Utah Opera's The Abduction from the Seraglio

Last night I went to see the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart at the Capitol Theatre.  I have really enjoyed Utah Opera's 2013-2014 season (I had to see Turandot twice because the production was so magnificent) but I was particularly eager to see this opera.  It is prominently featured in Amadeus and I credit this movie with turning me into a fan of classical music.  I bought the soundtrack and played it constantly.  To this day, Mozart remains one of my favorite composers and I try to see any performance which features his music.  While I was very familiar with the music and scenes featured in Amadeus, I didn't expect this opera to be so funny.  There is a lot of physical comedy, especially with the character Pedrillo, and I really enjoyed it.  Konstanze, her maid Blonde, and her servant Pedrillo, are captured by pirates and sold to Pasha Selim.  Belmonte, Konstanze's fiance, tries to rescue them with a little help from Pedrillo and chaos ensues.  The scenes where Pedrillo tries to distract Osmin, the Pasha's overseer, are hilarious.  Of course, the music is incredibly beautiful.  While this is a comic opera, to be sure, the aria performed by Konstanze (sung by Utah native, and frequent Utah Opera soprano, Celena Shafer) describing her despair at being separated from Belmonte is absolutely beautiful and most affecting.  I also really loved the scene where Konstanze and Belmonte, who have been condemned to death, sing about dying together.  It gave me goosebumps!  All of the performances are wonderful, but as I mentioned, I really enjoyed Tyson Miller's portrayal of Pedrillo.  When he serenades the women, their cue that they are about to be rescued, I couldn't stop laughing.  I liked the set featuring a Turkish palace and garden but I was not impressed by the costumes.  I thought the Pasha's guard looked absolutely ridiculous with strange tunics and over-sized  handle-bar mustaches.  Speaking of over-sized, I was definitely not a fan of the Pasha's absurd codpiece.  It was very distracting, to say the least, from his beautiful jewel-encrusted robe.  I think comedic elements can sometimes be taken too far.  I did really enjoy this opera, especially when the scenes featured in Amadeus were performed, and I would definitely recommend it;  however, when all is said and done, my favorite opera by Mozart is still Don Giovanni.  I guess I prefer tragedy to comedy!

Note:  I think I will watch Amadeus this weekend!