Abstract
Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail is generally considered to be the fresh, optimistic, but rather harmless work of a brilliant composer on the brink of greatness. The plot, which at first glance appears to be quite naïve, is the story of Konstanze, who has been abducted by pirates and is now stranded in Bassa Selim’s seraglio, appears to align with that impression. But Mozart’s music transforms the opera’s characters, who are deeply-rooted in the «Turkish» opera genre popular in the 18th century, into profoundly human figures. Mozart was less concerned with the plot than he was with his characters’ inner conflicts, which he explored in depth through music. Director David Hermann, who stages the action in a completely modern setting, thus interprets Belmonte’s journey of determination to free Konstanze from the seraglio not as an excursion into unknown, external land, but instead as a nightmarish journey into the figure’s own fears and emotional complexities. Riccardo Minasi, whose recent CD recording of Mozart’s final three symphonies cemented his reputation as one of the most exciting and adventurous Mozart interpreters, will be at the podium of the Orchestra La Scintilla, which he also leads artistically. Daniel Behle’s international fame extends far beyond Mozart roles, and this revival brings his return to Zurich to sing Belmonte. Soprano Sofia Fomina is Konstanze. Swiss actor Stefan Gubser, whom audiences know as a television «Tatort» detective, takes on the speaking role of Pasha Selim.
