Editing Die Entführung aus dem Serail (section)

==Character==
{{lang|de|Die Entführung aus dem Serail}} is in the genre of "Singspiel", thus the music lacks [[recitative]]s and consists entirely of set numbers. As [[Spike Hughes]] notes, the action is mostly carried forward by the spoken dialogue, so the libretto gave Mozart little opportunity to display an achievement for which his later operas are celebrated, namely the construction of scenes in which the plot is both reflected in and driven forward by the music.{{sfn|Hughes|1971|loc=20}}

{{lang|de|Die Entführung}} is lighthearted and frequently comic, with little of the deep character exploration or darker feelings found in Mozart's later operas.<ref>See, for example, {{harvnb|Manning|1982}}.</ref> The opera was inspired by [[Turquerie|a contemporary interest]] in the exotic culture of the [[Ottoman Empire]], a nation which had only recently ceased to be a military threat to Austria.<ref>{{harvnb|Braunbehrens|1990|loc=74}}, suggests that "preparations had just begun to celebrate" the centennial of lifting of the Turkish [[Battle of Vienna|Siege of Vienna]] in 1683. Later in the decade, Austria was again at war with Turkey (see [[Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)]]) but this was a war of aggression, not defense.</ref><ref>Two contemporary works also showing the contemporary interest in matters Turkish were Giovanni Paolo Marana's ''[[Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy]]'' and [[Montesquieu]]'s ''[[Persian Letters]]''.</ref> Mozart's opera includes a [[Turkish music (style)|Westernized version of Turkish music]], based very loosely on the Turkish [[Janissary Music|Janissary band music]].<ref>[https://interlude.hk/mozart-die-entfuhrung-aus-dem-serail-k-384-premiered-today-1782/ "Mozart: ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' K. 384 "] by Georg Predota, interlude.hk, 16 July 2018</ref>

Certain aspects of the opera conform to an eighteenth-century European view of [[orientalism]]. The Pasha's titular harem, for example, reprised themes of sexual libertinage. And the comically sinister overseer, Osmin, is a send-up of earlier stereotypes of Turkish despotism.<ref>{{harvnb|Osterhammel|1998}} notes: "{{lang|de|italic=unset|Neben das alte Bild des dämonisierten Feindes trat in der künstlerischen Repräsentation nun der übertölpelte Buffo-Türke, wie man ihn als Haremswächter Osmin auf Mozarts ''Entführung aus dem Serail'' (1782) kennt.}}" [Next to the older image of the demonised enemy stood the over-the-top Turkish Buffoon in cultural representation, such as the Harem overseer Osmin from Mozart's ''Abduction from the Seraglio''.] p.&nbsp;34</ref> However, the opera also defies the stereotype of despotic Turkish culture, since its climax entails a selfless act of forgiveness on the part of the Pasha.<ref>Others have suggested that the Pasha is portrayed positively for acting like a Christian. This argument is made in {{cite book|last=Head|first=Matthew|title=Orientalism, Masquerade and Mozart's Turkish Music|publisher=Royal Musical Association|year=2000|isbn=9780947854089}}{{page needed|date=April 2020}} and possibly implied by Mary Hunter who says that he is "represented as European by his act of mercy", in {{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Mary|chapter=The ''Alla Turca'' Style|editor-last=Bellman|editor-first=Jonathan|editor-link=Jonathan Bellman|title=The Exotic in Western Music|publisher=Northeastern University Press|year=1998|isbn=9781555533205|pages=64–65}}.</ref>

The music includes some of the composer's most spectacular and difficult arias. Osmin's act 3 aria "{{lang|de|italic=no|[[O, wie will ich triumphieren]]}}" includes characteristic 18th century [[coloratura]] passage work, and twice goes down to a low [[D (musical note)|D]] ([[Scientific pitch notation|D<sub>2</sub>]]), one of the lowest notes demanded of any voice in opera.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manitobaopera.mb.ca/learn/trivia.html|title=Learn About Opera|access-date=18 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222012920/http://www.manitobaopera.mb.ca/learn/trivia.html|archive-date=22 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Perhaps the most famous aria in the opera is the long and elaborate "{{lang|de|italic=no|Martern aller Arten}}" ("Tortures of all kinds") for Konstanze, an outstanding challenge for sopranos. Konstanze sings in a kind of [[sinfonia concertante]] with four solo players from the orchestra; the strikingly long orchestral introduction, without stage action, also poses problems for stage directors.<ref>For discussion, see {{harvnb|Rosen|1997|loc=165}}<!-- and {{harvnb|Eisen|2006|loc=164–165}}{{incomplete short citation|date=July 2020|reason=Which Eisen 2006 is meant here?}} -->.</ref>

The virtuosity of these roles is perhaps attributable to the fact that when he took up the task of composing the opera, Mozart already knew the outstanding reputations of the singers for whom he was writing, and he tailored the arias to their strengths.<ref name="abert" /> The first Osmin was [[Ludwig Fischer (bass)|Ludwig Fischer]], a bass noted for his wide range and skill in leaping over large intervals with ease. Similarly, Mozart wrote of the first Konstanze, [[Caterina Cavalieri]], "I have sacrificed Konstanze's aria a little to the flexible throat of Mlle. Cavalieri."<ref>{{cite book|last=Cairns|first=David|author-link=David Cairns (writer)|title=Mozart and His Operas|page=135|publisher=Penguin UK|year=2007|isbn=9780141904054}}</ref>