The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782), was Mozart's first opera after he quit his job in Salzburg and came to Vienna. Like its predecessor, Idomeneo, it contains a number of long showy arias for its principal singers, but in other respects it is quite different. It is a comedy, written in German, and with spoken dialogue rather than recitative. While there are serious characters, notably the Spanish noblewoman Konstanze and her fiancé Belmonte, they are outnumbered by the comic ones: their respective servants Blonde and Pedrillo, and the bass Osmin, guardian of the Seraglio in which all except Belmonte have been imprisoned. Uniquely for Mozart, the key role of Selim, the powerful Pasha who loves Konstanze, is spoken only.

Unlike the other operas in this course, Die Entführung aus dem Serail is performed relatively frequently, but it still presents problems in its extreme contrasts of style, the length of its larger musical numbers, and a plot which deals in stereotypes of Islamic culture: cruel, lustful men and subjugated women. We shall watch excerpts from a remarkable production of the opera from Glyndebourne in 2015 by Sir David McVicar, who reestablishes the piece in the Enlightenment context that created it, and traces an emotional line that totally explodes the sexual preconceptions of its original script. In this, he is paying deep homage to Mozart, convincing us that he felt so too.

This week's handout (links above) contains a synopsis of the opera. If you want to get a sample in advance, look at the entrance of the Pasha from this colorful production from Aix en Provence; if you continue with the clip, you will hear the first of Konstanze's big arias in which she explains why she cannot accept the Pasha's love; the singer is Malin Hartelius. There is also a trailer for the Glyndebourne production we shall watch in class.