In an opera which announces itself in the dramatic power of its accompanied recitative, Sir Colin Davis is likely to run pretty high in the stakes. In 1969, it was the potency of his orchestra as protagonist which marked a turning-point in the opera's fortunes on record: even with the casts of the great Busch (HMV—78rpm) and Bohm (DG—LP) recordings, it was supremely Davis who caught the breath, raced with the pulse, and turned an ear to the instrumental sub-text of Mozart's great opera seria.
These qualities endure, and have vigorous presence in their transfer to CD. There is the biting edge as well as the glow of the orchestral playing, though John Constable's busy harpsichord continuo now does sound over-prominent. This is very much George Shirley's Idomeneo: his singing has noble authority, and he manages a thrilling, trumpeting climax for his ''Fuor del mar''. But there are times when he rages too much and regrets too little. I find Werner Hollweg, for Harnoncourt (Teldec) a greater characterization: he finds the ombra dolente within the king as well. Similarly Margherita Rinaldi's Ilia has the bright agility for the role, but misses the melancholy and unique flavour of her music which Rachel Yakar (for Harnoncourt) also brings. Flames lick around Pauline Tinsley's Elettra: she blazes at the top and yet opens up a surprisingly soft heart for her ''Idol mio''. Felicity Palmer, for Harnoncourt shakes an iron fist even within the caress of the kid glove.
Davis uses a tenor Idamante on the grounds of dramatic vraisemblance; and Ryland Davies is in ringing, heroic form, bringing urgency and angst especially to his recitatives. But here lies the crux. What, in Idomeneo, is dramatic vraisemblance? Listen to the cadences and harmonic underlay of ''Non ho colpa'' with an ear attuned, prophetically, to Tito, and it may well seem that Mozart already knew what he was doing when he conceived the role for female voice. This is Harnoncourt's decision; and I find Trudeliese Schmidt's Idamante entirely convincing. Similarly, if you want to hear Idomeneo's ''Torna la pace'' and Elettra's ''D'Oreste, d'Aiace'', from the later Vienna version, you must turn to Davis. If you prefer more of the highly-charged recitative between Idamante and Ilia, and at the encounter between Idomeneo and Idamante, then Harnoncourt is the man for you. Neither Davis nor Harnoncourt, by the way, put ''Non temer'' on display, though Harnoncourt does allow Arbace his ''Se il tuo duol''.
To a certain extent, these differences will remain a matter of taste. But this time I would go so far as to say that Harnoncourt has actually superseded Davis in dramatic and musical perception. Twenty years have passed since Davis's version, and we are now in a decade in which Idomeneo has come into its own as theatre. The work has to be 'unpicked', to use an expression of Simon Rattle who gave such an outstanding performance at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. This is just what Harnoncourt has done. For all its momentum, Davis's reading cannot match Harnoncourt's for penetrating the unique nerve system of this opera—its rhythms and accents, its chemistry between vocal inflexion and instrumental timbre its precise pointing and timing of each line.
The Maag recording (Rodolphe), from a live Aix performance of 1963, is strictly for archivists and canary-fanciers. Teresa Stich-Randall is its chief raison d'etre, and AB has already itemized its weaknesses and its carelessness of presentation. I have nothing to add.'