TIME: Late 18th century
PLACE: Pasha Selim’s palace in Turkey
ACT ONE
Having arrived on the shores of Pasha Selim’s domain, Belmonte, a Spanish nobleman, anticipates being reunited with his beloved Konstanze (Aria: Hier soll lich dich denn sehen). She has been captured by pirates and is now the Pasha’s prisoner, along with her maid Blonde and Belmonte’s servant Pedrillo. The harem’s overseer, Osmin, in a melancholy mood (Song: Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden). Being ignored by Osmin tries Belmonte’s patience, but he finally succeeds in getting some information out of him about Pedrillo, who is currently the Pasha’s gardener. Osmin is suspicious of everyone, and Belmonte, no exception, is soon driven away. Pedrillo appears, and Osmin expresses his irritation with him as well (Aria: Solche hergelaufne Laffen).
Belmonte surprises Pedrillo who, delighted to see his master again, assures him that Konstanze is alive and well. Despite being the Pasha’s chosen favorite, she has remained faithful to Belmonte. Pedrillo is less sure of his beloved Blonde, whom the Pasha has given to Osmin as his slave. Belmonte informs Pedrillo that he has a ship waiting for their escape. Meanwhile, Pedrillo will introduce Belmonte to the pasha as a talented architect, recently arrived from Italy. Belmonte is ecstatic at the prospect of seeing Konstanze (Aria: O wie ängstlich).
Pedrillo and Belmonte hide as the Pasha and Konstanze appear (Chorus: Singt dem großen Bassa Lieder). He presses her to return his love, pointing out that he could force her to yield, but he prefers that she give her heart freely. Konstanze begs his forgiveness, explaining that she still loves Belmonte (Aria: Ach ich liebte). The Pasha sends her away, giving her one more chance to forget her sorrow. Once she has gone, Pedrillo presents Belmonte to the Pasha, who is pleased to accept him into his court. Master and servant then encounter Osmin, who immediately voices his suspicion of the newcomer (Trio: Marsch! Trollt euch fort!
ACT TWO
Belonde irritates Osmin with her iindependence when he tries to order her to act like a Turkish slave. She explains that one treats European girls differently (Aria: Durch Zärtlichkeit). Moreover, she much prefers Pedrillo to him. He continues his warnings, which she finds laughable (Duet: Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir).
Konstanze appears, overwhelmed by misery (Aria: Traurigkeit ward mir zum Lose). The Pasha now demands that she love him. When she protests that she canl honor him but can never love him, he threatens her with torture of every kind. Konstanze defies any effort to shake her from her resolve (Aria: Martern aller Arten).
Blonde is thrilled to hear from Pedrillo that Belmonte has arrived and plans to rescue Konstanze. Pedrillo tells Blonde to come to the garden with Konstanze when darkness falls. Blonde anticipates the delight of bringing her mistress the good news (Aria: Welche Wonne, welche Lust). Pedrillo tries to summon courage for his plan to get Osmin out of the way for the night (Aria: Frisch zum Kampfe!). When Osmin appears, Pedrillo suggests that they bury the hatchet long enough to enjoy some wine together. Although suspicious, Osmin gives in (Duet: Vivat Bacchus! Bacchus lebe!). He ventually falls sound asleep, thanks to the potion Pedrillo has put into the wine.
With Osmin taken care of, Belmonte is now joyfully reunited with Konstanze, with Blonde and Pedrillo joyfully looking on (Quartet: Ach, Belmonte!). The two men cannot keep themselves from questioning the fidelity of the women who, hurt and indignant, commiserate with each other. Belmonte and Pedrillo are eventually contrite and the couples quickly reconcile, declaring everlasting love.
ACT THREE
Just before midnight, as Belmonte awaits Konstanze, he calls on love to give him strength (Aria: Ich baue ganz). Pedrillo sings a serenade as a signal to the women that the coast is clear (Romance: In Mohrenland). Once Konstanze appears at her window, she is helped down a ladder previously brought by Pedrillo. Konstanze and Belmonte make for the shore but, just as Pedrillo has the ladder at Blonde’s window, Osmin awakens and catches Pedrillo and Blonde leaving the palace. Guards usher in Belmonte and Konstanze, also caught in the act of escaping. Osmin is triumphant as he anticipates both couples’ punishment (Aria: Ha, wie will ich triumphieren).
The pasha appears, angry that Konstanze has deceived him. She reveals that Belmonte is the beloved to whom she has remained faithful all this time. Belmonte informs the Pasha that he is from the noble Lostados family, who will willingly play any ransom. The pasha wishes to know if Belmonte is the son of the commandant of Oran. The answer is yes, at which the Pasha lets Belmonte know that the young man’s father is his own arch enemy, having driven him from his native land years before and destroyed his happiness. Now he has the son in his power, and the fates of all four prisoners are thereby sealed.
The captives prepare for the worst, with Belmonte appalled at himself for having caused Konstanze’s certain death. She assures him that she is happy to die with him (Duet: Meinetwegen willst du sterben!). To everyone’s astonishment, the Pasha gives both couples their freedmon, saying it gives him greater pleasure to reward an injustice with justice than to repay evil with evil. Osmin is outraged that he will be denied the pleasure of torturing Pedrillo, but the Pasha silences him. The Europeans hail the Pasha’s mercy (Vaudeville: Nie werd’ ich deine Huld verkennen), with Osmin interjecting a few empty threats before running off, furious. All join in praise of the Pasha as Belmonte, Konstanze, and their servants depart.
