In the wake of the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, made a fateful vow to Neptune, God of the Sea, to be executed should he arrive home safely. Just like the Old Testament’s Jephthah and Abraham, he faces the dilemma of whether to sacrifice his own child or to offend a god. Idomeneo ultimately yields, ready to kill his son, Idamante. Prince Idamante is in love with Ilia, daughter of Priam, the defeated King of Troy, who has lost her family and homeland in the war. Ilia is fond of Idamante, but hesitates to acknowledge her love of an enemy, whose father Idomeneo helped Achilles and Odysseus take Troy. Elettra, daughter of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, is wildly jealous of Ilia, and intends to win Idamante at any cost. Mozart rendered the heroes’ extreme emotions by means of ravishingly powerful music. He and the librettist Giovanni Battista Varesco ended the Ancient Greek story happily: Idomeneo’s old order gives way to the rule of love and reason, with Idamante and Ilia ascending the throne.
