Summary Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Abduction from the Seraglio
THE ABDUCTION OF THE SERAL
Opera in three acts
Libretto by G. Stefani
Characters:
Constanta Blondhen Belmont Pedrillo Osmin Selim Pasha | Soprano Soprano Tenor Tenor Bass Speaking role |
Janissaries, concubines, slaves.
Location: Turkey.
HISTORY OF CREATION
Five years before the work on “Abduction from the Seraglio” Mozart dreamed of a national Austrian musical theater that could withstand the dominance of the Italian opera in Vienna.
He realized this dream. “Abduction from the Seraglio” is the first national opera not only in its own design, but also in language. About this work, written in the traditions of the Singshpil, Goethe said that it would eclipse everything
The opera libretto, which belongs to the Viennese operetta inspector Gottlieb Stefani (1741-1800), was based on the comedy of the Leipzig merchant and writer, Christophe Bretzner (1781). Her plot was a success; until 1790 in Vienna, except for Mozart, this plot was written by three other composers (Andre, Dittersdorf, Knecht). For Mozart, he served as a starting point. On the instructions of the composer, the play was amended many times, so significant that Bretzner twice protested in the newspapers against her alleged distortion.
The image of Selim changed decisively; Small in size, its role has acquired an important ideological meaning. In Bretzner, Selim learns of his missing son in Belmonte and lets the prisoners be released. In Mozart, the Mohammedan,
Traditionally, the conventional images of the other heroes Mozart endowed with living human identities, which were especially pronounced in numerous contrasting oppositions. A certain role was played here by autobiographical circumstances. Work on the opera coincided with the composer’s marriage to Constance Weber. For two years, he fought the brutality of the bride’s parents and the opposition of his father. The obstacles were overcome with one blow: Mozart abducted Constance from the paternal home. Not only this situation, but also the poetic feeling of tender love, diffused in music, and the very images of the main actors make autobiographical strokes in the opera: in the Belmonte devoted Mozart imprinted his own feeling, and in both heroines, in a lyrical and comic plan, recreated his character traits bride.
The first performance of the opera “Belmont and Constanta” was held on July 12, 1782, under the authority of the author on the stage of the Vienna National Theater. Her triumphant success marked the birth of the Austro-German opera. At Gluck’s insistence, the play was soon repeated, and the following year the opera was staged in the homeland of Gluck, in Prague, where it aroused general enthusiasm. Mozart’s melodies sang in the Czech Republic with new words as folk songs.
MUSIC
In accordance with the traditions of the Singspiel, “Abduction from the Seraglio” includes, along with musical numbers, detailed conversational scenes. While retaining the sincerity and simplicity of the utterances characteristic of the song forms of this genre, Mozart widely expanded its framework. His characters pronounce extensive pathetic monologues, considered appropriate only in heroic operas. Dialogues grow into large, full of movement and emotional contrasts, scenes, united by music. Along with the melody of the Austrian and German folk songs, the buffalo patter sounds, the virtuoso roulades are combined with an expressive, intonationally true recitative.
The big overture is the only unfolded symphonic episode of the opera – with its swiftness, brilliance, wit anticipates the atmosphere of action. In the orchestra used such “exotic” for that time instruments, like a triangle, a drum, a flute-piccolo, timpani. They are used to reproduce “Janissary” (that is, Turkish) color in music. In the middle section melancholy sounds the melody of the first aria of Belmont, to which the conclusion of the overture directly leads.
In the first act, the musical characteristics of the actors are given in sharply contrasting juxtapositions. Belmont’s lyrical aria “Here I will meet with you, Constance”, sustained in the movement of the minuet, melodic freedom, vivacity of speech intonations reminds an agitated speech. She is contrasted by Osmin’s multifaceted characterization in the following scene: a sentimental song “Who found a dove”, performed by a bass, introduces a soft comic touch; Belmont and Osmine’s dispute was resolved in terms of a typically comedy duet-squabble; after Belmont’s departure, Osmin’s fury is poured out in the aria, witty parodying the traditional “aria of revenge”, with persistent repetitions of the same sounds, malicious cries and ruladas. Following the conversation scene (Belmont and Pedriello), the musical episode also contains a relief contrast. Belmont’s aria “Constanta”, reminiscent of intermittent, agitated speech, is replaced by the march-like choir of the Janissaries. Then the music returns to the lyric sphere; aria of Constance “I loved, I knew happiness” combines a flexible melodized recitative and virtuosic passages, song sincerity and pathetic. Concludes the first act of a great comedy tercet; The militant fanfare theme of Osmina is parodied by Belmont and Pedriello, the orchestra is dominated by a light, swift movement.
The second act begins with a comedic scene: the sly, graceful speech of Blondchen (aria “Only tenderness and affection”) in a duet with Osmin becomes bold and sarcastic. The playfully ironic character of this scene emphasizes the drama of the next; the great lyrical monologue of Constantine “Ah! For me there is no more happiness,” a sincere and poetic, passes (after an explanation with Selim) to a heroic bravura aria, which with its conditional pathos somewhat contradicts the image of Constance (by his own admission, the composer sacrificed here expressiveness in favor of ” mobile throat “Katerina Cavalieri, the first performer of the role of Constance). Gladly simple-hearted aria Blondhen “How beautiful is my life” and the animated aristocratic aria Pedrillo “Ready for the struggle I” dorisovyvayut comic couple of lovers. One of the most striking and scenic numbers of the opera is the witty duo of Pedrillo and Osmina with funny rolls of voices and stubborn repetitions of the dance tune with the words “Vivat, Bacchus!”. The second act is completed with a tenderly excited Belmont aria and a joyful quartet, in which the melodies of lyrical and comedic heroes are polyphonic.
At the beginning of the third act, the romantic romance of the mysterious serenade of Pedrillo “Prayed the girl in captivity”, broken by suspicious pauses, the brave aria of the gloating Osmin “Oh, how happy I will be.” She is confronted by the duet of Belmont and Constance, full of nobility and courageous grief. The opera is completed by a large quintet, glorifying Selim with loyalty and generosity, the janissary choir supports him.
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