Prom 39: Mozart – The Abduction from the Seraglio (14.08.15)

[Bert Coules]

One of the first opera recordings I ever heard - and one I really loved and still love (and not just because it's in English, though that was certainly a major factor) was a 1967 Abduction From the Seraglio conducted by Yehudi Menuhin and starring Mattiwilda Dobbs, Jenifer Eddy, Nicolai Gedda, John Fryatt and Noel Mangin. Like the Prom performance it followed a theatre run with the same cast and it shows: it's full of life and fun. Unlike the Prom it was a studio recreation of the stage show which was evidently reworked so as not to include any key visual business. While I was delighted to hear the audience in the RAH laughing away and having such a good time, it did feel on occasion as if I was trapped in one room with the door firmly shut while a great party was going on in the next one.

[Flosshilde]

I thought that the Proms Extra programme on it was very interesting. I'd love to hear one of the pianos with extra Turkish pedals!

[subcontrabass]

I thought that the Proms Extra programme on it was very interesting. I'd love to hear one of the pianos with extra Turkish pedals!

Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuhSAbQPk7E

and this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OjYKvl5raM

[PhilipT]

I was planning to see this but listened on the radio instead.

For those who didn't go: it was done without the built-up stage that Glyndebourne usually bring. The action was at the front of the platform and the orchestra at the back. Those of us who queued all day in rotten weather and got places in the front row of the Arena had a wonderful view of a lot of action - Osmin with his whip; Blonde pelting Osmin with real eggs and him shielding himself with a stool; the Pasha pressing his advances on Konstanze. At one point towards the end the Pasha was close enough to me to have cut off my head, and that of the chap next to me, with his sword. Anyone further back in the Arena couldn't've seen much at all.

With the usual proviso that I'm a total amateur when it comes to judging music, I'd agree with the comment above that Osmin's bass notes stood out. For the rest, the acting was more impressive than the singing. It was a good evening's entertainment, but not in the same league as some other Glyndebourne Proms in recent years.

[bluestateprommer]

For the rest, the acting was more impressive than the singing. It was a good evening's entertainment, but not in the same league as some other Glyndebourne Proms in recent years.

Interesting evaluation, as hearing it on iPlayer, my impression was generally the opposite. The hamminess of Osmin struck me as way, way OTT over speakers. Maybe it was more fun in the hall. Some of the hard-drivingness of Ticciati's interpretation particularly at the start was a bit disquieting, but he seemed to relax his grip a bit by the end.

Hearing the 1st interval talk, it was good to hear Louise Fryer as moderator back on the airwaves (as Martin Handley also commented afterwards), and it must have been a treat to see Nicholas Kenyon and Edward Blakeman taking the stage as percussionists.