Abduction from the Seraglio, The, is a romantic opera in three acts by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (see Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus ). Its title in German is Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail. It is often known by an Italian title, Il Seraglio (The Seraglio). The word seraglio means harem, a part of a Middle Eastern ruler’s palace reserved for his wives and their maidservants. Mozart composed the opera during 1781 and 1782, using a libretto (text) by Gottlob Stephanie. Stephanie’s text was based on one that Carl Friedrich Bretzner had written for the opera Belmont and Constanze, by the German composer Johann Andre. The story had, however, already been used in several earlier English and Italian comic operas and plays. Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio was first staged in Vienna in July 1782.
The Abduction from the Seraglio is a singspiel—that is, a work in which the arias and other musical items are linked together by spoken dialogue instead of recitative (see Opera (Recitative and arias) ).
The action of the opera takes place in Turkey, at the palace of the Pasha Selim. The pasha has captured Constanze (soprano), her servant Blonde (soprano), and Pedrillo (tenor). Pedrillo is the servant of Belmonte, a young Spanish nobleman who is in love with Constanze. Belmonte arrives in search of Constanze. In the palace garden he meets Osmin (bass), the pasha’s stern and irascible steward. Belmonte later meets Pedrillo, who hatches a plan to introduce Belmonte to the pasha as an architect. Meanwhile, the pasha is unsuccessfully trying to woo Constanze, while Osmin is being similarly unsuccessful with Blonde. That night, Pedrillo succeeds in making Osmin drunk to get him out of the way. The four lovers make a bid to escape from the palace, but Osmin catches them and hauls them up before the pasha. Selim discovers that Belmonte is the son of the man who sent him into exile, but instead of taking his revenge, he generously sets all four lovers free.
