Mozart goes comedy

Lyn Richards
Aug 20
5 min read

The Abduction from the Seraglio, a year after Idomeneo, took Mozart into the "far east", and far from opera seria. It's a "singspiel" mixing spoken and sung words and these were definitely lighter, more romantic pieces, favoured (indeed supported) by Austrian emperor Joseph I over the heavier Italian style. Lighter, yes, romantic, in some ways... it was an iffy plot then, appealing to popularity of "oriental" tales. It also offered "an Enlightenment-eye view of the Orient filled with the curiosity of the West for a culture that had receded from warlike enemy to mesmerising neighbour." More here. And some wonderful Mozart music, of course.

What a plot!

No, it wasn't Mozart's choice let alone construction. The libretto came from the Inspector of the Emperor's Nationalsingspiel, Stephanie, who adapted it without credit let alone permission from a libretto written earlier and not for Mozart. But he was prepared to go on adapting under direction from Mozart, who wrote to his father, "I would say that in an opera the poetry must be altogether the obedient daughter of the music. Why are Italian comic operas popular everywhere – in spite of the miserable libretti? … Because the music reigns supreme, and when one listens to it all else is forgotten. An opera is sure of success when the plot is well worked out, the words written solely for the music and not shoved in here and there to suit some miserable rhyme." Lots more here and a very detailed account of the very busy plot can be gained from Wikipedia.

Met Opera's synopsis is here.

Or try AI Overview? Here's its summary in a paragraph with details below:

The plot revolves around Belmonte's attempt to rescue his beloved Constanze, along with her maid Blonde and his servant Pedrillo, from the harem of Pasha Selim. The Pasha, who has acquired the captives after they were kidnapped by pirates, is infatuated with Constanze, while his overseer, Osmin, desires Blonde. The opera features a mix of comedy and drama, with Belmonte and Pedrillo plotting the rescue, facing obstacles from both the Pasha and Osmin. Ultimately, the Pasha, recognizing Belmonte as the son of an old enemy, chooses to forgive them and allows them to return home.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Setting the Scene:

The opera is set in the exotic world of a Turkish harem, contrasting the European perspective with the "Oriental" world.
The Captives:
Constanze, Blonde, and Pedrillo are captured by pirates and sold to Pasha Selim. Constanze and Blonde are held in the harem, while Pedrillo works in the Pasha's gardens.
Belmonte's Arrival:
Belmonte, having learned of their capture, arrives to rescue them, accompanied by his servant Pedrillo.
Osmin's Obstacles:
Osmin, the overseer of the harem, is a jealous and suspicious character who opposes the rescue attempt, particularly as he desires Blonde.
The Pasha's Decision:
While Pasha Selim is enamored with Constanze, he ultimately decides to pardon them, showcasing a theme of forgiveness and magnanimity.
Musical Style:
The opera is a Singspiel, meaning it includes spoken dialogue alongside musical numbers. Mozart's score incorporates elements of Turkish music, particularly in the overture, and is known for its dramatic and expressive arias.
Themes:
The opera explores themes of love, loyalty, freedom, and cultural misunderstanding.

Abduction goes modern

The opera was a great success at the time, but its moral setting has not aged well. As this reviewer comments, it's "comic but not quite funny enough, full of glorious arias but cumbersome in its need for spoken dialogue". It's also borderline unacceptable for modern audiences. " If anything it becomes ever harder for today’s audiences to swallow. Pivoting on a Christian-Ottoman conflict, the uneasy aspects poke away at you however much you push them aside as historical anachronisms. This youthful work was first performed in Vienna in 1782, when orientalism was a novelty, cultural stereotyping acceptable and the jingling and drumming of Janissary bands all part of the exotic mix. Knowing how to pitch it right in tone and mood today remains a hazard. It is also hard to cast. Done badly it can make you squirm."

David McVicar’s 2015 production for Glyndebourne was widely praised for doing it very well, and was revived several times. A decade later, Victorian Opera has rescued the music but rewritten the plot, the characters and the entire libretto, offering a new opera, Abduction, to great acclaim. We'll view (segments from) both.- - and show the full opera for those who wish, later.

and what music!

So different from Idomeneo, this is the first of Mozart's flamboyantly romantic operas, with gloriously flamboyant music.

The famous example is the aria "Martern aller arten" - "Tortures of all kinds", in which Konstanze defiantly declares her unwavering fidelity to her somewhat boring beloved despite the threats of torture from the exotic and oh so attractive Pasha. A highly challenging coloratura soprano piece, glittering with demanding vocal acrobatics and expressive range, it featured in the movie Amadeus. It's symbolic of Mozart's increasing confidence in this embellished music, and his rivalry on many levels with the more conservative Salieri, whose condemnation of the aria in the film is, “10 minutes of ghastly scales, arpeggios, whizzing up down like fireworks at a fairground”.

Here's that famous scene, likely as it was played then.

From Amadeus, the premiere of the opera — From *Amadeus,* the premiere of the opera

The opera remained popular through to present day, but productions varied dramatically, as producers adapted it to perceived moral values of the audience.

Here's the same aria (left) with Edita Grubenova in a very traditional production from Bayerische Staatsoper, München in 1980, with a splendid shadowy Pasha looming over the heroine.

Sally Matthews's Konstanze declaring her constancy in the bedroom with the Pasha (Franck Saurel)

Glyndebourne's production

And in our David McVicar production, 2015 at Glyndebourne, here's Sally Matthews as Konstanze - with the Pasha... in the bedroom.

Glyndebourne's summary and trailer are here, with some superb video clips. They describe the production this way: "David McVicar creates a hedonistic culture-clash comedy set in an 18th-century Eastern fantasy."

McVicar's production was much praised in reviews. The Arts Desk reviewer comments: "David McVicar finds more nuanced humanity in the composer’s first mature German drama... than I’d have believed possible, mirrored in the light and fire of Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. If you think Mozart’s orientalist rescue opera is stocked full of clichés, this is a deeply-felt show to make you think differently. Not that McVicar does anything radical – or perhaps it is, perversely, radical, to set the whole thing as envisaged in the court of a western-influenced 18th century pasha whose passions are architecture and gardening. The east-meets-west complexities are pointed up by the way in which hero Belmonte, despondent by a sparkling sea at the start, is beset by local hawkers and traders, only for the Ottoman potentate to be similarly petitioned by sellers of European landscapes and busts."

And coming up.... Abduction, from Victorian Opera

And next week, an adaptation from our own Vic Opera, that ditches that 1781 libretto by Stephanie altogether - but not, of course, Mozart's marvellous music.