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One of the many remarkable feats performed by West Bay Opera is its ability and willingness to perform lesser-known works. Although the 1782 “Abduction from the Seraglio” is disappointingly static for having such an action-sounding title, Mozart’s music made it his first palpable success in opera, and served to spread his name outside of his native Austria.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the work is comparing it to his later, more universally famous works with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte: “The Marriage of Figaro” (1786), “Don Giovanni” (1787) and “Così fan tutte” (1790). Where “Abduction” remained in the tradition of its time — set pieces focused on the inner conflicts of its characters — these later three combined stage action and music in a way that must have seemed, at its time, pretty radical.
One look at the story and one sees the action potential: a Spanish woman is abducted into the harem of a Turkish Pasha; her suitor smuggles himself in to attempt a rescue. That’s Indiana Jones material. But even without the onstage action, the West Bay cast offers some lovely voices, and Christoph Friedrich Bretzner’s libretto explores a few topics that will strike a chord with a modern American audience.
Playing our rescuer, Belmonte, Hak Soo Kim enters on a boat, singing his plight with an agile lyric tenor (just a touch of spinto edge for seasoning). He shows a flair for extended sustenatos that will prove to be a motif among the singers. This was most evident in his entrance aria, “Hier soll ich dich denn sehen.”
Belmonte is greeted by Osmin, overseer of the Pasha’s estate, who seems to hate everybody. Bass Casey Germain plays the role very sternly, which opens up some nice comedy later when Osmin gets drunk and unexpectedly jovial.
The sopranos are quite the vocal dessert. Playing the enslaved English maid Blonde, Lora Bashmakian sings with a sweetness and ease that belies some of her more demanding passages. This is most evident in “Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln,” her entreaty to Osmin to use tenderness, not force, to achieve his romantic goals.Â
Playing Konstanze, Michelle Allie Drever takes an opposite tack, openly displaying all the techniques she uses to navigate the role’s coloratura demands. Drever has a fascinating way of manipulating her vibrato, and also sings staccato cadenzas that prefigure the famous “Queen of the Night Aria” in 1791’s “The Magic Flute.”
Konstanze’s most powerful scene comes with the extended aria “Martren aller Arten.” Although she seems somewhat friendly toward her captor, the Pasha, she is determined to keep him at bay. What follows is a polemic against coercion and a plea for agency by a woman who would seem to have none.
The figure of the wise patriarch, the Pasha, finds a later echo in Sarastro from “The Magic Flute,” which like “Abduction” is a singspiel, an opera with spoken dialogue, and both in Mozart’s native German. Here, however, the Pasha’s part is completely spoken, by accomplished bass Kirk Eichelberger, who brings to the role a regal bearing that adds credence to an unexpected ending.
Tenor Caleb Alexander plays Pedrillo, Belmonte’s servant, with an understated singing style befitting a peasant character. His performance of “Im Mohrenland gefangen war ein Madchen,” a romance set to plucked strings, is a fetching piece that also serves as a signal to the escaping captives.
West Bay Opera stages “Abduction from the Seraglio” through Oct. 18 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $58-$148. For more information, , call 659-424-9999 or visit wbopera.org.
