Abduction from the Seraglio

Abduction from the Seraglio - Week 1

Welcome Students and Teachers to Opera Online!!

What happens when you combine a Mozart, Turkey, a rescue mission, and German dialogue? You get Mozart's musical gem, The Abduction from the Seraglio.

Welcome to week one of our online look at the opera.

The opera has lots of topics to discuss:
- How does Mozart set the scene?
- How do men treat women?
- How do women show their independence?
- How do the themes in the opera relate to those of the Age of Enlightenment?

Video Clips of the Week

We'll look at two different interpretations of the first scene from the opera, which can be found on pages 16-18 in the Sounds of Learning guide. It's the opening aria of the Spanish nobleman Belmonte and the introduction of Bassa Selim's servant Osmin and the following duet between the two.

Does Mozart catch Belmonte's nobility in his music? How?

Based on the text of Osmin's aria, what are his opinions of women? How does the music express this? The first clip comes from a film version of the opera and contains English subtitles. The second comes from a live performance from the Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, England and features Kurt Moll as Osmin. Moll was one of the greatest performers of the role in the past 50 years.

Website of the week
You'll notice that throughout the opera's libretto that there's a lot of talk about Janissaries. Well, what's a Janissary? Click here to find out!

Let's introduce you to our soprano heroine, Elizabeth Zharoff. Still a student at The Curtis Institute of Music, Elizabeth's is still in her 20s and her career is about to take off! You can learn a bit more about her at her website, or you may want to follow her on Facebook!

Opera on the Air!

On Saturday, January 14th, radio station WRTI will broadcast an historic performance of Vincenzo Bellini's bel canto opera Norma starring four legendary singers: Dame Joan Sutherland from Australia, American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi and Italian bass Cesare Siepi in the four lead roles. So if you can tune your radio to WRTI, 91.1 FM on Saturday afternoon between 1PM and 4PM, you're in for a treat!

Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org.

Until Next Week!

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