Mozart’s comedy about the culture clash between Enlightenment Europe and Ottoman Turkey dates from 1782, and embodies the late 18th-century fascination with things oriental. Its juxtaposition of a view of the east as attractive yet “other” with a critique of western moral values, however, can make it a difficult work for today’s audiences, and David McVicar’s new Glyndebourne production, beautifully designed by Vicki Mortimer, probes its ambiguities by playing it more or less straight in the context of its time.
We’re aware throughout of the almost symbiotic relationship between east and west. European traders on the make swarm round Selim’s palace, sycophantically hymning his praises. The cultured Pasha himself (Franck Saurel) first appears in western dress as his musicians, in a wonderfully clever touch, play the slow movement of Mozart’s own B flat wind serenade. The Pasha’s innate sensuality, however, to which Sally Matthews’s Konstanze is by no means immune, contrasts with the safe reserve of Edgaras Montvidas’s idealistic Belmonte. Below stairs, meanwhile, Brenden Gunnell’s Pedrillo and Mari Eriksmoen’s spirited Blonde are busy imposing western manners on Tobias Kehrer’s firebrand Osmin: when we see Blonde forcing him into a preposterously beribboned frock-coat, the reasons for his resentment become all too clear.
It’s exquisitely acted and sung, though it’s Kehrer, a star in the making, who gives the standout performance, sensationally voiced.
Montvidas and Matthews, in two of Mozart’s most taxing roles, took time to settle on opening night, but rose to the challenges of the second and third acts with considerable finesse and bravura. Robin Ticciati, stylishly conducting a critical edition, reopens standard cuts and gives us virtually every word of dialogue. Mesmerising, sensitive, at times troublingly erotic, the whole thing forces us to rethink a remarkable work. Outstanding.
At Glyndebourne, Lewes, Sussex, until 10 August. Box office: 01273 815000.
