Szenenbilder aus “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”, 1914, © Foto: Julia Teresa Friehs

CD

There is no shortage of recordings of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, but really good ones may be counted on the fingers of one hand. Moreover,you often have to go quite far back in time to find the real gems. But the performance recorded live at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 21 September 2015 – and conducted very vividly by Jérémie Rhorer – is, for me, among the very best.

David Portillo is an extraordinarily fine Pedrillo. Light and airy,entertaining and amusing; and meanwhile singing utterly brilliantly…. Superb.

Rachelle Gilmore is a delightful Blonde. Just listen to “Welche Wonne,welche Lust”, which she sings with impeccable height and crystal-clearcolouratura! Breathtaking.

Mischa Schelomianski shines as Osmin. That he sings the role with a thick Russian accent is anything but disturbing here. It is quite right for Osmin. Jane Archibald (Konstanze) sounds a bit shrill at times, but as soon asshe starts singing “Ach ich liebte” I surrender completely.

Only Belmonte (Norman Reinhardt) I have heard better. His voice iscreamy and his timbre pleasant, but he lacks a bit of suppleness, which prevents him from being really satisfying in his “Wenn der Freude Tränen liessen”. Fortunately, “Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke” succeeds much better, but I continue to have trouble with his ornamentation.

It’s not perfect, no, but live performances never are. It is one of the reasons why they are so much fun; after all, nothing beats live theatre! The tempi are on the brisk side but nowhere rushed, and the orchestra sparkles like a cosy fire. And there is no director to ruin it for me. This is how I want my opera’s (Alpha 242)

DVD

The ways of record companies are sometimes inscrutable and so it couldhappen that two different performances of Entführung aus de Serail were released within a short space of time by the same company, BelAirClassics. These are respectively a production by Jonathan Miller made for the Zürcher Festspiele in 2003 (BAC007) and a performance filmed in Aix-en-Provence in 2004, directed by Jérome Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff and conducted by Marc Minkowski (BAC028). There is aworld of difference between the two productions, it just goes to show what good (or, if you like, bad) direction can do to an opera.

Zürcher Festspiele 2003

Jonathan Miller, normally a pretty big deal, simply fails. Nothing happens. There is a palm tree in the middle and the singers come up, lean against it and sing their aria.They are totally left to their own devices, which for most results in clichéd gestures and gestures. With Patricia Petibon (Blonde), just the opposite happens: she exaggerates like her life is depending on it and she is overacting. In short: here are six characters looking for a director.

Patricia Petibon sings “Durch Zartlichkeit und Schmeicheln”:

I am not enthusiastic about the singing either, as even Piotr Beczala (Belmonte) and Malin Hartelius (Konstanze) perform far below their level.

There is one plus though: Klaus Maria Brandauer in the speaking role of Bassa Selim. Every scene with him in it turns into pure theatre. He doesn’t act, no, he just gives a masterclass in acting.

https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/tagesschau/video/mozarts-entfuehrung-aus-dem-serail-im-opernhaus-zuerich?urn=urn:srf:video:e04bd1c3-523a-4944-a440-004dd187a6a4

Aix-en-Provence 2004

The production from Aix-en-Provence can be described in one word: precious. As soon as you see the orchestra (all wearing turbans and other exotic headgear) and the entrance of a broadly smiling Minkowski, you know you are going to be amused.

The stage is populated by a motley collection of rather weird characters in oriental costumes, one joke follows another, with no cliché shunned. It is no longer comedy, it is slapstick. And why not? Mozart can take it, especially when it comes to a singspiel.

The dancing emergence on the stage of Bassa Selim (a fantastic Shahrokh Moshkin-Ghalam, a dancer and actor very famous in France) is a story in itself. His German is abominable, but he must be forgiven, because everything else he does with the role (including a spectacular disappearing act at the end) is breathtaking

Malin Hartelius shows what a fantastic Kostanze she is. Magali Léger (Blonde), Matthias Klink (Belmonte), Loïc Félix (Pedrillo) and Wojtek Smilek (Osmin) are all fine, the orchestra fierce and Minkowski on target. But be warned: it is packed with Mohammed jokes.

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