Robert Carsen’s powerful staging of Mozart’s Idomeneo returns to the Royal Danish Opera

More than 180 performers take to the stage and orchestra pit as Robert Carsen’s production of Mozart’s first great masterpiece, Idomeneo, returns to the Opera House in Copenhagen. In 2020, the production received the Reumert Award for Opera of the Year, and Sine Bundgaard – who received the same award as Singer of the Year for her portrayal of Elettra – returns to the role, marking her farewell as a principal singer with the Royal Danish Opera.

Mozart’s first major opera

King Idomeneo returns from the Trojan War. Caught in a violent storm at sea, he vows to the god Neptune that, should he survive, he will sacrifice the first person he meets upon reaching land. He is spared – but at a devastating cost: the first person he encounters is his own son.

From this dramatic core, rooted in Greek myth, Mozart unfolds a powerful exploration of the human consequences of war and impossible choices – tempered by themes of love, compassion and forgiveness. Idomeneo was his first great operatic achievement.

An opera that resonates today

In his staging, the acclaimed director Robert Carsen explores the profound impact of losing both homeland and family in the wake of war. Idomeneo does not focus on war itself, but on its consequences—what happens to those who survive. The opera feels acutely relevant today, as countless people are displaced and have lost their homes, families, and countries.

The opera also centres on the younger generation, who embody hope for the future and the possibility of reconciliation, forgiveness, and a new beginning. What ultimately gives the work its emotional force is that it is not violence that prevails, but love; not hatred, but compassion; not revenge, but forgiveness.

This staging of Idomeneo unfolds within a stark, elemental scenographic landscape, where striking images emerge, suspended between sky and sea.

Cast and creative team

Mozart specialist Julia Jones conducts this dramatic masterpiece, with Royal Danish Opera tenor Niels Jørgen Riis in the title role of Idomeneo. Sine Bundgaard returns as Elettra in the performance that earned her the Reumert Award in 2020. The cast also includes Gert Henning-Jensen and Gloria Tronel, alongside the Royal Danish Opera Chorus and the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Produced in collaboration with Teatro Real, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Canadian Opera Company.

Idomeneo is performed on the Main Stage of the Opera House from 9 May to 6 June 2026.

Read more about Idomeneo here.