About the play
Orchestration
“The Abduction” is a plea for courage, tolerance and forgiving. Mozart creates an historical utopia in front of an exotic stage with two areas of conflict between diverse culture groups. “Nothing is as despicable as revenge.” In the background a racial and religious conflict is emerging and is responsible for the bloodshed. The Abduction from Seraglio is still highly topical.
THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO
Stage History
It made its feature on 16 July 1782 in Vienna’s Burg Theatre and was an acclaimed success. The opera then began touring through German theatres. It was performed in Prague in 1783, Leipzig and Bonn as well as in Munich, Salzburg, Mannheim and Frankfurt on the Main. The first performance on 4 April 1783, in Weimar was attended by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and he opined: “All our endeavour…. to confine ourselves to what is simple and limited was lost when Mozart appeared. The Abduction from Seraglio conquered all, and our own carefully written piece has never been so much as mentioned in theatre circles.”
Dates
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Opera in three Acts / KV | 384
Libretto: Christoph Friedrich Bretzner
Duration: 120 Minutes incl. Pause
Produktion
Puppet Manufacturing: Bernhard Leismüller
Puppet’s heads: Sebastian Demmel
Costumes: Bernhard Leismüller
Stage: Bettina Hummitzsch
Stage Manager: Bernhard Leismüller & Ralf Hechelmann