Konstanze Acting Out in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Konstanze Acting Out in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail

A thesis

submitted by

Rebekah Lobosco

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

In

Music

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

May 2012

Adviser: Jane A. Bernstein

ii

ABSTRACT

This thesis focuses on Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail,

tracing the development of her persona in Act II. It considers the different factors

that contributed to the formation of the character, including an exploration of

Christoph Friedrich Bretzner’s original libretto, the alterations made by Mozart

and his librettist Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, and the vocal abilities of

Caterina Cavalieri, who created the role. The most dramatic change in Act II was

the insertion of the show-stopping aria di bravura, “Martern aller Arten,” right

after Konstanze’s lament aria. Unusual for Mozart’s operas, these back-to-back

arias can be viewed as a type of gran scena, which bestows on Konstanze an

emotional complexity that does not exist with any other Singspiel heroine. The

thesis then concludes with a close reading of the 2004 Oper Frankfurt production,

directed by Christof Loy and featuring Diana Damrau as Konstanze.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to thank Jane Bernstein for all her incredible help and

support throughout the entirety of this process, as well as throughout my time at

Tufts University. Aside from her general influence on my growth as an academic,

my abilities as a writer have been further honed through her patient assistance and

advice. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Alessandra Campana for her

guidance in navigating the last chapter of this thesis. Working with her has been a

great learning experience, and I feel that the foundation of knowledge I have

amassed from her will be helpful long into the future. Jessica Waldoff has also

provided important and insightful feedback. Her thoughts and suggestions were

both highly valuable and something I can carry forward into the future of this

research. I would also like to thank Stephan Pennington for always taking the time

if I needed or wanted to talk out an idea. His ability to make every conversation a

learning experience inspires me so that hopefully one day I will do the same.

My friends have also been endlessly supportive. My peers here at Tufts

have helped me gain a perspective on my work that has been crucial. They have

helped me understand that thinking critically, especially about your own writing

and ideas, is a hard but invaluable lesson to learn. Lastly, I would like to thank my

family for all their encouragement—something I do not take lightly or for

granted. I am particularly grateful to my partner, who has graciously put up with

my educational growing pains and all the early mornings.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1

Chapter 1. Creating Konstanze

4

Chapter 2. Pushed to the Limit: Konstanze’s Gran Scena

26

Chapter 3. Konstanze in Action

61

Conclusion

90

Appendix

93

Bibliography

98

v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Portrait of Constanze Mozart 14 Figure 1.2: Silhouette of Catarina Cavalieri 20 Figure 2.1: Text of Recitative, “Welcher Wechsel” 29 Figure 2.2: Form of Aria, “Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose” 30 Figure 2.3: Text of A section, “Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose” 31 Figure 2.4: Text of B section, “Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose” 33 Figure 2.5: Text of A section, “Martern aller Arten” 51 Figure 2.6: Text of B section, “Martern aller Arten” 52 Figure 2.7: Text of C section, “Martern aller Arten” 54 Figure 3.1a: Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 22:40

65

Figure 3.1b: Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 22:59.

65

Figure 3.2: Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 23:36.

66

Figure 3.3: Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 29:29.

69


69


70


70


73


74

Figure 3.9a: Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 36:47.

76

Figure 3.9b: Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 37:02.

76


77

Figure 3.11a: Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 38:38.

79

Figure 3.11b: Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 39:54.

79


82

Figure 3.13a: Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 40:13.

83

Figure 3.13b: Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 41:16.

83

vi

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Example 1 Act II, sc. ii, “Welcher Wechsel,” mm. 1-3 28

Example 2: Act II, sc. iii, “Martern aller Arten,” mm. 1-6 46

Example 3: Act II, sc. iii, “Martern aller Arten” mm. 22-28 47




1

Introduction

“[One] rule supported by the figure of the sentimental heroine is that the maltreatment of women is unexceptional, if also unfortunate; that women in some sense need to be kept in their place by threats and abuse…The sentimental heroine’s characteristic response to this treatment is not to confront or accuse her persecutors, but rather to escape…[which] allows her to be found and restored to happiness with no hint of her own will or activity.”

– Mary Hunter, The Culture of Opera Buffa in Mozart’s Vienna, 86.

