Mozart Reimagined – Idomeneo

Mozart Reimagined by Tyson Vick will feature photos illustrating Mozart’s spectacular opera “Idomeneo”, which features a sea monster. And I love it.

Mozart Reimagined features six photos by Tyson Vick illustrating the opera Idomeneo

Mozart Reimagined showcases nearly 100 photos that bring to life Mozart’s operas through photography. I spent a decade building props and sets, meeting models and photographing across the country to showcase what Mozart’s music has meant to me. The book also features essays written about each opera from my own unique perspective. The book humorously points out plot-holes, gives insight into past and present performances, recites a little bit of History and overflows with my own passion for the music of Mozart.

Here’s an excerpt from the book which accompanies the Idomeneo pictures:

“Once the sea monster shows up, melting people with its venomous black tar, it is a constant presence from the finale of act two until the end of the opera. That’s like an hour of watching a sea monster killing people and smashing things while the characters try to get on with their lives. But somebody will have to be sacrificed alive before the sea monster will go away! Who will it be? Will it be Idamante, the heroic-y teenage boy? Will it be Ilia, the songbird Princess of Troy? Will it be Idomeneo, King of Crete, and maker of rash vows? Or will it be Elettra, Princess of crazy, demented ramblings, and will she somehow manage to summon the wrath of hell to consume her world-weary bones? ”

Idomeneo, Act 2 by Tyson Vick

Idomeneo has been one of the most fun parts of this entire book to create. I enjoyed taking the photos and writing the chapter. I met my friend and fellow costumer Catey. I got to work with one of my personal favorite models, Bowen, who you can see above fighting the Sea Monster, and I got to hang out with many old friends for every photo taken for this set. There are a few behind-the-scenes posts here and here.

And you can also get a closer look at many of the costumes like Ilia’s gown, Idamante’s outfit and some goddess stuff here.

This blog also landed me a job costuming the opera “Idomeneo” for the University of Montana last season which is pretty well documented on this blog, too!

I’m going to be giving you a preview of photos from every chapter of Mozart Reimagined over the next month, and then it will be time for pre-orders. I will be launching pre-orders on Kickstarter on September 14th, 2015! Until then, I wanted to give you a glimpse of some of the photos and excerpts from the book so you can see what’s in store! Subscribe to the blog for every update, or check back on September 14th for the launch of the book.