Abduction from the Seraglio via Queen City Chamber Opera

I remember those middle school days. (I hated Jr. High). We'd taken a trip to a youth convention in the Black Hills. A gob of guys had Magic: The Gathering cards. I watched them play from the side. 'Oh, that looks so fun,' I said to myself. I kept asking them questions. Why did you do that? What does that monster do? What's the difference between water monsters and earth monsters... As I yapped like an annoyed lap dog, the nerds (sorry for my bitter words, I'm not really stereotyping) grumbled with snappy, short, uninformative answers. I never learned how to play. Probably for the best, it is most likely a time-wasting, mind-warping drain--I have twitter for that. (Deepest apologies, for those who play, for I speak from a place of ignorance.) 

Now, onto an opposing example. We'd taken a family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. My oldest son (Byron) loved trains. Having seen a brochure for train rides, we thought it a no-brainier. "We have got to do this." The prices were reasonable (touristy places often jack up prices) so we went. The trains were charming, small steam engines--not pupil popping giants. The ride down was beautiful. Pleasant. (Though, Byron did get a little scared from the vibrating sound.) The ride alone was well worth the money, but it was the above-and-beyond bits from the volunteer-staff that made an impression. When the ride was over with, my sons watched as the men tinkered with the train. Coupling, uncoupling... and a gob of other trainy words that I don't know. They gentlemen saw my boys watching, came over and asked if the wanted to help fill the train with water and coal. 

Of course they wanted to. With gleeful faces, they trotted over to the refilling station. The men let them help, answering questions.  And, they even let my boys push the handle for the train 'merry-go-round'. When the day was through, my wife and I even donated extra money to the cause. (We rarely do that, because we're cheapskates.) If anyone is ever in the Wisconsin Dells area, I highly recommend you visit the Riverside & Great Northern Railway.

People are often afraid to outright ask about something they are interested in. There is no greater way to kill a cause, than to trample on the hint of interest someone reveals. On the flip side, you can nurture an interest, like the volunteer from the railway. Seeing a new face watching everyone play, you can be the person to go over and invite that person to join. 

So, what does any of this have to do with The Queen City Chamber Opera's performance of the Abduction from the Seraglio? 

There are a gob of academics, and artsy-hippy types wondering how to get our youth interested in classical music. And, there is all kinds of debate as to whether or not classical music is dead. (To a troglodyte, the deadness of something only adds to its appeal.) And, if it is dead, how does one revive it? Some say, the answer lies in bigger, better productions. Others say, more radical, modern performances. 

Neither are the answer. Both solutions are simply for those who already love classical music. The former, for those who want to see their favorite music at the peak of perfection. They want every note humming in an environment that cascades forth at its purest. (This tone-deaf man wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a tap-water note and spring-mountain-rain note.) The latter solution comes from those bored with hearing the same music, the same way.  

Accessibility. Accessibility is the key to spurring a love for a cause. Oh, how fitting that I speak of Queen City Chamber Opera's (QCCO) performance of The Abduction from the Seraglio for such a post. Whereas Zaide struggles truer to the way things are, The Abduction calls softly for the way thing ought to be. Pasha Selim desperately wants Konstanze to love him. He's being patience (by patient, I mean his understanding of patience). But, Konstaze just can't love him. She just can't force it to happen. This big towering figure is not accessible to her heart. After a series of up and downs, twists and turns, threatening of lives, Selim captures an escaped Konstanze and her true love, Belmonte. Their fate is in his hands. But, here's where Selim truly shows he loves her. He let's her go. In turn, Konstanze can praise Selim. Not in the manner he wants, but still praises him. 

A bit back, QCCO performed The Abduction. They have recently posted pieces of that performance on Youtube. I'd been eagerly waiting for it. I encourage you to watch, here.  This organization has the right philosophy to spur a love for opera. A love for Mozart. Accessibility. This is not saying, they aren't focus on quality, because the voices and the music are very good. I'd bet my right hearing (not that I need it), that this performance sounded better in person. From the first time I saw their production of Zaide, Isaac Selya, the conductor, has illustrated this philosophy of accessibility--from posting less common works on Youtube, to positive feedback of a lowbrow wrestling with the highbrow.  

