“Too beautiful for our ears and an enormous number of notes, my dear Mozart. » To which he replied: "Exactly as much, Your Majesty, as is necessary" (Turner 258) The event I attended for MUS111 was the Opera Buffa, Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart, presented for the premiere time in Vienna on July 16, 1782. The opera was presented by Opera Atelier with the musical accompaniment of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra at the Elgin Theater in Toronto. The Abduction from the Seraglio is a Singspiel opera in three acts. It is an irreverent comic opera based on the tradition of commedia dell'arte. The Abduction from the Serail, or in the original German Die Entführung aus dem Serail, was written in German for the new National Burgtheater in Vienna, established by Emperor Joseph II to host German-language operas (Osborne 181). Opera Atelier's production was sung in German with English supertitles and recitatives. Opera Atelier specializes in 17th and 18th century opera, ballet and theater. Opera Atelier's productions are inspired by the aesthetics and ideals of the period represented and feature period ballets, costumes and original instruments (program OA 39). Mozart collaborated with Gottlieb Stephanie on the libretto for Abduction from the Seraglio, adapted from an earlier work. (Tooth 71). The opera's libretto is based on a script from commedia dell'arte, an Italian tradition that includes plays in which a beautiful young person is held captive by a controlling authority figure. Their rescue becomes the driving force of the play and is usually carried out by a lover closer to the status of the captive (Program OA 16). The Elgin Theater's production does not deviate from this model. The Abduction from the Serail, Mozart's Singspiel or "playing with...... middle of paper ......d movement of the story and that Mozart concentrates too much on Osmin at the beginning and gets bogged down too much with Constance in the middle of the second act (258 Turner). Because Mozart, it was the opera composition that brought him the most money and The Abduction from the Seraglio became Mozart's most popular opera during his lifetime (Zaslaw 55). Personally, I really enjoyed the show. Opera Atelier does not meticulously imitate the past; their creations can be autonomous. However, Opera Atelier strives to create productions that would have been recognizable in their time. I remember creative director Marshall Pynkoski and choreographer Jeannette Zingg from their beginnings in the mid-1980s, when they both presented period dances on Sunday afternoons at the Royal Ontario Museum. It's exciting for me to see how successful they have been.10100 66554899