Sentimental heroines are a trope commonly found in almost all of

Mozart’s theatrical works. One of the most fascinating is the character of

Konstanze from Die Entführung aus dem Serail. What makes this heroine stand

out from her sisters? How does she differ from the sentimental prototype found

not just in Mozart’s operas, but also in a wide variety of librettos of the time?

Konstanze is special because she defies convention. Created from a sentimental

character, she develops over the course of Mozart’s Singspiel into a formidable

force; one that directly confounds the “rule” that women be kept in their place. In

this study, I will address these issues by tracing the changes in Konstanze’s

character as they take place in the second act of the opera.

In recent years, scholars have considered Konstanze from a variety of

perspectives. Thomas Bauman in his excellent study of Die Entführung aus dem

Serail presents a wealth of information about the genesis of the opera as well as

astute observations about its heroine. Patricia Lewy-Gidwitz offers valuable

scholarship on the vocal qualities of Caterina Cavalieri, the soprano who

2

premiered the role in her dissertation and articles. Focusing on issues of class and

gender, Mary Hunter takes an in-depth look at the sentimental heroine in her

book, The Culture of Opera Buffa in Mozart’s Vienna. She also provides valuable

categorizations of the types of arias that appear within the buffa genre. Gretchen

Wheelock’s creative interpretation of “Martern aller Arten” in her article

“Konstanze Performs Constancy” delves into the issue of fidelity as it presents

itself in the aria. Finally, Nicholas Till in Mozart and the Enlightenment offers a

fascinating interpretation of the opera and its characters as seen through the lens

of the Enlightenment.

The aim of this thesis is to add to and enhance the existing discourse about

this character and opera, by looking specifically at Konstanze’s Act II arias. The

first chapter sets the stage by exploring the many different facets that contributed

to the creation of the character. It begins with a discussion of the original

Singspiel used for the Viennese opera. It then considers the subsequent alterations

made by Mozart and his librettist Stephanie. The chapter continues with an

examination of Mozart’s opinions about the behavior of women and how they

reflected eighteenth-century views in general. It then concludes with a vocal

profile of Caterina Cavalieri.

The second chapter features an analysis of Konstanze’s two arias in Act II

(scenes ii-iv). Here I posit that these arias can be viewed as a single gran scena

(loosely used in the sense of the later Italian style), which gives the character a

three-dimensionality that does not exist with any other Mozartean Singspiel

female role. Scholars have naturally focused their attention on the showstopper

3

“Martern aller Arten.” However, the power, rage, and autonomy that Konstanze

expresses in this aria di bravura is set up by her previous lament aria,

“Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose,” which until now has been generally ignored.

This “double aria” for one character was something highly unusual in Mozart’s

operas. He had done it only once before in La finta giardiniera (though not to this

extent), and did not compose anything like it after. In this chapter, I will examine

the trajectory of both these arias when considering the emotional development of

Konstanze.

The final chapter is devoted to a performance of Act II, scenes ii-iv. It

features the Oper Frankfurt’s 2004 production of the Singspiel with Diana

Damrau in the role of Konstanze. This production specifically offers an example

of a modern performance that closely follows the original libretto and score, with

only limited manipulation of the dialogue. Many of the insights presented in this

thesis become animated examples through the vision of the stage director,

Christof Loy and camera director, Barrie Gavin. I begin by discussing how the

camerawork gives each section of the scena its own distinct feel, accentuating the

dramatic action and musical themes through Gavin’s decisions—particularly

focusing on the opening ritornello of “Martern aller Arten.” I then move to a

discussion of Blonde’s purpose and use on stage in this production. The stage

director kept the character on stage throughout rather than having her exit at the

end of scene ii, as the libretto states. The servant character’s added presence

brings to the fore many of the social issues discussed in the previous chapters.

