After a disappointing Don Giovanni, Jacobs has come up with a wonderful Idomeneo. Perhaps it is the strong French streak that runs through Mozart’s dramma per musica that has brought out the best in him. Whatever the reason, there is much that is first-rate in this 3-disc set.

Jacobs has wisely decided to include in the recording passages that were excised when Idomeneo was first performed in Munich in 1781. These include Elettra’s ‘D’Oreste, d’Aiace’ and Idomeneo’s ‘Torna la pace al core’. Bulgarian soprano Alexandrina Pendatchanska delivers a riveting account of the former and American tenor Richard Croft offers a beautiful reading of the latter (although, as is often the case with Jacobs, the tempo is a little too brisk for my taste). Croft has a warm, natural voice and his contribution throughout is one of the recording’s great attributes. Sunhae Im, in the role of Ilia, is suitably sweet of voice but she has a limited tonal range.

However, as a whole the principals are well chosen and the famous quartet is outstanding. The Freiburger Barockorchester offers thrilling and incisive playing and the RIAS Kammerchor captures superbly the full range of the choral writing. As an added bonus, this welcome release includes a documentary DVD.