Drawing you into the drama: David McVicar’s production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail returns to Glyndebourne

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Franck Saurel, Liv Redpath – Glyndebourne (Photo: Bill Knight)

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Liv Redpath, Anthony León, Michael Mofidian, Julie Roset, Thomas Cilluffo, Franck Saurel, director: David McVicar, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conductor: Evan Rogister; Glyndebourne Opera
Reviewed 25 August 2026

This was one of those performance which drew you into the drama whether
it be orchestral music, singing or spoken word. The joy of this
production was that it welded all three into a whole in a way that does
not happen too frequently

The surprising thing about Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail is the way productions of the work seem to adhere more or less to original period setting. This applies to Stephen Medcalf’s 2019 production of English Touring Opera [see my review], John Copley’s 2018 account for the Grange Festival [see my review] or Elijah Moshinsky’s production with its Sidney Nolan designs at Covent Garden which was last seen in 2001, right back to David Pountney’s 1978 production for Scottish Opera which introduced me to the work.

The work’s politics are complex and whilst aspects of the story chime with the modern world, producers seem to find the period setting allows the best exposition of the issues, which is fascinating considering the fondness for putting other Mozart operas into modern dress.

So, it is no surprise to find that David McVicar‘s 2015 production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail for Glyndebourne to be gloriously picturesque. We caught the 25 August performance of this summer’s revival of the production (assistant director Greg Eldridge). Evan Rogister conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Anthony León as Belmonte, Michael Mofidian as Osmin, Thomas Cilluffo as Pedrillo, Franck Saurel as Pasha Selim, Liv Redpath as Konstanze and Julie Roset as Blonde.

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Michael Mofidian, Julie Roset – Glyndebourne (Photo: Bill Knight)

What distinguishes the production, perhaps, is the sheer picturesque beauty of Vicki Mortimer’s sets and costumes. Though, as a 2015 interview with her in the programme explains, these do have a purpose as the production presents Pasha Selim’s household, with its harem, as a genuine alternative. Konstanze’s dilemma is real. We see Selim’s wives and his children, including his own warm relationship to the children. Mortimer’s set, made up of myriad screens and walls, successfully allows the setting to move swiftly and provides lots of opportunities for eavesdropping and overlooking.

The work was presented with a pretty full account of the spoken dialogue. No dialogue editor was credited, but it was clear that adjustments had been made and that much work had been done with the singers. The result was a coherent and compelling musical drama. In this work, Mozart does not yet get to project the plot via the music, and much of the dramatic impetus remains in the dialogue. Though there are moments, such as the opening when the opening scene for Belmonte and Osmin moves easily from aria to duet. One fascinating aspect of the work is the way that Osmin, in that opening scene, and Konstanze in Act Two both get pairs of arias.

Despite being ostensibly a comedy, the production takes the work seriously as drama and reveals multiple layers of complexity in the drama. Though there were moments, such as the drinking scene in Act Two, when the production seemed to get a bit carried away with itself.

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Pasha Selim (Franck Saurel), Children and Actors (Sirena Tocco and Darryl Mundoma) – Glyndebourne (Photo: Bill Knight)

From the opening notes of the overture, it was clear that conductor Evan
Rogister pulled no punches. This was vital music, the detail crisp, the
accents punched out, and the Turkish elements relished but not over
done. Throughout the evening, we were able to enjoy not just the fine
solo elements from the orchestra, but the way different timbres and
textures were brought out. And this is a work which does push
boundaries, even to having basset horns.

In theory the opera presents us with two pairs of contrasting protagonists. The aristocratic Konstanze (Liv Redpath) and Belmonte (Anthony León) and the more humble servants, Blonde (Julie Roset) and Pedrillo (Thomas Cilluffo). Though being a Viennese opera there is little that is subservient in these servants. But the cleverness of the libretto is that these pairings don’t happen properly until the end of Act Two (which is a quartet more about the men’s mistrust of what the women have been doing). Instead, we are offered two alternative pairings, Konstanze and Pasha Selim (Franck Saurel), and Blonde and Osmin (Michael Mofidian). Neither ultimately works but in presenting these, Mozart and his librettist Johann Gottlieb Stephanie are able to examine conception of what freedom actually means even though Blonde and Osmin’s main scene at the beginning of Act Two is played almost entirely for comic effect.