4

Chapter 1

Creating Konstanze

Konstanze stands out among Mozart’s heroines as a noble figure, who

dramatically changes over the course of Die Entführung aus dem Serail. She

transforms from a passive heroine in Act II into a figure of authority, where

expression of her unshakeable virtue and defiant anger culminates in one of the

longest and most virtuosic arias Mozart ever wrote. Yet the role of Konstanze did

not start out as a complex one, but initially epitomized the conventional Singspiel

heroine. Why was the part changed? What were the reasons for the alterations and

how were they accomplished? What significance did external events have on the

conception of the part? What roles did the librettist, composer, and singer play in

shaping the character? This chapter attempts to answer these questions by looking

at the history, evolution, and [re]creation of Konstanze.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail offers a good example of the cause and

effect of what a perfect storm of social context, composer, librettist, and singers

can create. In August 1781, Mozart, newly arrived in Vienna and eager to make a

name for himself, accepted the invitation of Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger,

director of the National Theatre, to write a new Singspiel. He had only a month’s

time to set the opera, which was intended as entertainment at the Viennese court

5

during a state visit in September. The chosen libretto, Bretzner’s Belmont und

Constanze, with its theme of constancy and setting in a Turkish locale, seemed

ideal for the occasion.

Vienna, even during the 1780s, was still mentally wounded from the

Turkish invasion that had occurred about one hundred years prior to the premier

of Mozart’s opera. While many Turkish flares in artistic endeavors were

beginning to be imported into Western Europe, Vienna mostly held a morbid

fascination with the Eastern country. Mozart and Stephanie’s adaptation of C. F.

Bretzner’s libretto was partly created in response to what the Viennese public was

interested in. Though the theatrical trope of a Westerner’s abduction to Eastern

lands had already been established firmly by the time Mozart was approached by

Stephanie, it was still a fashionable subject.1 As noted in Zenck’s chapter on

German opera, “[these] exotic subjects served two main aims—exciting the

curiosity of the audience and luring them into the theater, and also providing

contrast with the familiar, the exotic figures serving individually and collectively

as accessories to the principal European characters who had ended up far from

home.”2

The Singspiel was not originally intended for a general Viennese

audience, but rather planned as a court performance for the Russian Grand Duke,

1 For a thorough explanation of this theatrical trope see: Jama Stilwell, “A New View of the Eighteenth-Century ‘Abduction’ Opera: Edification and Escape at the Parisian ‘Théâtres de la Foire,’” Music and Letters 91/1 (2010): 51-82. 2 Claudia Maurer Zenck, “German opera from Reinhard Keiser to Peter Winter,” in The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music, ed. Simon P. Keefe, trans. Anke Caton and Simon P. Keefe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 374.

6

Paul Petrovich, and his wife, Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemburg.3 The

purpose of their visit was to confirm the 1781 treaty between Joseph II and

Catherine II of Russia, in which Joseph became bound to aid Russia against a

possible war with Turkey. Because of the limited time Mozart was given to

compose his version of the Singspiel, the libretto was, in general, accepted as is.

In a letter Mozart wrote to his father on August 1, 1781, he includes the news of

Stephanie offering him the work and calling the libretto “quite good.”4 The one

large change at the time was the ending. In the original libretto, Bretzner had

wrapped up the narrative with the discovery that Belmonte was the long-lost son

of the Pasha, while Stephanie and Mozart altered it to showcase the Pasha as a

forgiving and magnanimous ruler—something done traditionally for the Viennese

courtly Singspiel. The court theater of Vienna placed a major emphasis on the

“pure” generosity of the sovereign. This generosity was made to prevail over

deeply personal thoughts of revenge, while also portraying the ruler as the “sole

guider of destiny.”5 The new ending also provided an enlightened moral,

vocalized by the Pasha at the very end of the opera. That the Pasha finally chooses

“enlightened benevolence over impassioned revenge” would have been expected

of a courtly Singspiel, especially in the court of Joseph II.6

3 Thomas Bauman, W. A. Mozart, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 12. 4 Emily Anderson, ed., The Letters of Mozart and His Family (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1989), 755. 5 Zenck, 375. 6 Jessica Waldoff, Recognition in Mozart’s Operas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 62-64.

