Mozart in Turkey: parts biography, history, documentary, and performance

April 15, 2013 8:47 PM

Mozart in Turkey is film made of three distinct, but related, elements. First, it is a look into Mozart at the time of his courting Constanze, a bit on his new patron, the "enlightened monarch" Joseph II, and other influences, including the Turkish music and culture, along with thoughts on Mozart's opera as a work created in the Age of Enlightenment, all through the running commentary by opera director Elijah Moshinsky, who also interviews Alev Lytle Croutier, the author of Harem: The World Behind the Veil. Then there is the production of an opera in Turkey, specifically set in and around the Topkapi Palace (virtual tour; Wikipedia). And the last piece is the performance of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, or The Abduction from the Seraglio. You can watch the entire film online on Vimeo, thanks to Directors Cut Films.
posted by filthy light thief (3 comments total)

Looks great.
posted by empath at 9:10 PM on April 15, 2013

The San Francisco Opera has additional information on The Abduction from the Seraglio, but it's mostly PDFs. You can also preview them in Google quickview.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:53 AM on April 16, 2013

Don't know if it's been brought up recently on Metafilter, but this seems like as good a place as any to link to a bit of the interesting Kenneth Branagh version of The Magic Flute.

This was a really excellent post, thanks for making it!
posted by daisystomper at 10:41 AM on April 16, 2013