W.A. Mozarts Idomeneo und die Tradition der Karnevalsopern in Munchen (review)

W. A. Mozarts Idomeneo und die Tradition der Karnevalsopern in München. By Karl Böhmer. (Mainzer Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, 39) Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1999. [x, 443 p. ISBN 3-7952-0997-8. DM 124.]

After the Herculean labors of Daniel Heartz and others on behalf of Mozart's Idomeneo, is there really the need or even space for another work on this topic? The question is answered in the affirmative by this Mainz dissertation as it seeks to correct the contention of Heartz, Reinhard Strohm, and Paul Corneilson, among others, that Idomeneo is a "Mannheim" opera despite its having been commissioned for the Munich court for the carnival of 1781. The author attributes this, to him, wrong-headed identification to the lack of attention paid in the past to the Munich opera repertory, prior to the assumption of Carl Theodor's role as Bavarian elector following the sudden demise of Maximilian III Joseph, in December 1777. Not only did Carl Theodor bring the best players of his Mannheim orchestra with him, but he also sent for his ballet and theatrical company. Thus, when he commissioned Mozart to set the libretto of Idomeneo, it was argued with considerable conviction that neither Mozart nor his patron had in mind an opera for the smallish Residenztheater in the Bavarian capital but one for the much larger Mannheim court theater. This notion was further strengthened by the shared opinion that Idomeneo, though a heroic opera seria, had a much greater family resemblance to the famous mixed style ("gemischter Stil") of Mannheim with its emphasis on recitativo stromentato, orchestral virtuosity, ballet divertissements, and pantomimes than to the rather conservative, old-fashioned seria style practiced in Munich during the time of Carl Theodor's predecessor.

But here Böhmer urges us to pause and look at this neglected repertory of Munich carnival operas, readily available in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and compare it to Idomeneo. He argues that the Munich seria tradition was much more diverse than generally assumed, and that Mozart must have been familiar with this repertory since it harbors many striking models ("Vorbilder") for Idomeneo, including libretto subjects, use of ballet, aria types, etc. In his attempt to include Idomeneo in the Munich carnival opera tradition, the author begins in chapter one by offering a careful and often fascinating overview of the repertory, social function, calendar, budgetary practices, and available performers of the Munich carnival opera from 1745 to 1777, together with some valuable comments on the parallel development of buffa and singspiel.

Chapter two studies the carnival operas of the last ten years of Maximilian III Joseph's reign with special attention to Munich characteristics in libretto setting, compositional preferences (recitatives, aria types), and aesthetics. The following chapter, somewhat misnamed "The Munich opera after Carl Theodor's accession 1778- 1780," actually covers—much to the benefit of the reader—the Munich reform opera (1759-64), the practice of reworking libretti of Pietro Metastasio (1766-75), as well as the (expected) narrative concerning the establishment of the Mannheimers in Munich in 1778. When attempting to distinguish Munich opera libretti from contemporary Italian arrangement practices, Böhmer does so by comparing the degree to which the same operas set to Metastasio libretti were truncated or altered in Italian performances as against the more conservative practice of such adaptations in Munich (p. 78-92). Of particular interest is the comparison between two versions of Josef Myslivecek's Ezio, one for Naples (1775), the other for Munich (1777). The earlier version retains only twelve of Metastasio's twenty-nine arias while the Munich version retains eighteen, and follows more closely the librettist's original order of scenes. A further interesting and valuable chapter examines Telemaco by Paul (Joseph) Grua, the carnival opera for 1780 (i.e., the direct temporal predecessor to Idomeneo). With this background work accomplished the author turns to Idomeneo and tries to locate it within this tradition ("Die Karnevalsoper des Jahres...