Current politics and 18th- century opera collided Saturday as Los Angeles Opera presented Mozart’s “The Abduction From the Seraglio.”
Updated to the 1920s and set aboard the Orient Express, it was impossible not to make a connection between Mozart’s “refugees” crossing borders between the Muslim East and Christian West at the same time a similar drama was playing out at airports across the country. It also gave added resonance to the opera’s final proclamation that ultimately, forgiveness is more powerful than vengeance.
And while none of these connections were planned, they became a topic of conversation during the opera’s two intermissions as people checked their smartphones for the latest updates.
Meanwhile, back in the 18th century, Mozart was flying high in 1782. He was young, free of the domination of his Salzburg master, the archbishop, and in love with Constanze Weber, who would soon become his bride. He had also completed a German singspiel (an opera with spoken dialogue) called the “The Abduction From the Seraglio,” commissioned for his newly adopted city of Vienna. And while the work lacks the emotional depth and orchestral texturing that would define his later operas, “The Abduction” abounds in “Turkish” pomp, several stunning arias, and a climactic second-act quartet that is Mozart at his best.
It is also a classic “rescue opera.” Belmonte and Konstanze, a pair of Spanish nobles, have been separated after the ship carrying her was attacked by pirates, resulting in her being sold (along with her maid, Blonde, and Belmonte’s servant, Pedrillo) to the Muslim potentate, Pasha Selim. As the opera begins, Belmonte has arrived at the Pasha’s palace determined to rescue his beloved.
LA Opera’s production, however, follows a different set of tracks. Originally produced in 1998 by Houston Grand Opera, the action takes place in the Pasha’s private car aboard the Orient Express as it makes its way from Istanbul to Paris. The clever cut-away set design by Allen Moyer depicts the carriage’s interior and servant’s quarters, as station platforms and farmlands glide by the windows.
Whether it entirely makes sense proves less important than the antics and abundance of lyricism that accompanies the journey. Accentuated by the fine, mostly young cast, (costumed by Anna R. Oliver) and the pinpoint conducting of James Conlon, the production is a tasty Mozartian confection. Unfortunately, James Robinson’s otherwise able direction at times degenerates into silliness akin to the Marx Brothers on the Orient Express.
Tenor Joel Prieto, a dapper college student armed with tennis racket and ukulele, plays the ardent Belmonte. He has deduced that his abducted love, Konstanze (sung mellifluously by soprano Sally Matthews), her servant, Blonde (the bright-voiced So Young Park), and his servant, Pedrillo (tenor Brenton Ryan), along with Pasha Selim (a speaking role played by Hamish Linklater), and his harem-keeper, Osmin (imposing bass, Morris Robinson) are all on board.
As the train rolls on, plots for rescue evolve, tearful reunions take place, and pledges of devotion are vowed.
The Pasha, a man with enlightened values, is determined to win the love of his purchased slave/bride without employing the degree of total submission his station affords him. She for her part is pledged, even under pain of torture, to remain true to her man. In her glittery showpiece aria, “Matern aller Arten” Matthews demonstrates the depth of her devotion (as well as the fluidity of her high notes) as the Pasha “tortures” her, not with whips, but with glamorous gowns, perfumes and furs! It is one of the production’s (and Robinson’s) most enjoyably clever moments.
The idealistic “upstairs” love of Belmonte and Konstanze is balanced against the “downstairs” emotions of their servants. Ryan is able as the plot deviser. But it is So Young Park that commands with her flirtatious charm and lilting high notes.
The harem keeper, Osmin, is usually played as either an evil villain or a cartoonish buffoon. This production shows him as a man conflicted by his amorous attraction to Blonde and her feisty rejections of his advances. She is, she informs him, “a liberated English woman!” This in 1782!
Robinson, a former football player, towers over the cast. He is a singer of prodigious power, but the vastness of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion devoured his most resonant low notes.
James Conlon, who recently extended his contract as Los Angeles Opera’s music director, was animated, guiding a performance that was sculptural in its precision, sweeping in its emotionality and playful in its “Turkish” excess.
Jim Farber is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.
THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO
Rating: 3.5 stars.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Wednesday and Feb. 16; 2 p.m. Feb. 12 and 19.
Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.
Running time: 2 hrs., 55 mins., with two intermissions.
Suitability: Not appropriate for younger children.
Information: 213-972-8001, www.laopera.org.