The production emphasises this in various ways. Presenting Pasha Selim as having a rich and satisfying family life, making Konstanze’s doubts continue until her very departure, and by casting with voices which are almost balanced. The leads could just about swap roles without too much violence to the music, rather than Konstanze and Belmonte having the more dramatic voices.

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Pedrillo (Thomas Cilluffo) and Belmonte (Anthony León) – Glyndebourne (Photo: Bill Knight)

Liv Redpath made a stylish and sympathetic Konstanze, clearly taxed by her dilemma and attracted to Franck Saurel’s hunky Pasha despite herself. Redpath brought a lovely cleanness and accuracy to Konstanze’s three taxing arias. She could spin a superb line, yet articulated the coloratura finely making it a constant pleasure to listen to. As Belmonte, Anthony León was charmingly over-active and excitable which was a nice way of making the character’s mooning into something more engaging. León could also spin a lovely line and in each aria his winning way with the music was beautifully sympathetic. However, with both singers there came a moment when I really wanted something more. For Konstanze’s final aria, ‘Martern aller Arten’ I would have liked a bit more dramatic meat to the tone to make the coloratura into something less decorative, and similarly with Belmonte’s Act Three aria, ‘Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke’ I wanted a little more drama.

As Pasha Selim, Franck Saurel (who played the role in the original production in 2015) made a believable anti-hero, a convincing alternative to Belmonte. Saurel looked and sounded tempting, but when agitated Saurel had a tendency to over do things which made the character a bit shoutier than desirable. Yet, all the wooing between Selim and Konstanze was done in speech and gesture, and the two performers brought this out brilliantly.

Julie Roset was a pert and charming Blonde, demure when it came to her mistress Konstanze and the Pasha, but giving as good as she got with everyone else. Roset brought and engaging charm to the music and great style, making you wish Mozart had created more developed music for her. Her Pedrillo was Thomas Cilluffo, who brought great physicality to the role. He managed to combine dramatic heft with wry charm. There was strength in his musical performance, but he made sure this Pedrillo was wryly manipulating when it came to his master. As for Roset’s Blonde, their relationship was engagingly physical with Roset leaping up onto him.

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Blonde (Julie Roset), Pedrillo (Thomas Cilluffo), Belmonte (Anthony León), Pasha Selim (Franck Saurel), Osmin (Michael Mofidian) and actors (Jake Barton, Jamie Campbell and Samuel Morgan-Freeman) – Glyndebourne (Photo: Bill Knight)

Michael Mofidian made a fierce, highly dramatic Osmin. In the opening scene he was wonderfully bad-tempered with a real sense of attitude. Mofidian made the music vividly reflect this giving Osmin a real edge. Whether singing or speaking Mofidian allied voice and gesture, this Osmin was all sharp edges and vibrant intolerance for other attitudes. There was nothing funny per se, the comedy came from the situation rather than making fun of Osmin. In Act Two, Mofidian made Osmin’s fierce attitude contrast with Julie Roset’s vibrant liveliness (and both were physically active) so that their scene together was comic because of the contrast.

What this production emphasised was that in the alternative love pairings I mentioned above, the Pasha learned and showed his love by freeing his beloved (Konstanze). But his Osmin was unable to learn and could not imagine wooing ‘his’ Blonde. It is to Mofidian’s great credit that when he put down his sword and stalked off at the very end, the gesture had a comic aspect to it but we were also profoundly sorry for Osmin.

The chorus don’t really get a lot to do, but McVicar’s production kept the stage busy for much of the time with adult chorus and children having plenty to do. Chorus member Marcus Swietlicki played the small, spoken role of Klaas, the sea captain engaged by Belmonte, whilst Rian Wunderlin was physically impressive and expressive in the silent role of the harem eunuch.

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Pasha Selim (Franck Saurel) and children – Glyndebourne (Photo: Bill Knight)

This was one of those performance which drew you into the drama whether it be orchestral music, singing or spoken word. The joy of this production was that it welded all three into a whole in a way that does not happen too frequently. And there was a lightness of touch which was wrapped around the serious issues that the piece contemplated. On paper, the work can sometimes seem rather schematic but McVicar’s approach here was far more nuance.