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Mozart’s comic opera “The Abduction from the Seraglio”
Mozart’s comic opera “The Abduction from the Seraglio” will be presented at 7:30 pm on Thursday July 21, and 3 pm on Saturday July 23, and 3 pm on Sunday July 24.
Music will be sung in German and dialogue spoken in English. English supertitles will be projected above the stage. Running time of the opera is 2 hours and 15 minutes; with two fifteen minute intermissions total running time will be 2 hours and 45 minutes. Doors open half an hour before the curtain.
Featured will be Metropolitan Opera basso Valerian Ruminski as the Pasha’s brutal slave-keeper, dramatic coloratura Alexis Olinyk as Constanza, tenor Michael Anderson as her beloved Belmonte, soprano Michelle Seipel as her chamber maid, tenor Andres Lasaga as Belmonte’s clever servant, and Brian Keith Johnson as the regal Pasha Selim III.
The 1782 premiere of “Abduction from the Seraglio” was a huge success and at once put the 24-year old Mozart on the operatic map. It contains some of his most spectacularly difficult arias, and has thrilled and delighted audiences ever since. Especially intriguing is its exploration of the exotic culture of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Did you know that pirates made a practice of kidnapping passengers on the high seas in Mozart’s time and selling them as slaves to the prosperous Ottoman Empire? Learn more through Mozart’s adventure-packed opera in the superb acoustics of the Smith Opera House–July 21st, 23rd, and 24th!
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