As René Jacobs’ survey of the Mozart operas has emerged over the last 16 years, we have become used to the different ways in which he has attempted to rethink these canonical works in recording terms, using ideas that are sometimes scrupulously musicological, sometimes much more fanciful.
Now he has turned Die Entführung aus dem Serail, a Singspiel with spoken dialogue, as Mozart conceived it, into a Hörspiel, a term generally used for works intended for radio. The extensive dialogue has been paraphrased into modern German and “musicalised” (Jacobs’ term), with the fortepiano continuo adding accompaniments, improvised or based on other Mozart works, to many of the spoken exchanges, as well as providing preludes to some of the sung numbers, too.
Purists will be scandalised, others may find it sometimes irritating and intrusive, while accepting the whole musico-dramatic package that Jacobs, his singers and players are trying to convey. Much of the performance has the energy and vivaciousness that is typical of Jacobs’ best work as a conductor, though there’s a bit of unevenness in the young cast. There are outstanding performances from Maxmilian Schmitt as a heroic-sounding Belmonte, Dimitry Ivashchenko as an imposing Osmin, nicely balanced between threat and humour, and Julian Prégardien as an exuberant Pedrillo. But Robin Johannsen doesn’t bring off Konstanze’s aria Martern aller Arten with quite the panache that she promises, though Mari Eriksmoen’s Blonde tackles her high notes and coloratura fearlessly.
The whole set does sound like real music theatre, and certainly has far more going for it than the Deutsche Grammophon version of Entführung conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin that came out three months ago.
