The booklet with this DVD of Die Entführung aus dem Serail contains liner notes from 1980 that defend the idea of opera on film. Nowadays,
we take it for granted—film or video being medium through which most of us get to
experience more “live” opera than we otherwise would. I appreciated the 1980s
camera work, which captured the live experience well. I noticed when
fast-forwarding that there are not a lot of edits, or different camera angles.
The camera lingers so that you really do get a sense of watching a staged
production.
Though by all appearances a traditional performance, apparently this production was controversial in 1980 due to the addition of some slapstick humor. I didn't perceive a lot of that beyond a bit of silliness with the guards and the ladder—some “keystone kops” antics, and when Pedrillo carries the drunk Osmin (twice his size) off stage on his back.
Marsch, Marsch, Marsch! (Trio Finale to Act 1)
Overall this performance,
though sung beautifully, left a fairly bland impression on me. Here is the quartet finale to Act 2. What follows are
reflections on the individual singers and on specific actions within the opera.
Rare photo of Karl Bohm smiling! |
Konstanze sings her Act 2 aria Traurigkeit while simply standing in a window. It is such wonderful singing and a beautiful
moment of repose, that the static staging doesn't seem so static. And following immediately after, (what was Mozart
thinking?) she sings Martern aller Arten. I always had an intellectual understanding
of the staging issues with the 2 minute instrumental introduction to this aria.
Now I really see it. Here the video director fills some of the time by showing Böhm conducting
(his interpretation alone makes this disc noteworthy. I wouldn't have minded
seeing the instrumental soloists a bit, too.)
Edita Gruberova |
So what happens on stage? Konstanze has to look sad, pleading, defiant, etc.
to fill the time. Edita Gruberova actually does a good job of this. One can understand why,
even though her voice has lost some of its bloom of more than 30 years ago, people still flock to see her
perform. A most effective moment is when
she drops to the floor and walks towards Selim on her knees. He leaves while
she is still singing, and when she is done, she exits directly upstage, towards
the sea. Is she going to keep walking right into the water?
No, she takes a hard right, goes off stage, comes back
for a mid-act curtain call, then gets ready for the rest of the opera. I will cover that in the next day or so.
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