|
The Abduction from the Seraglio (K. 384; in German Die Entführung aus dem Serail) is a comic opera in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie. The plot concerns the attempt of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of the Pasha Selim. Comic opera is a subcategory of opera, and denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature. ...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ...
A seraglio is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish Muslim household, from an Italian variant of Turkish sarayı, meaning palace, enclosed courts. Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı) is the main Ottoman palace in Istanbul, now a museum. ...
Pasha is the diminutive form of the Russian given name Pavel. ...
Background
The opera was first produced at the command of the Austrian emperor Joseph II on July 16, 1782 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. The premiere was a success and established the reputation in Vienna of Mozart, who had moved there from his native city of Salzburg the previous year. The opera fulfilled a longtime wish of the emperor, namely to bring to the Burgtheater a successful German opera; previous performances there had been successful only when they were imitations or translations of foreign works. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (March 13, 1741 - February 20, 1790) was a Holy Roman Emperor (1765 - 1790). ...
Events January 7 - The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America). ...
This article is about the city and federal state in Austria. ...
This page is for the city of Salzburg. ...
The opera is in the genre of Singspiel, meaning that much of the action is carried forward by spoken dialogue, thus the music lacks recitatives and consists entirely of set numbers. Singspiel is form of German-language musical drama, similar to opera, but with a lot of spoken dialog and simpler, folk-like, strophic songs. ...
Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, cantatas and similar works, is described as a melodic speech set to music, or a descriptive narrative song in which the music follows the words. ...
The work is lighthearted and meant for fun, without the deeper character exploration or darker feelings found in Mozart's later operas. It played off a contemporary enthusiasm for the "exotic" culture of Turkey, a nation which had only recently ceased to be a military threat to Austria and thus held a piquant interest for the Viennese. Mozart's opera includes a Westernized version of Turkish music, based very loosely on the Turkish Janissary bands, that he had employed in earlier work; see Turkish music (style). The Republic of Turkey is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part of its territory (3%) in southeastern Europe. ...
The Janissaries (or janizaries; in Turkish: Yeniçeri, meaning New Troops) comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultans household troops and bodyguard. ...
Turkish music, in the sense described here, is not really music of Turkey, but rather a musical style that was occasionally used by the European composers of the Classical music era. ...
The characters of the opera also play off Turkish stereotypes, notably Osmin, the Pasha's comically sinister overseer, who expresses his many threats in coloratura bass singing. However, the opera cannot be entirely considered as stereotyping of the Turks, since the climax of the plot depends on a rather selfless act on the part of the Pasha. Coloratura is an ornate, flowery style in classical singing. ...
Although the plot and characterization are naïve in comparison to Mozart's later operas, the music was composed at full stretch and includes some of the composer's most spectacular and complex arias. Of these, probably the most famous is Konstanze's "Martern aller Arten" ("Tortures of all kinds") in which she informs the Pasha that she will not submit to him even under torture.
Concerning the musical difficulty of the work, a story is told: after hearing a performance, the Emperor is said to have told the composer "Too many notes, dear Mozart," to which Mozart is said to have replied "Exactly the right number, Your Majesty." (The authenticity of this tale is doubted, however, by some contemporary musicologists.)
Actors, singers, instruments - The Pasha Selim; for a speaking actor
- Belmonte, a Spanish nobleman; tenor
- Pedrillo, Belmonte's servant; tenor
- Konstanze, betrothed to Belmonte; soprano
- Blonde, Konstanze's English maid; soprano
- Osmin, overseer for the Pasha; bass
- Klaas, a sailor; spoken role
- Mute in Osmin’s service; silent role
- Chorus of Janissaries
The singers perform with a Classical-era orchestra, augmented with the instruments needed for "Turkish" music: bass drum, cymbals, triangle, and piccolo. Aside from these, the orchestra consists of pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, French horns, trumpets, a set of two timpani, and the usual string section consisting of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ...
A bass drum in a drum kit A bass drum is a large, heavy drum that produces a thump of low but indefinite pitch. ...
This article is about the percussion instruments made of metal disks, for the string instrument played with beaters see cymbalum. ...
The triangle is an idiophonic musical instrument of the percussion family. ...
This article is about the instrument. ...