Though, it does take discipline... You love something. You want others to love it as well. Takes discipline not to force it on other. My wife often laughs at me when I speak of a disdain for 'elitists', yet she is quick to point out I love classical music. But, it's not the art that makes one an elitist, but the pressure to push any given love upon a populace for its own good. 

Of course how does one even make the music accessible? How do you educate without a hint of prodding? I don't know. And, aren't there gobs of organizations that are accessible? Yeah. Yeah, there are. Unfortunately, accessibility does not guarantee appreciation or love, but it is necessary. It takes patience and a soft, enduring passion to spread a love for a cause. 

Zaide (K. 344) vs. Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384): Two Moods of Mozart.

Zaide.  Die Entführung aus dem Serail.  Two operas that couldn’t be simultaneously more different and similar.  Melancholy and merry Mozartian moods motivated the music.  

Whenever I delve into the impact Mozart’s life has on the creation of an opera, I must ask, “How much of the theme reflects what Mozart had to say, as oppose to his librettist.”  Sure, Mozart’s opera music does reflect emotions, but are these Mozart’s?  Is he simply doing a superb job of matching the vision of the opera writer?  Or, did his librettist create words that captured the themes Mozart wanted to express?  Collaborations are tricky to interpret.  However, Zaide and Die Entführung seem match Mozart’s life experiences at the time of their creation. 

Zaide.

Mozart’s last striving for employment outside the court of Colloredo had failed.  He had found love in Manheim. Aloysia Weber.  His father’s actions forced Mozart away.  After his mother’s death, Mozart returned to Manheim.  Aloysia was no longer interested. Thus, Mozart accepted his Salzburg sentence as organist.  During that dejected time, he began work on the opera, Zaide. 

Now, how does the opera parallel?  How can we even know if the work was never finished?  All we have are two acts of music.  No dialogue and a missing ending.  There is some debate over how exactly Mozart intended on ending it, but the consensus seems to suggest he would not have ended it tragically.  Such an ending wasn’t fashionable for the times.   I wonder though…  I think Mozart had some wrestlings himself.  As an attempted writer, I often struggle with whether to end a work tragically.  A tragic ending has staying power, but often rubs people the wrong way.  If an artist becomes known as a tragic creator, people may avoid his or her medium.  This fact plagues the artists of history.  An artistic wrestling of expression vs. escape.  Thus, the unknown ending of Zaide begs this question, “Was Mozart trying to escape his reality, or express it?”

I believe he didn’t know. Or may have been doing both.  He had to have had an eclipse of despair choking his motivations.  When humans go through a funk, they often seek out mediums that bury them deeper into their depression.  Zaide’s inspiration is the Voltaire work, Zaire.  Zaire was a radical tragedy of the day.   Until that work, tragedies focused on how moral flaws of the protagonist led to a fall.  Voltaire twisted that notion, and Zaire ends with the slave girl protagonist killed in spite of her virtue.  (I remember reading Candide in college and saw such a premise.)  Consequently, I am led to believe Mozart was stewing in such themes.  He saw himself as a victim of circumstances unable to escape. 

On to the recognizable themes of Zaide.  Zaide is a slave captured by a Muslim Sultan.  (In those days, it was fashionable for artists to write such a plot.)  She falls in love with Gomatz, a fellow slave, although the Sultan desires her.  The two escape, but are captured.  Zaide chooses Gomatz over the Sultan, who wrestles with how he will punish them.  It ends with a death decree.  But, we never know for sure what happens. 

Although, the plot may or may not be Mozart's entire doing, the music was.  And, the aria Ruhe Sanft is the key to understanding the mood of the work--and Mozart.  This aria attracted me to the opera.  As of right now, it is the most beautiful aria I have heard.  (Even Mozart’s throw-aways are incredibly powerful.)  The music’s mood speaks of longing that can never be realized.  Zaide has fallen for the sleeping Gomatz, offering him her picture in hopes it may comfort the exhausted slave.  How had Mozart’s relationship with Aloysia affected parts of this opera?  A number of my youthful crushes have filled my ponderings with regrets.  “If only, I had asked her out sooner… If only, we weren’t so far apart…”  How too, would have Mozart blamed circumstances for his losing Aloysia (and even his mother).  “If only father would have let me travel with the Webers, instead of going to Paris.”  I can feel Mozart beating his brow with such laments. Ruhe Sanft carries such a voice.

