Even Mozart had trouble keeping Idomeneo in order. The 1781 premiere was marred by a last-minute flurry of cuts and compromises, and ever since, stage productions have been hacked, chopped and knocked about. Tim Albery's treatment is so severe, he puts the piece in hospital.
Albery has been responsible for all of Opera North's most provocatively brilliant Mozart productions over the past decade. He has given us a surreal Finta Giardiniera, a hi-tech Cosi fan Tutte and now this clinical Idomeneo. All three have been psychologically devastating and the opposite of pretty. And each has been graced by tenor Paul Nilon, who inhabits his first attempt at the role of Idomeneo like a man coming into possession of his rightful property.
The first thing to note about Albery's production is that it is staggeringly short. The second is that most of the scenery seems to have gone missing. Dany Lyne's design provides a hospital trolley, furniture, some bric-a-brac and precious little else. The action is played out on a cold, green, tiled surface under the interrogative heat of fluorescent arc lamps.
It looks like the kind of theatre that was built for operations rather than operas. The characters slouch in as if for a dress-down-at-work day. Albery's approach is to internalise the drama, suggesting that mythological heroes are just regular people with irregular problems. We may not all make pacts with the gods, but we all make bad decisions and have to live with the consequences.
The singing, with David Parry's vivacious conducting, injects all the colour the staging leaves out. Natasha Marsh makes a sweet Ilia. Paula Hoffman's soft-toned Idamante sings her first two arias mellifluously but loses the third. Janis Kelly's imperious Elettra keeps all her music intact - thankfully, as her bile-spitting final aria is a true showstopper.
The weirdest transposition is Idomeneo's concluding Torna la Pace, which is slipped in earlier than usual so that Nilon can end a triumphant evening with a shattering expiration. This is controversial, as most Idomeneos finish the evening resolutely alive. But all in all, it's not a bad night on the tiles.
· Performed on Wednesday and Friday. Box office: 0113-222 6222. Then touring.
