In Mozart’s tragically short lifetime, Die Entführing aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) was his most popular opera.*  It premiered in Vienna on July 16, 1782, and a week later Mozart wrote his father, “I must say that people are absolutely infatuated with this opera.”  By the time of the composer’s death in 1791, there had been forty productions, including a Polish version. announcement of the opera's premier The opera tells the story of the attempted rescue by Belmonte, a Spanish aristocrat, of his fiancée Constanze, her English maid Blonde, and Blonde’s boyfriend Pedrillo.  The three have been captured by Muslim pirates and sold as slaves to the Pasha Selim.  The Pasha has fallen in love with Constanze, and his coarse and brutal major domo, Osmin, is infatuated with Blonde.  The women remain loyal to their lovers, and resist the importunities of the two Muslims, Blonde scolding the...(Read Full Article)