Die Entfuehrung Aus Dem Serail [Blu-ray]

There's an in-built difficulty in Mozart's earliest 'mature' comic opera that every modern opera stage director must consider a challenge - the long passages of unaccompanied spoken dialogue and recitative that are scattered throughout. Yes, the actual drama of Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail is a bit silly too and the libretto isn't the most sophisticated, but even if you manage to make the plot work dramatically (having good singers can help gloss over the inconsistencies which is certainly the case here), you're still left with those lulls between Mozart's beautiful musical passages that can potentially kill the opera dead in its tracks. This production by Christof Loy at the Liceu in Barcelona, aided and abetted by an outstanding cast and an exhilarating performance of the score from the Liceu orchestra under Ivor Bolton, crucially takes account of those weaknesses, and if the result is still not entirely convincing, it's nonetheless still one of the best versions of this Mozart opera that you're ever likely to come across.

Traditionally, the way of handling the spoken dialogue in Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail is to heavily trim it and get it out of the way as quickly as possible so as to move on to the music, but such an approach fails to adequately take into account the fact that the main dramatic drive of the opera actually lies in between the musical numbers and arias. In some respects, it could be argued that the spoken passages are equally as important as the arias, if not even more so in this particular case since Mozart's music for Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail is not the most lyrically attuned to the emotional content. Christof Loy attempts to address the vacuity of the arias and the dead-space of the dialogue by getting the singers to act properly. There is no declamation of the lines here as they would more commonly be expressed, but rather Loy directs the performers to deliver the lines naturalistically and makes use of their silences in the same way that he makes use of space on the stage to define the relationship between them.

Loy's direction isn't really geared towards appeasing traditionalists then - the sets are sparse (although not as sparse as the director usually decorates them) and the costumes don't reflect any specific period, although there is a nod towards a middle-eastern flavour in some of the attire - but it should at least be evident that this is a respectful production that is aimed towards making the best out of what is an imperfect opera, one that the director clearly thinks deserves to be considered more than just a lightweight entertainment. He doesn't always succeed, but it's an impressive attempt that is given additional merit from the terrific, lively account of the score under Ivor Bolton that works well in conjunction with the staging. The singing is of an exceptionally high standard right across the board, but the performance of Diana Damrau deserves to be singled out as it's not only one of the best Konstanze's you'll ever hear, but when placed in the context of this fine treatment of the opera, it's an incredible tour de force performance that highlights the extraordinary abilities of one of the best sopranos in the world today.

An exceptional production - one of the best I've ever seen - the Blu-ray is just as impressive. There are no extra features, but the HD image quality and the sound reproduction are amazing. Subtitles are in German, English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Chinese and Korean.

This most recent taping of Mozart's Die Entfurung aus dem Serail is radically different from all previous investitures. The director, Christof Loy, has opted to include all the dialogue that in all previous recordings has been trimmed-- in varying degrees. Further he has directed his actors to speak in a more conversational level with pauses--as if were a play. Considering that his audience is Spanish..........

Additionally conductor, Ivor Bolton, has adopted tempi that are slower than usual. What this performance has that previous editions have lacked is a Konstanze who is truly up to the vocal and dramatic task, a very difficult one. It should be added that all the singers in this production are able to meet the challenges. Blonde needs a high Eflat in her arsenal; Belmonte needs agility (Ich baue ganze) and a sweetness and lyricism but enough metal in his voice to differentiate him from Pedrillo who shares similar requirements. Konstanze, though is faced with the greatest challenges. In Act I she has only one aria, but in Act II she has two: Traurigkeit followed by Matern aller Arten. Taken together the two arias ask everything of the soprano: agility, dramatic thrust, pathos, lyricism, and artistry. Damrau manages it as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Considering that her two most recent CD releases are devoted to lieder, she is clearly a contender for the title of leading German soprano and this is not even taking into consideration her facility with the Italian repertoire--notably a recent triumph at the Met in L'elisir. Christoph Strehl, the Belmonte is an accomplished musician as well, managing the inordinate difficulties of his arias. The other singer occupying this high level of accommplishment is Franz-Josef Selig, our Osmin. The original Osmin for Mozart was gifted with great low notes so Mozart accommodated him. Alas few basses of the last century enjoyed the same gift with the exception of Kipmis and Kurt Moll. Selig comes closer than most with the e xception of Kurt
Rydl, the Osmin in the Euro-Arts taping. Indeed this performance is the one that most auditors will prefer. Tempos are quicker, the production conventional and the singers taken as a whole are up to the task. All are German with the exception of Ruth Ann Swenson. The dialogue has been cut and in the the case of Swenson who virtually has only a few lines, doubtless because of her lack of expertise with the language. I know of no other German role that she has sung.

Loy's direction has little humor. Much of the dialogue between Selim and Konstanze is long and protracted and played for high drama. Obviously some of this is necessary; after all Selim is in love with Konstanze who doesn't return the emotion. Osmin lusts after Blonde but it is an unrequired lust. Much of the humor is of necessity uneasy, but depending on how Selim is played makes a great deal of difference. Of course we know how it ends and regardless of the director's conception it has a happy ending even if the attempt to escape has been compromised. How one responds to Loy's direction depends on personal tastes. Mozart did label his opera a "Komische Oper" which is quite different from Italian "Opera Buffa"; but even so, Loy has chosen to go down a different path. Loy has also chosen not to set the opera in a recognizable Turkey of any century and accordingly the constumes are "modern" with only a nod to the Levantine while the EuroArts productionis conventional --as are most of the other DVD's available. Loy's production is minimalism at its most unattractive with nary a nod towards its geographical setting. It surely most be the least expensive! One's feeling about the extensive dialogue is another decision that one will have to make. Given my druthers I would have preferred to see it trimmed. This is not deathless prose; in fact it has been criticized by German writers and speakers and even rewtritten on occasion. Ultimately this is a personal decision that the buyer will have to make.

I have rated this set with five stars because of the musical and vocal aspects of the production. All the singers are extraordinarly gifted and all are attractive performers who have followed Loy's decisions even though I find some of them actually work against the opera. One can't rate productions separately from the musical so I defend my rating of five stars with teh caveats cited above.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars