Organization

Conductor

Adam Fischer

Singer

Soprano

Malin Hartelius

Constance

Rebeca Olvera

Blonde

Tenor

Javier Camarena

Belmonte

Michael Laurenz

Pedrillo

Bass

Alfred Muff

Osmin

Spoken

Michael Maertens

Selim

Costume designer

Florence von Gerkan

Set designer

Bernhard Kleber

Opernhaus Zürich

German

Die Entführung aus dem Serail -  (The Abduction from the Seraglio)

Zurich

Switzerland

Opernhaus

The Abduction from the Seraglio

English

Approved

With the support of the Vontobel Foundation, Michael Ringier AG and the Friends of the Zurich Opera Conductor - Adam Fischer Production - Adrian Marthaler Stage design - Jörg Zielinski Costumes - Florence von Gerkan Lighting design - Elfried Roller Choir master - Jürg Hämmerli Orchestra - Orchestra of the Zurich Opera Choir - Choir of the Zurich Opera With Eva Mei (Konstanze), Rebeca Olvera (blonde); Michael Maertens (Bassa Selim), Javier Camarena (Belmonte), Michael Laurenz (Pedrillo), Alfred Muff (Osmin) "A trifle" was what Mozart called his "Abduction from the Seraglio" after completing "Le nozze di Figaro"; Nevertheless, it was this Singspiel that earned him unanimous recognition as an opera composer. The work was created between Mozart's final break with Salzburg and his employer Archbishop Colloredo in May 1781 and the marriage to Constanze Weber in August 1782, which was initially stubbornly denied in the letters to his father, and then took place against his will. And Mozart had written it on behalf of him Emperor Joseph II, who tried to found a "German National Theater" against the dominant Italian opera and had already taken over the Vienna Burgtheater into the administration of the court in 1776. With “The Abduction from the Seraglio”, Mozart and his librettist Stephanie the Younger took up a subject that had already been the subject of many operas: on the one hand, there is the pair of lovers who, initially separated from one another, find themselves in oriental slavery and flee , is caught again and is finally allowed to return to his homeland thanks to the generosity of the Turkish prince. A second line developed around the coarse, more or less simple-minded harem guard, often called Osmin, who was tricked and ridiculed in various ways. And yet Mozart's composition resulted in an independent masterpiece that pushed German opera on an equal footing to the theatrical stage, which was previously dominated by Italian and French opera. Mozart succeeded for the first time in breaking free from the strict formal rules of the genre. He designed the work according to purely content-related criteria and mixed the elements of the Singspiel, the Opera seria and the Opéra comique as required by the respective dramaturgical situation. The most significant change compared to the comparable contemporary «Turkish operas» was the role of Bassa Selim. If the latter usually recognizes at the last moment in Belmonte his own, long-lost son, whom he naturally forgives, then in Mozart's "Abduction" Belmonte is the son of Bassa Selim's worst enemy. With this, Bassa Selim's forgiveness appears in a new light. He acts according to Christian principles and thus proclaims the humane message of the Enlightenment.

THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAIL - MOZART

The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart, From (2012/2012), Conductor Adam Fischer, Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland

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