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Sunday, July 25th at 1:00pm
Thursday, July 29th at 4:00pm
presented in High Definition
THE
ABDUCTION FROM
THE SERAGLIO(Mozart)
Performed at the Gran
Teatre del Liceu
CAST:
Diana Damrau (Constanze)
Olga Peretyatko (Blondchen)
Christoph Strehl (Belmonte)
Norbert Ernst (Pedrillo)
Franz-Josef Selig (Osmin)
Christoph Quest (Selim)
PRODUCTION
TEAM:
Conductor: Ivor Bolton
Stage Director: Christof Loy
Stage and costume design: Herbert Murauer
Lighting Design: Olaf
Winter
Sung in German with English subtitles
3 hrs 20 mins plus two intermissions
About “The Abduction from the Seraglio”
Mozart premiered “The
Abduction from the Seraglio” in 1782, while a craze
for all things Turkish, especially Turkish-style music,
swept Western Europe. (Following “Abduction,”
Mozart composed Piano Sonata no. 11 in A major, featuring
the famous “rondo alla Turca.”) The characterizations
of Turkish characters in the libretto (written by Christoph
Friedrich Bretzner and adapted by Gottlieb Stephanie) seem
like insensitive caricatures to modern eyes. The cruel and
boorish actions of the jailer Osmin are reflected in the
“Turkish” percussion, which plays just when
his behavior is the most repulsive. On the other hand, the
European heroes of the opera are accompanied by music of
classic Mozartean elegance. In many productions today, the
entire Turkey vs. Western Europe premise is scrapped in
favor of focusing on the true strengths of the opera (which
transcend 18th century prejudices): beautiful melodies,
inventive musical forms, fully developed characters, and
a comedic plot, which is easily divorced from time and place.
Synopsis:
Constanze, a noble
Spanish lady, her English servant Blondchen, and Pedrillo,
the servant of Constanze’s fiancé Belmonte,
have been abducted by Moorish pirates and handed over to
the Pasha Selim, who imprisons them in his seraglio (a combination
of a palace and living quarters for his harem). Selim soon
falls in love with Constanze, while Osmin, their coarse,
cruel jailer, attempts to woo Blondchen. Belmonte manages
to enter the palace in a bid to rescue them. Just as the
two couples are about to flee, they are captured by Selim.
Rather than kill them, as Osmin suggests, the pasha chooses
to set them free, as a way of proving how civilized he is.
TICKETS
FOR THIS SPECIAL EVENT: $20.00 per person
(Sorry,
No Passes or Discounted Admissions accepted)
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Sunday, August 8th at 1:00pm
Thursday, August 12th at 4:00pm
presented in High Definition
OTELLO
(Verdi)
Performed at the 2008
Salzburg Festival
CAST:
Aleksandrs Antonenko
(Otello)
Marina Poplavskaya (Desdemona)
Carlos Alvarez (Jago)
Barbara Di Castri (Emilia)
Stephen Costello (Cassio)
Antonello Ceron (Roderigo)
Mikhail Petrenko (Lodovico)
Simone Del Savio (Montano)
PRODUCTION
TEAM:
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Director: Stephen Langridge
Sets: George Souglides
Costumes: Emma Ryott
Lights: Giuseppe Di lorio
Sung in Italian with English
subtitles
2 hrs 22 mins plus one intermission
Librettist Arrigo Boito and music
publisher Giulio Ricordi were convinced that Verdi had one
last great tragedy in him. So in the late 1870’s,
they began the slow process of coaxing him out of his self-imposed
retirement. There was other work to be done first, though
– revisions to Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlos, with
the help of Boito. Both of these projects were almost trial
runs for Otello, which Verdi wanted to exhibit some of the
more modern operatic conventions sweeping Italy at the time.
The premiere was an inevitable success, and very quickly
Otello established itself as a part of the operatic canon.
However, it has not achieved the same popularity of some
of Verdi’s middle works, most likely due to the extreme
demands placed on both the singers and the orchestra. This
production from the Salzburg Festival is directed by Stephen
Langridge, who in 2006 attracted attention with his production
of Offenbach’s Bluebeard in Bregenz. Riccardo Muti,
one of the best Verdi conductors of our time, is returning
to Salzburg.
TICKETS
FOR THIS SPECIAL EVENT: $20.00 per person
(Sorry,
No Passes or Discounted Admissions accepted)
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