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Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail(1782)
Laura
Aikin (soprano) – Konstanze; Edgaras Montvidas
(tenor) – Belmonte; Mojca Erdmann (soprano) – Blonde;
Michael Smallwood (tenor) – Pedrillo; Kurt Rydl (bass) – Osmin;
Steven Van Watermeulen (speaker) – Bassa Selim
Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra/Constantinos Carydis
Johan Simons (production)
rec. live, Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, February 2008
Region Code: 0, Aspect Ratio 16:9, LPCM Stereo and DTS
5.1 Surround OPUS ARTE OA1003D [214:00]
It is most welcome to
have this performance of Seraglio from Amsterdam.
While the production will raise some eyebrows it is never
less than thought-provoking, and the singing is mostly
top-notch.
Leading the pack is
the excellent Konstanze of Laura Aikin. She shows utter
security in Mozart’s most difficult soprano role, especially
in her two big killer arias in Act 2. Traurigkeit has
a plangent tone of despair to it, while still seeming beautiful,
and her top register creams off the challenging top notes
in a way that showcases the character’s humanity. Martern
aller Arten is every bit as good: the fiendish coloratura
is fired off with seeming ease, and that’s especially remarkable
in the light of the many odd contortions the director requires
her to pull while singing it! True, the leaps and runs
at the end of Ach, ich liebte are less secure, but
they’re always going to be in a live recording - it’s her
first aria, after all - and it takes the rarefied conditions
of a studio recording to achieve perfection here. Mojca
Erdmann’s Blonde is perhaps even more secure, but there
is a very obvious contrast in their voices which enables
their characterisation to develop differently. Erdmann’s
soprano is bright and clean at the top, glistening like
silver in Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln, but
brimming with exuberance in Welche Wonne, Welche Lust.
She gives us down-to-earth contrast while her mistress
scales the dramatic heights of her distress. Opposite her,
Michael Smallwood is perhaps the perfect Pedrillo. He acts
with remarkable good humour, not least when he is being
beaten up by Osmin, and his tenor voice carries a burnished
glow to it, while at the same time being light and pingy.
He deserves to be heard more often. The chief veteran of
the cast is Kurt Rydl’s Osmin who can still astonish in
this role. His voice has a thunderous resonance to it,
making Osmin by far the biggest presence on stage. He dominates
every scene, from his studied ignoring of Belmonte in Act
1 through to his jubilation at his – supposedly - imminent
execution in Act 3. The power of his voice is so great
that it feels almost like it comes with a built-in echo.
The only doubt lies over Edgaras Montvidas’s rather watery
Belmonte. There is very little ring in his voice: from
his entrance aria he seems unsure of himself, pale and
somewhat out of his depth. He makes all the top notes,
but there is little comfort in listening to him and he
is the colder, less comfortable element in every ensemble.
That said, the moments when the singers come together are
still fantastic, and the reunion quartet is absolutely
glorious, as good as I’ve ever heard it. Equally, Belmonte
and Konstanze’s duet before they are set free in Act 3
carries all the emotion and musicality that one would hope
for from this piece.
So what of the production?
Johan Simons’ central idea is that during her captivity
Konstanze has fallen in love with Bassa Selim, but that
the commitment she previously made to Belmonte is preventing
her from acting upon it. He thus reverses the accepted
idea that marriages of convenience existed in the east
but not in the west, and on this foundation he builds a
whole structure of artifice. The production draws attention
to its own theatricality in an almost Brechtian manner.
The opening confrontation between Belmonte and Osmin takes
place on a pair of red auditorium seats, and once the curtain
raises we see a trompe l’oeil backdrop depicting
an empty stage receding off to the back wall. When this
is raised for Selim’s entrance, we see that his palace
is laid out like a large proscenium with a stage in the
middle, and it is on this stage that the characters all
perform. The cast interviews included in the extras suggest
that Simons is drawing attention to the lack of understanding
between east and west, and that the whole opera takes place
in a fake world dreamt up by the Europeans who have not
understood their Turkish counterparts. It’s an interesting
conceit, and is played out in smaller details too: Konstanze’s
body language is much more intimate with the Bassa than
it ever is with her fiancée, and she looks far from pleased
to see Belmonte when he appears in Act 2. This is mirrored,
albeit with less consistency, in the portrayal of Blonde,
who dresses like a dominatrix in her riding jacket and
knee-high boots. She titillates Osmin, even whipping him
during Durch Zärtlichkeit, suggesting a reversal
of the way their relationship is traditionally perceived.
All of the theatrical
devices - sets, costumes, props - then disappear during
the last act until, most spectacularly, the proscenium
of the Bassa’s palace collapses leaving the stage utterly
bare. By this point all the characters - except, interestingly,
Osmin - are wearing modern western dress. This all happens
just as the truth of the Bassa’s relation to Belmonte’s
father is revealed, so all the western misconceptions of
the east are laid bare and resolved. The release of the
prisoners then becomes somewhat muted, and the ebullience
of the final chorus jars with the dark picture on stage.
This concept won’t appeal
to everyone, and there is an argument that it is too intricate
to fit with the text, but I enjoyed watching it, and it
is good to have a Seraglio that engages with the
conflict between east and west without dressing everyone
up in turbans and scimitars. Don’t be put off by the photo
on the cover of the DVD: that’s all part of the artifice
too! It helps that all the actors seem convinced by it
and they throw themselves into the concept, even the highly
stylised acting of the final scene which is reminiscent
of Japanese Nōh drama. In such a production the role
of Bassa Selim assumes even more importance than normal,
and Steven Van Watermeulen seems to relish this, playing
the various nuances of the character with skill, and just
enough over-the-top exuberance.
In the pit the Netherlands
Chamber Orchestra acquit themselves admirably. They play
on modern instruments, but the strings carry a hint of
period inflection, and the timpani sound as though they
could be natural. Carydis keeps the Turkish moments going
at a fair lick, and this seems to be too much for a recalcitrant
piccolo during the overture, but his reading is not all
greased lightning. The tender moments are allowed room
to breathe: for example, he takes the opening of Ach,
ich liebte daringly slowly so that the contrast of
the faster sections is even more marked. The chorus sing
well during their brief appearances.
For someone wanting
a Seraglio that will make them think rather than
revel in Turkish kitsch, this DVD can be strongly recommended.
Carydis uses the text of the 1982 Neue Mozart Ausgabe,
It’s the same one used by Gardiner in his recording on
Archiv with the English Baroque Soloists. The result is
a few musical additions that will surprise those used to
recordings of the 1960s and 1970s.
The extras include interviews
with the cast and director and backstage rehearsal footage,
setting a high standard for what a modern opera DVD should
have. The picture quality is very good, as is the sound,
even if the voices initially seem very far forward in DTS
5.1. Great as the singing is, though, it will be a long
time before any edition will replace Karl Böhm’s audio
recording with the Staatskapelle Dresden in my affections.
With zingy orchestral playing, great solo contributions
and a perfect Konstanze from Arleen Auger, this is still
the one to beat.
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