DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, BADEN BADEN (FINAL REPORT)

foto: 24/07/14 Anne

DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, BADEN BADEN 21-24-27/07/14

'Ist das Baden-Baden Festspielhaus?'

Mozart is a magician.... With Verdi, Donizetti, Wagner, etc..., I have my favourite pieces, I know exactly which operas are my 'Number One'-s. With Mozart, I am unable to choose, my favourite opera is always the one I am listening to. In these days, in Baden-Baden - The Abduction from the Seraglio, a work with extremely challenging vocals, a colourful and exotic treasure alternating comic and deeply dramatic scenes, 'Turkish' music and spoken monologues and dialogues, 'antecedents' of the famous recitatives.

In classical music, my two greatest loves are recital and concert version. They offer me the most complete - both musical and human - experience. At the concert version, all serve the cause of music. No scenery and costumes, no acting, in every moment we focus on music, on the musical instruments and on each note sung by the singers. This is even more important with Mozart - in his music, every note is a gem. 

For this magical music, we had the best cast, an astounding orchestra and choir under the baton of a brilliant and electrifying Nézet-Séguin with his young, fresh, sparkling Mozart. After my terrific experiences with Don Giovanni, Cosí and Verdi Requiem under his conducting, I expected something extraordinary.  I got it.  His music was tremendous.  

Diana Damrau IS Constanza both in music and in acting. She is a quasi romantic heroine with an incredible force and courage  and an immence will to fight for love. In her scenes with the Pasha or in her duets with Belmonte, her fabulous voice expresses the biggest scale of  emotions, with all the colours of anger, wrath, sadness, happiness. Every note has something to say.

Anna Prohaska is one of my favourite sopranos, she is wonderful in every role, she is a great singer and a great actress.  She was a perfect Blonda. Franz-Josef Selig has a wonderful bass, and he sings and plays a tremendously hilarious Osmin. Paul Schweinester was very good, his voice was handsome in the seranade in the third act. He created a very believable Pedrillo. In the scene where he gives the wine to Osmin, he is particularly humourous. 

Thomas Quasthoff was a real revelation for me. I knew his voice, but unfortunetly, I didn't hear him sing on stage. Selim is a spoken role and the spoken voice of Quasthoff is also marvelous. He is simply perfect in this role. In the role of the Pasha, Mozart offers us the portrait of a man of great European culture and intelligence who chooses to forgive the son of his worst enemy and also Konstanze, and let them live. Quasthoff plays this character with power, intensity, without any exaggerated or false pathos. His duets with Konstanze and the final scene are unforgettable.

ROLANDO

Rolando gives a personal touch and adds a special savour to each of his performances.  Love it! The Abduction offers great opportunities. As a Spanish nobleman, Rolando replaces some German words with Spanish ones in the first act in his dialogue with Osmin. On July 21th: Freund with 'Amigo' and Alter with 'Senor', on July 24th: we had only 'Amigo' and on July 27th, we had the German words . 

At the beginning of the third act, we have these words:

'O Liebe, sei du meine Leiterin!'

We had the following versions from Rolando:

O Amor, o Liebe, sei du meine Leiterin! - July 21st

O Amor, sei du meine Leiterin! - July 24th and 27th

Rolando had always big applauses for these 'versions'.

At the last evening, in the first act, in his duet with Osmin, Belmonte sings:

'Ist das des Bassa Selim Haus?'

In Rolando's version:

'Ist das Baden-Baden Festspielhaus?'

This was so unexpected, so funny and humorous, that Yannick Nézet-Séguin stopped the music and burst into laughter, similarly to the audience who highly appreciated these moments. 

An AXIOM: I love Rolando's Mozartian voice! In every opera, I discover new nuances, new colours in his plendid, stunning and prodigious voice. In The Abduction, his vibrant and vivid voice gave Belmonte great passion.

His brilliantly played Belmonte is a rich character, intensely dramatic and musically ravishing. I was completely bewitched, captivated, charmed  by the beauty of his voice in his geat arias ( 'Konstanze, dich wiederzusehen, dich!', 'Wenn der Freude Tränen fliessen,  'Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke'), in his duet mit Konstanze ('Welch ein Geschick! O Qual der Seele!'), in the final quartett ('Nichts ist so häßlich als die Rache').

Three fantastic evenings in Baden-Baden!

GRACIAS, ROLANDO!

  

Eleonore

Muchas gracias a Eleonore, Anne, Marion y Jacqueline E. por su colaboración

foto: 24/07/14 Anne

foto: 24/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 24/07/14 Jacqueline E.

foto: 24/07/14 Marion

foto: 24/07/14 Marion

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne

foto: 27/07/14 Anne