Against The Metropolitan Opera's frequently lavish, glossy, goliath, groomed-to-perfection productions, John Dexter's 1970s-era Die Entführung aus dem Serail reads like a pastoral chamber piece with honest aspirations. Quilled by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner and Johann Gottlieb Stephanie for its 1782 Vienna première, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's comedic opera set in the 18th-century Turkish Empire tells the tale of two European couples – young nobles and their respective servants – plotting escape from a Turkish harem, held as slaves by the ruling Pasha after being delivered by pirates.
Last revived on the Metropolitan Opera stage in 2008, Dexter's vision is as sunny and uncomplicated as its idyllic Mediterranean landscapes, unbound from nuance and fuss. Well-balanced, accessible and genial, the design aesthetic is resonant of an illustrated storybook in sunny, clean-cut, watercolor palettes, merit to set designer Jocelyn Herbert's light hand. Delivery was vertical, integrated and decorously polite.
Without a touch of demi-monde sleaze or rudeness, Pasha Selim's harem was a sparkling, sanitized seaside resort rendered in blue, marble mosaic tiles cast in diffused, cheerful, unshaded washes by lighting designer Gil Wechsler. Servants and groundskeepers were swathed in starched, sweat-proof textiles in sunset-sourced palettes. Shades of the rising and setting sun shone lavender, pink, orange and magenta in long, belted robes and jackets over harem-style pants. While the Eastern parties favored Turkish cuts, costume designer Jocelyn Herbert dressed the Westerners in deep blacks or rusted tonalities over neutrals – chestnut and oxblood accents over creamy linens with no-nonsense black leather shoes and accessories.
Dark brilliance marked Albina Shagimuratova's Konstanze, at first glance a bit sluggish for Mozart's lighter gleam, but the soprano mastered a lovely liquid line with charm and accuracy. Well-executed emission was polished to perfection in “Martern aller Arten.” In a black velvet gown connecting the role's Spanish lineage, she commanded an easy authority. With breezy ease, Kathleen Kim's pint-sized Blondchen was an alluring, plucky soubrette. She shaped the role with enormous, generous personality, performing in admirably unselfconscious shades. "Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln" highlighted a plush, shimmery timbre tamed with great control.