Whatever Peter Sellars had been scheduled to direct in the wake of the Iraq war would have turned out like this new Idomeneo.
Sellars never misses a chance to ram home his political message, but even if you are sympathetic to what he is trying to say, it is still too easy to weary of his preaching.
Often because of his theatrical flair, Sellars can get away with it, but in this Idomeneo he fails. This is a production that is muddled, sententious, and - most fatally - just plain boring.
Anyone who saw Sellars' production at Tate Modern earlier this year, when he staged a piece of Artaud as a Pentagon briefing, beneath one of the orifices of Anish Kapoor's Marsyas will recognise the settings for most of this production.
Kapoor supplies an all-purpose set that looks as if it is a by-product of his famous sculpture: broad, sweeping, orange-coloured curves leading to a central exit through which almost all entrances are made.
The setting is abstract and it is left to Sellars' direction and the costumes of Mark Bouman to supply the specifics that Sellars' productions demand. Here, once Idomeneo has rid himself of his first act battle fatigues, he dons a midgrey suit and red tie to imitate George W Bush; his sidekick Arbace is besuited and is therefore presumably Tony Blair. Ilia is clearly a Muslim, complete with headscarf.
But operas are not infinitely plastic, and cannot be made to conform to whatever concept or message a director imposes upon them, and Sellars' Idomeneo cannot tell us anything except that War is a Bad Thing.
As the opera goes on, the inconsistencies become more intrusive. Were the performance outstandingly conducted or sung then perhaps these inconsistencies would not matter.
But the dramatic pulse in Simon Rattle's handling of the score comes and goes, and the playing of the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment has some surprising insecurities.
The cast too tends to be efficient rather than inspired. The outstanding performance comes from Magdalena Kozena's Idamante. Philip Langridge's Idomeneo has the right gravitas, but not always the same vocal security.
· In rep until July 26. Box office: 01273 813813.
