Die Entführung aus dem Serail

The plot of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail can be distilled into a few lines: four Europeans find themselves in the clutches of a Turkish Pasha. Despite having ample cause to punish these foreigners, the stern ruler releases them peacefully, demonstrating that true revenge lies in forgiveness. This, in essence, is the narrative of Mozart’s opera, which playfully embraces the alla turca style that was immensely fashionable in Vienna during the latter half of the 18^th century.
The national makeup of Mozart’s “Turkish” opera is quite diverse: in addition to two Turks, the story involves three Spaniards and one Englishwoman, all conversing in lively German. This is because Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an Austrian Singspiel, a “play with singing”, a musical comedy with spoken dialogue. While the conversational scenes advance the straightforward plot, the musical numbers fully reveal the genius of the 26-year-old Mozart. The composer wrote with enthusiasm, partly because this Singspiel was to be his debut at the imperial Burgtheater, and partly because his own life at that time mirrored the plot of Die Entführung: Mozart was in the process of extricating his fiancée Constanze, namesake of the opera’s heroine, from a form of domestic “captivity”.
Building upon the familiar theatrical template of two pairs of lovers (one noble, one common), Mozart crafted four vibrant characters. Where librettist Gottlieb Stephanie initially proposed only monologue or dialogue, Mozart insisted on musical numbers. Both the characters’ singing and the orchestral writing convey a vast spectrum of emotions with characteristic Mozartian subtlety and naturalism. Belmonte’s music reveals him to be noble, sensitive and refined; he is not one to brandish weapons, but he is prepared to sacrifice his life for his beloved. Constanze’s character lives up to her name: she is steadfast, resolute and faithful, as her aria “Martern aller Arten” eloquently demonstrates. Pedrillo is charming, proactive and resourceful. Blonde is sincere, independent and fearless. While Pedrillo and Blonde occupy a lower social rung than Belmonte and Constanze, they are in no way their inferiors in terms of human qualities. Mozart bestowed high voices upon both couples: the ensemble of principal characters comprises two sopranos and two tenors.
At the other end of the spectrum is the overseer Osmin, a bass, the sole low male voice among the soloists. Osmin is a vividly drawn character, both ferocious and comical. His aria “Solche hergelaufne Laffen” in Act I is the first extended comic aria in the history of German opera. The contrast between the lyrical and the “barbaric” is the principal dramatic device in Die Entführung. It underpins the overture, where the brutal (to Enlightenment ears) “Turkish” music unexpectedly gives way to the tenderest lyricism with a subtle Renaissance flavour, reflecting the opera’s 16^th-century setting. Mozart remarked of the overture that “even someone who hasn’t slept all night won’t fall asleep here”. These words undoubtedly apply to the entire opera. Khristina Batyushina