7

Unfortunately the visit of the Russian emissaries was delayed a number of

times. When the time eventually came, the performance for the visit was given

over to revivals of Gluck’s Iphinenie en Tauride and Alceste. This change in the

scheduling not only meant that Mozart and Stephanie’s opera got bumped from

the line-up, but also that Die Entführung could not be performed until the

completion of the run of Gluck’s two operas. There was an overlap of both Josef

Valentin Adamberger and Johann Ignaz Ludwig Fisher (the original Belmonte

and Osmin, respectively) in the casting. Mozart, expressing his frustration, wrote

to his father on October 6, 1781: “[Nothing] would be gained if the whole opera

were finished, for it would have to lie there until Gluck’s two operas were

ready—and there is still an enormous amount in them that the singers have to

study.”7 Though Mozart was annoyed at the prospect of waiting even longer to

move forward with his opera, the more time he had to work on the score, the more

the libretto was rearranged and changed, which ultimately produced the final

work we know today.8

The character of Konstanze’s evolution began with her creation as a

purely sentimental heroine in Christoph Friedrich Bretzner’s Belmont und

Constanze. Bretzner, a Leipzig businessman, first appeared as a librettist towards

the end of the 1770s, proving his talents for the trade from the beginning. He

quickly became one of the most popular librettists in Germany as his librettos

showcased his strengths. This included his ability to introduce into his plots

“comical intricacies,” which further created other, new elements within the

7 Anderson, Letters of Mozart, 771-2. 8 Bauman, Die Entführung, 12-26.

8

greater storyline.9 His best-known work, Belmont und Constanze, oder Die

Entführung aus dem Serail was originally written for the Berlin composer Johann

André, and premiered in Leipzig in 1780.10 The success of the Bretzner/André

production likely caught Stephanie’s eye, making his choice to use this Bretzner

libretto a smart business move. Belmont und Constanze turned out to be a perfect

vehicle for Stephanie, not only for its exotic Middle Eastern setting, but also for

its virtuous heroine.

The Bretzner libretto was not thought to need many changes, if any, when

Stephanie first acquired it and shared it with Mozart. This quickly changed,

however, during the ten-month process they eventually had in creating their new

opera. Both men made a number of significant alterations to the original libretto.

In comparing the two libretti on even a basic level, we see that the Mozart/

Stephanie version features twenty-one musical numbers, whereas the Bretzner

libretto only has fifteen.11 These changes stem from the addition of musical

showcases for the three leading singers Josef Valentin Adamberger, Johann Ignaz

Ludwig Fischer, and Caterina Cavalieri, who were chosen for their roles at the

beginning of the collaboration between Stephanie and Mozart. Focusing

specifically on the evolution of the character of Konstanze, we see that the Act I

aria “Ach, ich liebte” was kept from the Bretzner libretto, which introduces the

noble female character to the audience as a typically sentimental heroine. It is not

until Act II, scenes ii and iii that the largest musical changes occur for Konstanze.

9 Zenck, 370. 10 Thomas Bauman, “Bretzner, Christoph Friedrich,” The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 11 Bauman, Die Entführung, 14, Table 2 outlines the changes in musical numbers.

9

Konstanze appears on stage at the beginning of Act II, scene ii of the

Bretzner libretto.12 After a brief spoken dialogue with her servant Blonde, she

sings a lament aria, “Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose.” The original libretto then

features a sentimental duet between Konstanze and her servant, Blonde

(“Hoffnung, Trösterin im Leiden!”), in which Blonde sings about hope and

Konstanze about death. At the end of the number, there is a short dialogue

between the female characters, who both exit before they are seen by the Pasha.

In their version, Stephanie and Mozart retained Bretzner’s aria for

Konstanze, but strengthened it by starting it off with an added accompanied

recitative (“Welcher Wechsel herrscht in meiner Seele”). They then cut Bretzner’s

duet, creating the space for a spoken scene between maid and mistress. Blonde

sees the Pasha coming towards them and quickly exits, citing that she is

attempting to avoid confrontation. Konstanze is then left alone on stage to deal

with the Pasha. The purpose of the duet is eliminated with this change by being

functionally replaced by the new dialogue. With the duet replaced, Mozart gave

both himself and Cavalieri another moment to shine. “Traurigkeit” was to remain

as a second large aria for the character, but the duet only crowded the prima

donna’s stage. The exclusion of the duet meant the inclusion of an aria di

bravura, “Martern aller Arten,” which meant two large arias in a row. The rarity

12 The following discussion detailing the differences between the two librettos is based on the synopsis provided in Bauman, Die Entführung, 45-47.

