Search - Janowitz, Pavarotti, Taylor :: Mozart: Idomeneo - Pavarotti: 1964 Glyndebourne debut recording

Mozart is very much Glyndebourne's signature composer and as a point of fact Glyndebourne was instrumental in putting Mozart back into the repertoire in the UK, so much so that the performing edition of Idomeneo was commissioned by Glyndebourne's music director Fritz Busch. Glyndebourne's 1951 Messel production of Mozart's Idomeneo was the first professional performance in Great Britain. This 1964 recording is from the last staging of the Messel production and an opera John Pritchard had conducted at Glyndebourne since 1952. Pritchard was a consummate Mozartian and this recording allows, for the first time, Janowitz and Pavarotti to be heard before their respective international careers took off. Their vocal timbres are instantly recognisable - fresh, vital, flexible and already burgeoning with a distinctive projection of the text and drama. Pavarotti went on to have a long association with this opera, moving to the title role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and recording it in the early digital age of 1983 with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted once again by Pritchard. Richard Lewis as Idomeneo in the recording has a gracious sense of style and carries the day.