Headlined with excellent singers, including Valerie
Masterson, the demure yet powerful Constanze, Lillian Watson, a particulary
spry and comical Blonde, Ryland Davies, the famous Welsh tenor as Belmonte,
James Hoback , the wide-eyed Pedrillo, and Willard White, the fantastic
Jamaican bass as Osmin, this opera brilliantly shines.
Under the direction of Gustav Kuhn, the London Philharmonic beautifully
underlines the action in an understated, yet compelling manner. Kuhn’s
tempos keep the comic action light and perfectly accelerated. William Dudly,
the designer, creates the typical Turkish harem setting, but the sheer size
and intricate detail of each piece is visually compelling. As far as the
stage direction, Peter Wood chose the more traditional route, with tepid
blocking and stagnant emotional drive. However, the production draws on the
comic panache of both Watson and Hoback to bring freshness to the show.
It is exciting that Glyndebourne chose to release this production onto DVD,
not only because of the high quality performers, but because it is certainly
wonderful to see a more traditional production in order to truly appreciate
Mozart’s original intentions for the work.
Sarah Hoffman
image=http://www.operatoday.com/content/abduction.gif
image_description=Mozart: Die Entf¸hrung aus dem Serail
product=yes
product_title=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Entf¸hrung aus dem Serail
product_by=Ryland Davies, Valerie Masterson, Lillian Watson, Willard White, James Hoback, Joachim Bissmeier, Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Gustav Kuhn (cond.)
product_id=ArtHaus 101 091 [DVD]
price= $17.99
product_url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A16I2I/ref=ase_operatoday-20/104-3036514-1590301?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130&tagActionCode=operatoday-20