10

of back to back arias for the heroine meant a guaranteed memorable moment for

the Viennese audience.13

It is a dialogue between Konstanze and the Pasha that begins scene iii of

Stephanie’s version, which leads up to the crowning aria di bravura of “Martern

aller Arten.” After the aria, Konstanze exits, leaving the Pasha in scene iv to

contemplate what he just witnessed alone.14 Neither of these two scenes occurs in

the Bretzner libretto. To include this new aria, though, more needed to be added

and changed. “Martern” needed to have a prompt that was worthy of the

audience’s suspended belief for opera viewing. If an aria such as this came from

seemingly nowhere, it would have made Konstanze immediately less sympathetic.

The added dialogue and confrontation with the Pasha creates a moment unseen in

the Bretzner libretto. The audience watches the heroine get pushed to the edge of

proper, Western decorum, and finally presented with the ultimate choice for

“enlightened” females of the time: death or disgrace. “Martern aller Artern” was

meant to be viewed by the Viennese audience as a righteous response to such a

threat, as the discussion below will further expound. The aria also served a

secondary purpose of giving both Mozart and Cavalieri their culminating moment

to shine as virtuosic artists. Both wanted badly to impress the Viennese audience,

and both likely viewed the inclusion of “Martern” as best the way to do so.

13 The occurrence of back to back arias for a single character is not unique with Die Entführung. As Jessica Waldoff has noted, Mozart composed a double aria in his earlier La finta giardiniera. It is possible that Mozart had this double aria from in mind when composing “Marern aller Artern.” For more on this, see Waldoff’s “Reading Mozart’s Operas ‘for the sentiment,’” in Mozart Studies, ed. Simon P. Keefe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 101-2. 14 Bauman, Die Entführung, 14-5; 45-7.

11

The character of Konstanze underwent a dramatic transformation in Act II

with Mozart and Stephanie’s reworking of the libretto. A contributing factor to

the final product could very well have been influenced by Mozart’s own opinions

on love, marriage, and fidelity. Mozart was a conservative individual when it

came to honor, family, and sexual desire (quite unlike the characterization seen in

the movie Amadeus). There are even a number of letters Mozart wrote in which

he expressly declares his thoughts on all these issues. The letters were usually

addressed to his father or to his wife, Constanze. He establishes his sense of honor

early on at the age of twenty-one. In a letter to Leopold from Mannheim, dated

November 29, 1777, Wolfgang writes: “I am not careless, I am simply prepared

for anything and am able, in consequence, to wait patiently for whatever may

come and endure it, provided that my honor and the good name of Mozart are not

affected.”15 It is clear that Leopold’s son subscribed to the philosophies of the

political and social movement of the Enlightenment dealing with respect and

moral behavior. This is an important factor when discussing Mozart’s

involvement with the theater, as his characters reflect this many times, including

Konstanze in Die Entführung.

Several scholars have focused on the idea that the heroine’s main purpose

is to convey constancy.16 The concept of the faithful woman was central to the

15 Robert L. Marshall, ed., Mozart Speaks: Views on Music, Musicians, and the World (New York: Schirmer Books, 1991), 163. 16 Among them Nicholas Till, “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” in Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart’s Operas (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1992), 112 ff. and Gretchen A. Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” in Siren Songs: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Opera, ed. Mary Ann Smart (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), 52.

12

morality of eighteenth-century European society. In his correspondence, Mozart

clearly outlines the correct (moral) lifestyle choices of the German bourgeoisie,

especially when a comparison can be made. “I simply cannot live as most young

men do these days. In the first place, I have too much religion; in the second place

I have too high a feeling of honor to seduce an innocent girl; and in the third

place, I have too much horror and disgust, too much dread and fear of diseases

and too much care for my health to fool around with whores.”17 This sentiment

was written as part of a letter to his father from December 15, 1781. Mozart is

preparing his father in this same letter for the news of his engagement to

Constanze Weber. The quote, as well as the rest of the letter, rationalizes the

necessity of marriage as a natural and proper part of life. Mozart regarded the

sacrament of matrimony as a natural place to fulfill sexual desires, a view that

was indicative of the influence Enlightenment ideals. For marriage, through this

movement, had become an allowable outlet for pleasure while at the same time

regulating, normalizing, and restraining it.18

Once the two were engaged, things did not seem to get easier for Mozart.

