The opening aria for Die Entführung aus dem Serail was a little deceptive. Belmonte wailed about missing Konstanze and the difficulty of seeing her again. If you are not familiar with Die Entführung aus dem Serail or did not even bother reading some spoilers before watching it, you’d think it’s one of those uber-serious operas. Well, the topic was serious in itself. But the people behind this opera tried to balance the sad and the happy in this piece. Whether this version of Die Entführung aus dem Serail would be as chirpy has yet to be analyzed.
The opening aria for Osmin is just as deceptive. Just when you thought he’s a tame beast, he’d be rude to Belmonte. All Belmonte ever asked was whether the palace he guards is the palace of the so-called Great Pasha Selim. Apparently he hates young men like Belmonte because it reminds him of a slave that he hated - Pedrillo. Pedrillo, on the other hand, was a little mischievous. But not evil enough to merit the bloody punishments that Osmin ended up singing about. And also, Osmin is too angry to realize that Pedrillo outwitted him. Again.
Most of the ensemble featured play Turks. Either as sailors or men who work for Pasha Selim. Pasha Selim is the only major character in Die Entführung aus dem Serail without any sung lines. They’re all spoken. He ends up speaking to Konstanze, a captive that he enslaved but never took advantage of. In other words, a character to counter the stereotype that was presented in the character of Osmin. #NotAllTurks Pasha Selim loved Konstanze so much. He never took advantage of the slavery status of the latter just so he can have her for himself.
Konstanze doesn’t feel the same towards Pasha Selim. She never got over Belmonte. She’s even willing to undergo torture just to rub it into Pasha Selim’s face that she’ll always love Belmonte. This explains why she has more arias that are sad than happy. It’s suffice to say that she’s depressed. She’s even welcome to the idea of death. Fortunately, she’s not one of the suicidal damsels in distress found in opera. It’s what made Die Entführung aus dem Serail different from some belcanto roles. I leave them for you to guess.
The personality of Konstanze’s lady-in-waiting, the Englishwoman Blonde, might have explained Konstanze’s choice to keep on living. Fiery and spirited, not even her “new” master, Osmin, could take advantage of her. That’s quite a character to match for Osmin. For a character cast as Konstanze’s assistant, she hates the idea of slavery. (Maybe she doesn’t view her relationship with Konstanze as slave-level.) She enjoys freedom. Apparently her opinions on slavery are in the aria as well that implied her definition of slavery is different from servitude. Mind-blowing, yes. But this is Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Either you enjoy it for the antics of Osmin or you enjoy the melancholic arias of Konstanze.
It may have explained why interest in Die Entführung aus dem Serail increased due to performances like that of Edita Gruberova. Once labeled “The Queen of Belcanto”, some of the most-searched arias on YouTube are her various versions of the mad scene from “Lucia di Lammermoor” and her earliest versions of “Der Holle Rache” from “The Magic Flute”. I admit that when I saw Gruberova’s name on the opening credits, I was like “Does Konstanze have coloratura lines too?” I watched it and ended up enjoying it since her arias here are what I considered some of her most underrated performances. Sometimes it’s safe to use the term “underrated” because not many people discuss it.
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is one of Mozart’s earlier operas. If Wikipedia (quoting Braunbehrens 1990, 61-62) is to be believed, it was when he’s starting to discover the difficulty of fitting the libretto to the music. He did what he can with the music. The succeeding productions then have to find ways of fitting their vision of Die Entführung aus dem Serail into the music. Something that I think this version did well.
The stage production by August Everding was not too grand, not too minimalist. Just right knowing that it’s a simple story about how Belmonte is trying to rescue Konstanze. It was implied that Pasha Selim is rich. But the settings that implied that his lifestyle is quite modest. No harem. No gold-plated toilets. Not that many opulent displays of wealth in the Ottoman Empire apart from a big wall and a ship with slaves. It was also implied that Belmonte is rich because he can bribe some Turks and managed to reveal his family name to Pasha Selim later. But he also looked modest. In other words, a solid plot with less of the trimmings is found in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Because it’s main strength lay in the vocal performances of its interpreters.
The one character in this version of Die Entführung aus dem Serail that almost stole the spotlight from Belmonte and Konstanze was Osmin. He’s not trying to be funny. He has anger management problems that got triggered by Pedrillo. And he doesn’t even know how to explain his hatred of Pedrillo sensibly. He’s just a bigot. The way his character was written was funny without the character knowing how much of a buffoon he is. That may have turned him into a believable character. Anger has a way of making comedians out of the least likely people. Also, his arias did not seem too long as he (the character) is all over the place, trying to justify his anger. So be it if he occasionally starts to sound like a broken record.
Good thing I found a DVD version of Die Entführung aus dem Serail that featured the interpreters mentioned in this article. But very few copies are left. No mention as to whether new copies will be made that come with subtitles in other languages. Click here while supplies last. You can also support this blog by clicking the “Donate” button below. Tips are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.
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