Zaide and Gomatz eventually fall in love, and risk death to escape.  But, circumstances strike.  And, Mozart struggles to finish the work in the midst of his depression.  Does he express the facts of fate?  Or, does he use this work as a means to escape his reality?  He drags out a final decision with such contrived tension.  As I watched, I thought, “Kill them already… or something.”  I imagined Mozart pacing in a room struggling in a similar manner.  “Should I kill Zaide… Gomatz… the guardsman that helped them… two of them… all three… or do I let them live?”  With any emotional medium, Mozart had to weigh his desires against the wishes of his audience.  I wonder what he would have come up with if an aristocrat had offered him a guaranteed paycheck to finish how he wanted. 

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

As with many works begun under the duress of depression, Zaide was scrapped.  And, Mozart started work on the opera, Idomeneo. That work was a success.  Through a series of circumstances (read my blurb on Colloredo for more information), Mozart found himself in Vienna—the Hollywood of opera—where Emperor Joseph II sought an opera of the German language.  Would Zaide be a good fit? A friend suggested not.  But, Mozart didn’t scrape the plot completely and Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) was born during merry times. 

What exactly was happening in Mozart life around the writing of Die Entführung?  He was in the city of his dreams.  He could compose an opera in his language.  And, even though Aloysia was married, the Webers now lived in Vienna, and Mozart had an interesting prospect with her sister Constanze.

Die Entführung’s plot is similar to Zaide, but more fleshed out.  A Muslim Sultan employs captured slaves.  Three of which are Konstanze, Pedrillo, and Blonde.  They were captured at sea, and forced into the household of Sultan Bashan.  Bashan has fallen for Konstanze, but desires that she love him without force. Yet, he grows impatient, telling her he could force himself upon her if he wanted.  Konstanze wants to keep herself pure for her love, Belmonte.  Bashan’s head guard Osmin has taken Blonde as his bride.  However, Pedrillo loves Blonde.  As in Zaide, circumstances have fated each character into undeserved positions.  And then, Belmonte enters to rescue everyone.  But, as they escape, they are all captured and their fate is in the hands of Bashan.  What will he decide?  At least with this finished work, we know what Mozart had intended. 

There are several songs that reflect Mozart’s mood, but I would say that the aria Welche Wonne, welche Lust capstones the music describing Mozart’s disposition.  Blonde sings of her good spirits and anticipation of what could be.  The opera never moans a Zaide-like darkness, even after their capture.  (Whether he is catering to Vienna preferences or expressing himself, I cannot emphatically state.) Mozart ratchets the tension, without dimming the mood. 

Bashan asks Belmonte about a certain man.  Belmonte says the man is his father.  The Sultan declares that Belmonte’s father is his sworn enemy.  Surely, we in the audience must believe the prisoners are destined for death.  They can do nothing to save themselves.  Yet, here’s where Mozart lets fate be the powerful ally.  Bashan frees them, ordering Belmonte to never forget the mercy and become a better man than his father. 

I can’t ignore that the very person that freed Mozart’s lead male, seemed at first to be his enemy, but turned out to be his savior.  Moreover, Bashan’s enmity toward Belmonte’s father made me ask, “What does this say about Mozart’s relationship with his father?”  And naturally, I’m drawn back to my radical presumptions about Colloredo.  Are the themes connected? Tension gnawed at Colloredo and Leopold, with Mozart caught in the middle.  No one would disagree that Leopold was actually the one that held Mozart captive.  And, the very person thought to be Mozart’s enemy was actually the man that freed the composer.  Who knows?  Maybe my ideas are nothing but wacky longings of a man who wants to create a new theory.  (Isn’t that how most conspiracy theories are born?)