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Konstanze: Laura Aikin The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra & Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, Constantinos Carydis (musical director) & Johan Simons (stage director) Opus Arte - OA 1003D [214 Mins] This is a compelling, thoughtful interpretation of Mozart's opera on Its special quality stems particularly from the emotional entanglement of Konstanze and the Pasha, who are more than a little in love [cover image] so that her eventual meeting with her less than totally alluring Belmonte finds Konstanze confused and unable at first to cope with the flood of emotions. However, loyalty and humanity win the day with Bassa Selim's magnanimity, eschewing revenge. The whole thing is shown very much as a colourful theatre entertainment, underpinned by Constantinos Carydis projecting the score with huge energy, the Turkish All the protagonists are well conceived, the attractive Blonde/Pedrillo pair always making the best of their situation, their ending in the tale a happy one, whereas we are left wondering how Konstanze and Belmonte will make out. Osmin is not as scary as he believes himself, but Kurt Rydl's singing is probably the best of them all. The other principals are good, but short on the superb singing* one has come to expect in Mozart, with many so fine renditions in the collective memory. Given the topicality of its Islamic/European theme, one Entführung is not enough and there are several intriguing accounts on DVD. We remain faithful to Hans Neuenfels' Stuttgart version with each singing character doubled by an actor to take charge of the spoken dialogue. And the DVD Mozart in Turkey, with Sir Charles Mackerras and director Elijah Moshinski, filmed in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, is worth seeing. All three are released by Opus Arte; the new Carydis/Simons version from Amsterdam becomes available on New Year's Day and should not be missed by Entführung collectors. *P.S. We've taken a second look at a notorious "deconstruction" by Herheim at Salzburg, which caused a scandal there (we can't get on with it at all - Decca M22 Series).
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the well-worn 'escape from the harem' theme.
music strident and exciting. Before the set collapses for the bitter-sweet ending there are numerous original jokes on the way and plenty to think about. 