This article pertains to the musical instrument. ...
Modern Oboe The Oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ...
A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ...
Bassoon Playing range of a bassoon The bassoon is the tenor member of the woodwind family. ...
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ...
Trumpeter performing with the United States Air Forces in Europe Band The trumpet is a brass instrument. ...
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. ...
The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a fifth apart. ...
Alternate uses: Viola (disambiguation) The viola is a stringed musical instrument which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello and double bass. ...
A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ...
Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...
Plot - Place: the country house of the Pasha (German "Bassa"), somewhere along the Mediterranean coast
- Time: the sixteenth century.
Act I Belmonte seeks everywhere his betrothed, Konstanze, who with her English servant Blondchen has fallen into the hands of pirates who sold them to the Pasha Selim (Aria: "Here shall I see you, Konstanze, you my hope.") Osmin, the Pasha's servant, comes to pluck figs in the garden and completely ignores Belmonte's addresses (Aria: "Who a love has found.") Belmonte insists and tries to obtain news of his servant, Pedrillo. (Duet: "Confounded be you and your song.") Osmin is angry. ("Such ragamuffins.") Nevertheless, after the servant leaves, Belmonte meets Pedrillo and they resolve to abduct Konstanze. (Aria: "Konstanze, Konstanze, to see thee again"). The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) or International Federation of Gymnastics (IFG) is the governing body of competitive gymnastics. ...
Accompanied by a chorus of Janissaries ("Sing to the great Pasha") Selim appears with Konstanze, for whose love he strives in vain. (Aria of Konstanze: "O forgive! Oh, I loved") Upon the recommendation of Pedrillo, the Pasha engages Belmonte as builder, but Osmin refuses him access to the palace. (Terzett: "March! March! March!") The Janissaries (or janizaries; in Turkish: Yeniçeri, meaning New Troops) comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultans household troops and bodyguard. ...
Act II Blondchen repulses the rough lovemaking attempts of Osmin. (Aria: "By tenderness and flattery.") After a duet ("I go, but counsel thee to avoid the villain Pedrillo"), Osmin departs. Konstanze greets Blondchen in distress (Aria: "Sorrow has become my lot"), informing her that Selim demands her love and threatens to use force. (Aria: "This also will I bear.")
When she has gone, Pedrillo comes to Blondchen, who is his sweetheart, and informs her that Belmonte is near and that all is ready for flight. Blondchen is filled with joy. (Aria: "What happiness, what delight.") Pedrillo invites Osmin to drink, hoping that he will become intoxicated. (Aria: "On to the combat" and duet: "Vivat Bacchus! may Bacchus live!") He succeeds in this plan and gets Osmin out of the way so that Belmonte again sees his beloved Konstanze. (Quartet, Belmonte, Konstanze, Pedrillo, Blondchen: "Oh, Belmonte, oh my life.") Bacchus is the name of: the Roman god Bacchus, known to the Greeks as Dionysus the asteroid 2063 Bacchus the Bacchus grape variety, grown predominantly in Germany the painting Bacchus by Leonardo da Vinci This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share...
Act III Belmonte and Pedrillo come to the garden with ladders. (Aria, Belmonte: "When the tears of joy do fall"; Romanze, Pedrillo: "Captive in the land of the Moors.") Belmonte succeeds in abducting Konstanze, but when Pedrillo is about to escape with Blondchen, they are caught by Osmin (Aria: "Ho, how I will triumph"), and Belmonte and Konstanze are also brought back by the guard. Selim Pasha, who recognises in Belmonte the son of an enemy, is about to order their death. (Duet: "Oh what a fate, oh soul's misery.") His heart, however, is touched by their sorrow; he forgives, and all are set at liberty - much to the dismay of Osmin, who would prefer to see them all brutally executed. (Finale: "Never will I thy kindness forget.")
Adaptations The Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen has written an opera called The Palace; it contains characters from Abduction, and uses the plot of Mozart's opera as the starting point of a bizarre fantasy.
Books The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is a dictionary of music and musicians, generally considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. ...
External link - The score (http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/baj3789/large/index.html) of the work has been posted by the William and Gayle Cook Music Library (http://www.music.indiana.edu/muslib.html) at Indiana University.
|
Feeds |
Contact