Mozart meets the 60s

Prepare to step through an exotic portal to the mysterious Middle East in Edmonton Opera’s latest production of The Abduction of the Seraglio, opening tonight for a three-performance run.

However, director Michael Cavanagh has a twist in mind. Mozart had originally given the opera a Turkish locale, an exotic place his contemporaries thought of as nostalgic.

Cavanagh has updated the period to the 1960s with a spin on James Bond. In this version, the suave and sophisticated secret agent Belmonte (Colin Ainsworth) accepts a mission to rescue Konstanze (Charlotte Corwin), a fellow secret agent kidnapped by the villainous Pasha Selim (David McNally). Pedrillo (Lawrence Wiliford) and Blonde (Carla Huhtanen), two devoted agents, are pretty much forced to tag along. Together they outfox the malicious vizier and save the world.

Cavanagh believes Mozart would have approved of this mounting. “Parts of him was a man-child and there was no doubt he was a towering intellect and brilliant composer. But he loved to play pranks and make fun of himself. He even made fun of the emperor while currying favour,” Cavanagh says.

The Abduction is primarily a spoof on European courtly figures and court etiquette. “He called the setting Turkey. But it could be anywhere from Morocco to Afghanistan. It had nothing to do with Turkey. In fact, there’s not even Turkish music in it.”

Cavanagh wanted to retain the Middle Eastern flavour, but didn’t want to politicize the play. “In Europe, there have been some productions with burkas. They turned it into something it’s not supposed to be.”

Germans have a name for this type of opera. “It’s a singspiel, a singing play. It’s light-hearted and silly. The French call it divertissement. People go to pieces about Mozart. They think since he wrote it, we should bow down to it. There are haunting passages and some tender and warm moments. But Mozart was a prankster and so let’s have fun with it.”

The special guest director chose the 1960s because just as Mozart’s compatriots felt nostalgia for faraway places, we North Americans have a nostalgic hankering for an era that spawned both Jackie O and Get Smart.

“It was an era when chivalry and heroism seemed like the thing to do. James Bond smoked and drank like a fish, but he was a hero.”

The luxurious Middle Eastern set takes audiences to the Pasha’s compound where captives are held in luxurious surroundings. Like all bold operas, it has a gruesome torture chamber and the Janissaries are now household staff running around with submachine guns.

Similar to Kill Bill, there are cartoonish homicides. “There was something at the heart of Kill Bill that was dark. In this one, we work hard to make sure we have a happy heart.”

The Abduction from the Seraglio is sung in German with English subtitles.