sees his son, Idamante, waiting there.
Like many stories from Greek myth, Idomeneo is fundamentally about the human struggle to choose between duty and the heart’s desire. “The central issue of the opera,” says Polenzani, “is the idea that this father must find his way forward to keep his son alive.”
As the father of three teenage boys, the role is personal for Polenzani. “As an actor and a parent, I love wrestling with these issues of sacrifice. What would I give to make it possible for Idamante to continue to live? I’ve been singing this role for 15 years and every time I step foot into his shoes, I find myself in a happy place. I love the music but I love Idomeneo for the man he is. It calls to me as a dad and as an actor, and Mozart’s music speaks to my heart and my soul.”
Like Polenzani, noted opera director Francesca Zambello makes her Aspen debut with this production, joining AMFS Music Director Robert Spano, who will conduct.
While maintaining Mozart’s sublime music, Zambello intentionally modernized the storytelling of Idomeneo to better suit the setting of the Benedict Music Tent. “Ironically, I found my answer by looking back to the Greeks. Their production values were simple: stages were bare, and the actors were the sole focus,” she explains.
Zambello also chose to replace stylized recitative sections with a narrator, the Trojan woman, who will guide the audience through the story, much as an actor would have done in those early days of theater. “I hope this combination of Mozart’s glorious music and a classical actress will lead us to something as timeless as the story itself,” says Zambello.
Under the leadership of Co-Artistic Directors Renée Fleming and Patrick Summer, the artist-fellows of the AOTVA program have the opportunity learn from and share the stage with world-class artists like Polenzani.
“We have arguably one of the greatest performers of this role in the world working and rehearsing with our students. It’s like an incandescent light goes on inside them when they’re on stage with someone like Polenzani,” says AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher.
Working with the students is particularly exciting for Polenzani because he sees so much potential in the collaboration between established artists and those just starting in the field. “There’s a lot to learn to be able to fulfill these leading roles,” he explains. “It’s so important for students to make time for life. Fall in love, get your heart broken, party with your friends. When you’re singing words that somebody else wrote in a language you don’t speak, it’s important to fully express these emotions on stage. If you cannot relate what you’re singing about in an honest and truthful way, the audience will see it. Pour your heart and soul into what you do, but don’t make that the entirety of your life.”
