Abduction From the Seraglio - Complete Opera

Rating:
Summary: Is this Mozart¿s Entführung aus dem Serail?
Review: Hans Neuenfels' stagings have an irritating habitude of displeasing the audiences. His last Fledermaus in Salzburg involved the police - the director of the festival was punched by a member of the audience. Two of my friends were there and said it was the worst operatic performance of their entire life. This video is a serious candidate for this title. First of all, who is Mr.Neuenfels to re-write the dialogues? We all know how particular Mozart was about his libretti and especially in the case of this opera how demanding he was on his librettist. Worst than that - Neuenfels dialogues are longer than the original ones and it takes this comedy to loose the essential quality of comedy (timing). Also, his re-invention of the plot made the whole thing to be simply impossible to follow if you don't know the story already. It doesn't help either to use two artists for each role: a singer and an actor. It makes the stage to be incredibly crowded and it was simply unnecessary considering that the singers had better physique du rôle than the actors and were themselves good actors. Anyway, they definitely had to be because they are made to move around in a distracting manner. If the musical performance was something of particular interest, I could have overlooked the production (or turned the image off), but the fact is that it was incredibly boring. Zagrosek's conducting was acceptable in the ouverture, with good woodwind playing, but since singers appear, the orchestra starts to be recorded in too recessed a way, turning the whole thing very shallow. Also, Zagrosek's tempi are slow and his phrasing is heavy - and his cast doesn't help him. The Konstanze has a creamy voice with some beautiful mezza voce, but she is unable to make it move. The coloratura is incredibly blurred - Martern aller Arten was a martyredom to the audience. The Belmonte had a plausible voice, rather juicy, but he sounded too much the operetta tenor to my ears - his voice is a bit lacrymose and he is not very precise with divisions. Roland Bracht (Osmin), the more familar name in the cast has an imposing voice, but he is not really Mozartian and doesn't have very good low notes. The saving grace of the production is the Blonde, who has a charming bright and clear voice and is also very funny. This video has strong competition all the way - Böhm's tempi are slow and the production is a bit outdated, but he has Gruberová and Araiza. The Covent Garden video has a charming production, good conducting, a nicest Belmonte in Deon van der Walt and there is Kurt Moll, who is reason enough to watching it.

Rating:
Summary: Shocking but good to see and listen
Review: It may be schocking at the beginning to see all the characters (except the Pasha) splitted in two: the singer and the actor, and interacting in unusual ways, but you will finally enjoy it. You must take into account that this is not a typical Opera but a Singspiel that has not a rigid libretto and the dialogues are opened to improvisation. I found the two female singers (Catherine Naglestad playing Constanze and Kate Ladner playing Blonde)quite good, as well as the tenor playing Pedrillo and the baritone playing Osmin. I recommend it to all Opera lovers.

Rating:
Summary: Shocking but good to see and listen
Review: It may be schocking at the beginning to see all the characters (except the Pasha) splitted in two: the singer and the actor, and interacting in unusual ways, but you will finally enjoy it. You must take into account that this is not a typical Opera but a Singspiel that has not a rigid libretto and the dialogues are opened to improvisation. I found the two female singers (Catherine Naglestad playing Constanze and Kate Ladner playing Blonde)quite good, as well as the tenor playing Pedrillo and the baritone playing Osmin. I recommend it to all Opera lovers.

Rating:
Summary: This is NOT Mozart's Entführung aus dem Serail!
Review: This was a very disappointing performance, and I question why it was chosen for a DVD. The singing is acceptable, but not what I would consider to be especially inspired. The root of the problem is the production. I was so looking forward to adding this DVD to my collection, as this ranks as one of my favorite operas--thank goodness I checked it out at the library first! It just is not a captivating performance, and it is far too untraditional for my taste. Surely a much better version of this opera will come along on DVD. Until then, you're better off enjoying it on CD and leave the visuals to your mind. It is doubtful your imagination will conjure up anything like this production of annoying mirror images! It is disturbing to say the least and it does nothing to enhance our understanding of Mozart or this opera.

Rating:
Summary: Annoying - Bad Singing
Review: To see all the characters played by TWO people is truly annoying. For example, there are always two constanzes on stage, two blonchens, and two everyone...The singing is average, the stage is modern...it does not reflect traditional mozart style.

Rating:
Summary: Annoying - Bad Singing
Review: To see all the characters played by TWO people is truly annoying. For example, there are always two constanzes on stage, two blonchens, and two everyone...The singing is average, the stage is modern...it does not reflect traditional mozart style.