There
are nice wobbly sets at the start of this Florentine production,
making it obvious we are in for proper theatre, and all the better
for it. The scenery at the start consists of large hangings covered
in oriental decorations as befits this exotic story set in the
mysterious East - Turkey actually. There is some stage fun in
the form of Osmin feeding his crocodile and during the production
this beasty returns to terrorise various characters. Nicely done
and good stage business. The scenery changes appropriately for
the plot and I was relieved to see not one great coat or machine
gun, clearly no ex-Eastern Bloc directors were involved in this
production. It is played for all it is worth; and Die Entführung
is worth a great deal.
Belmonte’s
first aria, sung by tenor Rainer Trost, is really excellent. It
confirms what the overture had already suggested, that this was
going to be good listening as well as good viewing. Mehta’s orchestra
plays crisply with some plainly "authentic" touches
like a comparative freedom from vibrato. This does not pretend
to be an authentic production à la Drottningholm but it
is played throughout with a liveliness that puts a smile on one’s
face. Constanza (Eva Mei) seems a touch mature at first but soon
had me convinced that she was the passionate and wronged woman
of virtue that Bretzner’s libretto suggests. Blonde (the striking
Patrizia Ciofi) makes a great contrast, as she should, and enjoys
a fine scene with Osmin ( Kurt Rydl) at the start of Act 2. Kurt
Rydl throws his whole considerable weight into the role of the
wicked Osmin and hams it wonderfully, especially at the end of
the opera where his chance of revenge is taken away by the noble
Pasha Selim. By the time we reach Constanza’s lovely aria bemoaning
the loss of her love Belmonte, indeed love in general, this listener
was absolutely hooked.
I
mentioned earlier the orchestral strings. Their colleagues in
the wind section come into their own in the scene between Selim
and Constanza where she declares her willingness to take any dreadful
torture for the sake of her true love. The accompaniment from
solo violin, flute, cello and oboe is quite lovely, and what magnificent
Mozart this scene is!
Some
technical issues last. The widescreen picture is fine and the
camera work unobtrusive. I reviewed using the excellent Dolby
Digital soundtrack. There are some microphone problems derived
from filming a live performance; for example Osmin seems to disappear
from the sound picture for odd moments in Act 3. There are also
one or two errors in the subtitling. Don’t let any of these put
you off. It is my job to be critical and despite these problems
I loved this DVD. It resurrected my enthusiasm for this, the second
opera I ever saw. Thank you the Teatro della Pergola for a lovely
evening out!
Dave
Billinge
see also review
by Tony Haywood
Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino/Zubin Mehta 