Opera New Jersey – Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, July 24, 2009.

Berlind Theatre, Princeton University – Floor 2 Seat Q103 ($59).

Story. Pedrillo, Konstanze, and Blonde are captured by pirates and sold to Pasha Selim. Selim wants Konstanze’s love, and his servant Osmin wants that of Blonde. Belmonte finds them and hatches a plot to drug Osmin so they can escape. Instead they are caught and condemned to death. However, Selim decides to pardon the four.

Conductor – Mark Flint; Belmonte – Scott Ramsay, Osmin – Matthew Lau, Pedrillo – Aaron Pegram, Konstanze – Jennifer Rowley, Pasha Selim – Ray Menard, Blonde – Rachele Gilmore.

I didn’t know what to expect from tonight’s performance; everything was unfamiliar and felt a bit strange. I didn’t know if the company is professional, I knew nothing of the singers, and I had no idea how they planned to pull the show off in front of a small audience (the Theatre, part of the Princeton McCarter Performance Arts Complex, seats fewer than 400 people). There are four performances of this opera, with a total of about 60 artists (30 in the orchestra, 30 in the opera) and, if one goes by the program notes, a host of support staff. With 1200 people paying say an average of $50, the box office for the four performances would amount to about $60,000 if every seat is sold. Compare that with the Met at a capacity of 3000 at $80 a seat.

The Theatre feels larger than I expected, but still very intimate (we were in the last row). The sound was good. The orchestra sounded okay also.

The artists sang their hearts out. Konstanze had a strong voice that felt a bit unrefined, at times bordering on fingernails on a chalkboard (well, not that bad). Belmonte’s voice wasn’t exceptional, but he could hold his breath forever, it seems. Pedrillo and Blonde were the best played roles.

I must confess comedies don’t work for me, and I am not a fan of Mozart’s operas either. (The only Mozart comedic opera that works for me is The Magic Flute, but that’s more due to the theatrics and staging.) The double whammy wasn’t helped by the mediocre cast. Actually at intermission we overheard someone suggesting it’s un-PC nowadays to put out something that seems to malign a particular religion; although I must point out the Pasha ended up being magnanimous.

All said and done, I don’t regret spending the time watching the 3 hour opera. I don't find the English dialog that out of place as I did with Magic Flute.