Calixto Bieito’s Idomeneo runs out of time in Prague

Evan LeRoy Johnson (Idomeneo) and the State Opera Chorus

Evan LeRoy Johnson (Idomeneo) and Rebecka Wallroth (Idamante)

Rebecka Wallroth (Idamante) and Ekaterina Krovateva (Ilia)

Petra Alvarez Šimková (Elettra) and the State Opera Chorus

By Frank Kuznik, 30 September 2025

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“a director throwing every random thing he can think of into a muddled stew”

Reviewed at State Opera (Státní opera), Prague on 28 September 2025

Mozart, Idomeneo, re di Creta

Prague State Opera

Konrad Junghänel, Conductor

Calixto Bieito, Director

Anna-Sofia Kirsch, Set Designer

Paula Keiller, Costume Designer

Reinhard Traub, Lighting Designer

Prague State Opera Orchestra

Prague State Opera Chorus

Jitka Slavíková, Dramaturgy

Evan LeRoy Johnson, Idomeneo

Rebecka Wallroth, Idamante

Petra Šimková-Alvarez, Elettra

Ekaterina Krovateva, Ilia

Eduard Kácal, High Priest

Josef Moravec, High Priest

Zdeněk Plech, The Oracle of Neptune

Parsifal reconsidered: A provocative improvisation in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 26th March

Timo Riihonen and Ester Pavlů stand out in a strong cast which carries Andreas Homoki's revised version of Wagner's final opera.

****1

Reimann's Lear makes for a dark season finale at Prague State Opera

Frank Kuznik, 7th June

Aribert Reimann's Lear takes no prisoners in a disturbing portrayal of a world gone awry, but Barbora Horáková's scattergun direction adds to the confusion.

***11

A politically charged new Manon in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 27th March

Puccini's classic takes on a harsh contemporary edge in a dark treatment by director Sláva Daubnerová at Prague's National Theatre.

****1

A rambunctious Platée revival in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 23rd November

SKUTR's daring direction and Václav Luks's early music expertise combine to bring new vitality to a Baroque classic.

*****

To the apocalypse and beyond: Le Grand Macabre in Prague

David Karlin, 14th June

Nigel Lowery’s new production at Prague State Opera is a gusher of ideas, starting as slapstick but profoundly moving by the end.

****1

Nabucco in Prague: handsome but over-ambitious

Frank Kuznik, 21st March

Andriy Yurkevych leads a rousing musical performance, but this visually impressive Nabucco tries to hard to be relevant and misses the mark.

***11

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.