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?)