Learn more about the opera — read an in-depth article on The Abduction from the Seraglio
THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO on CD
Recommendations by Roger Pines, Dramaturg, Lyric Opera of Chicago
There has never been an ideal Abduction recording — a rather surprising situation, considering that the casting requirements are manageable (unlike the Wagner, Verdi, and Strauss repertoires, there have always been sopranos with the high D for Konstanze and basses with the low D for Osmin). The recordings have their individual strengths and all can be suggested as satisfactory introductions to the piece.
Most of the Belmonte-Konstanze pairings are outstanding enough to make the choice purely a matter of personal taste. Singers do not come more musicianly than Stanford Olsen and Luba Orgonasova, so if you go for early-instrument performances (and you should certainly give them a try in Mozart), their recording with Sir John Eliot Gardiner can be recommended, despite the unsatisfactory bass singing Osmin. The vocal strength of Gösta Winbergh and Edita Gruberova offers consistent excellence, and they also have an exceptional Pedrillo in Heinz Zednik (the clear successor to the great Gerhard Unger, who sings this role in the Krips and Mehta performances).
A 1965 live performance from Salzburg, in unexpectedly excellent sound, is hugely valuable for giving us the incomparable Fritz Wunderlich as Belmonte. Unfortunately, the estimable buffo bass Fernando Corena is seriously miscast as Osmin, but the rest of the principals — Anneliese Rothenberger (Konstanze), Gerhard Unger (Pedrillo), Michael Heltau (the legendary German actor, here playing the Pasha), and above all, the delicious Reri Grist (Blonde) — are terrific, under the youthful Zubin Mehta's baton.
See if you can track down an exceptionally enjoyable performance that seems to have left the catalogue: on DG, with the exquisitely musicianly pairing of Peter Schreier and Arleen Augér as the noble pair, plus Reri Grist once again and the greatest Osmin of our time, Kurt Moll.
Notes: Recordings are all listed in chronological order, the most recent recording first.
Olsen, Orgonasova, Sieden, Peper, Hauptmann; English Baroque Soloists, c. Gardiner (Archiv)
ORCHESTRA IS ORIGINAL RATHER THAN MODERN INSTRUMENTS.
Schreier, Kenny, Watson, Gahmlich, Salminen; Zürich Opernhaus, Harnoncourt (Teldec)
Winbergh, Gruberova, Battle, Zednik, Talvela; Vienna Philharmonic, cond. Solti. (Decca)
Gedda, Rothenberger, Popp, Unger, Frick; Vienna Philharmonic, Krips. (EMI Classics)
Wunderlich, Rothenberger, Grist, Unger, Corena; Vienna Philharmonic, Mehta (Orfeo)
Of special interest
These are both historically important performances, the first from 1954 and the second from 1956. They are valuable above all for the stylistic command of both Ferenc Fricsay (a short-lived conductor on the level of the absolute best in European opera houses of his time) and Sir Thomas Beecham. The male singers are outstanding in the Beecham performance, while with Fricsay the bubbly Rita Streich (Blonde) and the noble pairing of Ernst Häfliger and Maria Stader offer constant delights.
Häfliger, Stader, Streich, Vantin, Greindl; RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, c. Fricsay. (DG)
Simoneau, Marshall, Hollweg, Unger, Frick; Royal Philharmonic, c. Beecham (Classics for Pleasure)
THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO on DVD
Recommendations by Roger Pines, Dramaturg, Lyric Opera of Chicago
These performances all deserve attention. If you want a contemporary production, the only one here is the 1997 staging from the Salzburg Festival, which places the work in the late 20th century, adds Turkish phrases to the German dialogue, and interpolates authentic Turkish music into the score which may not be to every listener's taste. The other productions are traditional, and none the worse for that.
Look at the casts and conductors and you'll conclude, rightly, that the musical standards here are very high. If you like vocally full-bodied Mozart, you'll do best with the Böhm performance from Munich, where the Latin timbre of Francisco Araiza gives special vocal presence to Belmonte and Edita Gruberova is a particularly heroic Konstanze (although not as warm-voiced as Ruth Ann Swenson in the Schwetzingen performance). All the comic performers here are charming - and how terrific that cameras captured the Munich performance just in time to see as well as hear Reri Grist, who for years set the international standard as Blonde. One of her most impressive successors, musically and vocally, is Malin Hartelius, the Blonde in the two most recent performances.
Besides Grist's Blonde, the essential Entführung portrayals among all these versions can both be seen in the Covent Garden production: the nobly phrased, visually and dramatically elegant Belmonte of the late South African tenor Deon van der Walt; and the Osmin of Kurt Moll who, having already proved his vocal prowess in this role in the Böhm recording, proves equally memorable as an actor.
Schäfer, Groves, Hartelius, Konrad, Hawlata; Salzburg Mozarteum, c. Minkowski, dir. Abou-Salem (Image Entertainment)
Blochwitz, Swenson, Hartelius, Fink, Rydl; Schwetzingen Opera, c. Gelmetti, dir. Hampe. (EuroArts)
Nielsen, van der Walt, Watson, Magnusson, Moll; Covent Garden, cond. Solti, dir. Moshinsky (Kultur)
Araiza, Gruberova, Grist, Orth, Talvela; Bayerische Staatsoper, cond. Böhm, dir. Everding (DG)
Davies, Masterson, Watson, Hoback, White; London Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Kuhn, dir. Wood (ArtHaus Musik)