Mozart: Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) — Stuttgart/Zagrosek DVD – Roland Bracht, Heinz Göhrig

Mozart’s first operatic hit Die Enfuhrung aus dem Serial (“The abduction from the seraglio”) was a singspiel, a forerunner of the musical comedy with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers. In this beautifully sung, imaginatively staged production from the Stuttgart Opera House the director Hans Neuenfels splits each character by placing an actor at every singer’s side who not only takes over his role for the spoken dialogue but also interacts with his singing double and other characters in the opera. Sometimes the pairing brings a sparring match between actor and singer, adding a further dimension to the drama, at other times the conductor of the orchestra becomes involved, as when Belmonte, the Spanish nobleman, directs him to cue the orchestra for his first aria. The production, in modern dress with each character clearly delineated by the costume designer, takes a few minutes to warm up while we address the director’s concept. Osmin, the keeper of the harem is a tattooed thug with a sidekick to match. The aristocratic Konstanze, who has been abducted and imprisoned under him, and her intended Belmonte are in fashionable black, while their two servants are the object of much merriment. The spoken role of the Pasha adds a dramatic frisson to the plans for the abduction. His entry with his retinue walking toward the audience on a raised platform holding stakes topped out with severed heads is a riveting piece of theatre. So too is the final appearance of the ensemble. But as ever with Mozart there’s a human dimension to this tale. The close up camerawork shows the Pasha’s reactions and those of Konstanze to his advances as she reveals in a moving aria how she loves another man from whom she was cruelly parted. In Act Two the double duet of reconciliation between Konstanze and Belmonte, Blonde and Pedrillo as they question each others’ constancy not only brings a sublime quartet but a heart stopping scene of filmed opera as the camera catches the couples’ feet moving toward one another as they embrace in an intimate dance. The continuation here of the action into Act Three without a break (as with the earlier acts) brings a plus factor in dramatic continuity where there would be another interval in the opera house. Aside from one momentary lapse from Belmonte in his last aria, the singing throughout this production, like the orchestral playing under Lothar Zagrosek, matches any version on CD now on the market. On the DVD: We have the customary choice of subtitles, cues for the musical numbers and a short commentary accompanying a still of the principal characters in the opera.–Adrian Edwards