About this edition
Composed for the Munich carnival season of 1781, Idomeneo, re di Creta (K.366) represents Mozart's triumphant arrival as a master of opera seria — a work of unprecedented dramatic power in which the young composer transformed an aging genre through bold harmonic writing, vivid orchestration, and choruses of Gluckian grandeur. The score abounds with extraordinary moments: the shipwreck chorus "Pietà! Numi, pietà," Elettra's storm-tossed final aria, and the celebrated oracle scene whose trombone-laden utterance Mozart famously revised again and again in search of the perfect supernatural effect. Mozart himself held this opera in special affection throughout his life, returning to its material in later works and never matching its particular blend of youthful audacity and classical poise.
This volume reproduces the full orchestral score as published in Mozarts Werke, Serie V, Band 6, No. 13, issued by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzig in 1881 (plate W.A.M. 366). The Breitkopf complete edition — the first scholarly collected edition of Mozart's works — was prepared by an editorial committee including Johannes Brahms, Joseph Joachim, and other distinguished musicians, and remained the standard reference text for generations of conductors and scholars. Its careful engraving, generous page layout, and faithfulness to Mozart's autograph make it a uniquely valuable document for anyone studying or performing the opera.
About this edition:
- Format: Full orchestral score (conductor's score)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Source: Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, 1881 (Mozarts Werke, Serie V, Bd. 6)
- Reproduced from a public domain historical edition
- Publisher: Purple 4R Publishing
This volume is a faithful reprint of a public domain historical score, offered to bring a landmark scholarly edition back into the hands of conductors, singers, orchestral musicians, and students who wish to study Mozart's first operatic masterpiece in its definitive form. We hope it serves your music-making and scholarship well.
