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Opera Synopses
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Die Entführung aus dem SerailBy W.A. MozartLibretto by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner Act OneOutside of the palace of Pasha Selim, Belmonte, a young Spanish nobleman, waxes poetic as he searches for his beloved Konstanze and her servant Blondchen, who have been abducted by pirates and sold to the Pasha Selim, who resides here. The gruff and bloodthirsty Osmin, Pasha Selim’s guard, enters to pick figs and ignores Belmonte as he queries him about Konstanze, Blondchen and his own servant Perdrillo. This ruffles the feathers of Osmin, who displays his distaste for the Europeans. Osmin, in lust with Blonde, is not pleased that Pedrillo appears in love with her. When Osmin leaves, Pedrillo comes out of the palace to meet Belmonte. When the Pasha himself enters, Pedrillo introduces Belmonte as an architect. The Pasha hires Belmonte as a builder but refuses to give him access to the palace and his harem. Belmonte and Pedrillo outsmart Osmin and enter the palace. Act TwoBlondchen refuses Osmin’s many overtures of love. She chides and berates him and lets him know that she has no intention of giving in. Konstanze, on the other hand, believes that she has been abandoned by her true love Belmonte. She pines for him and rues the fact that the Pasha is now demanding the immediate fulfillment of his desires under threat of torture. When Konstanze leaves, Pedrillo enters to inform Blonde that he and Belmonte have made the necessary preparations to rescue her and Konstanze. Pedrillo tricks Osmin into drinking a sleeping potion to get him neatly out of the way and is fortunate that his plan works so quickly. With Osmin so dispatched the four lovers reunite. They plan their escape for that night. Act ThreeIt is almost midnight, and Belmonte and Pedrillo come to the palace prepared for the elopement. Just as Belmonte frees Konstanze, the ruckus awakens Osmin from his drunkenness, and everyone is recaptured. The Pasha is summoned and all are sentenced to a terrifying death. Belmonte and Konstanze rhapsodize about their love and fate. The fiendish Osmin rejoices in his success and vengeance. Belmonte now pleads for clemency and confesses to the Pasha that he is the son of the wealthy Spanish Lostados family. The Pasha recognizes that Belmonte’s father is one of his top enemies, and the one who exiled him from his own land. In a major turnabout of events, the Pasha grants clemency. He has decided to teach the Europeans a Mohammed lesson in forbearance. He pardons everyone and sends them off to Spain to enjoy their newly granted freedom. Osmin protests the clemency, but everyone else is overjoyed as the curtain falls.
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