While he mostly made a mockery of other people’s indiscretions in letters, when

it came to his own future wife, Mozart was severe. On 29 April 1782, only a few

months before the marriage took place, Mozart wrote a letter to Constanze, very

upset by a circumstance that offended his sensibilities about what it meant to be

an honest, virtuous, German woman. Constanze had, in her fiancée’s presence,

told a story of how she let another man “measure the calves of [her] legs” during a

17 Anderson, Letters of Mozart, 783. 18 Till, Mozart and the Enlightenment, 76-8.

13

party game.19 Mozart is harsh when he then writes: “No woman who cares for her

honor can do such a thing.”20 He continues by outlining what would have been the

proper behavior, even including mention of a social hierarchy and what

expectations society holds for women of different ages and social status. Mozart

demonstrates in this letter a particular understanding of social pressure and

principles that governed his daily life (which he seemed to have thoroughly

agreed with). It is conceivable that while creating the heroine of his opera, the

anxieties caused by his own Constanze drove Mozart to expand the role in a

particular way. The character from Bretzner’s libretto embodied the trope of the

sentimental heroine. His Konstanze technically needed no change to still correctly

represent the proper behavior of a woman in her situation. Mozart and Stephanie,

however, took the role of Konstanze to the next level—once she is actually

threatened, she ferociously lashes out to maintain her fidelity. Mozart’s character

would take a tortured death over defiled honor. This is perhaps Mozart’s way of

setting an example for the Viennese audience, including his wife.

Throughout his letters, it is also apparent that Mozart had a flair for the

dramatic. In the same December 15, 1781 letter in which Mozart is preparing his

father for the news of his engagement, he waxes on about the attributes of

Constanze Weber. He creates a picture of a woman who is not beautiful, clever,

nor fashionable (see Figure 1.1). “Her whole beauty consists in two little black

eyes and a pretty figure. She has no wit, but she has enough common sense to

enable her to fulfill her duties as a wife and mother… True, she would like to be

19 Marshall, Mozart Speaks, 168. 20 Ibid.

14

neatly and cleanly dressed, but not smartly.”21 Yet these more materialistic things

are not the ones that matter to Mozart. In the very next sentence, he writes:

“[Constanze] has the kindest heart in the world. I love her and she loves me with

all her heart. Tell me whether I could wish myself a better wife?”22 This show of

priorities still rang true even eight years into their marriage. Another letter to

Constanze written in August, 1789, while she was in Baden, reveals that the issue

of jealousy has reared its ugly head again. Mozart chides her once more,

reminding her to “[rest] assured that it is only by her prudent behavior that a wife

can enchain her husband.”23

Figure 1.1. Constanze Mozart, as seen in Mozart Speaks, 171.

21 Ibid., 170. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid., 169.

15

I would not argue that Mozart had only his own Constanze in mind when

composing and expanding upon the character of Konstanze. It does, however,

seem too coincidental for the timing of Mozart’s own life experiences with the

composition of the work to assume no connection whatsoever. The truth of the

matter is that Mozart was not alone or unique in his beliefs; he very much

reflected the society around him. Aside from his letters, there are etiquette books,

other theater productions, and novels all pointing to the same thing. The

Enlightenment had allowed for the acknowledgement of a female sexual identity,

albeit controlled and essentially dependent on her male counterpart.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one such proponent of this line of thinking. In

a number of his works, he focuses directly on what it is to be a woman in her

“natural” state—a state which was only natural if she was completely subservient

to her husband’s wishes, desires, and needs. This included an impossible balance

of being the chaste and virtuous wife, while also achieving the status of high

desirability. She must embody both the role of madonna and prostitute.24 The

character of Konstanze must therefore also be both, if audiences are to find her

sympathetic and believable as the heroine. The situation, though, is doomed by its

obvious paradox. Konstanze’s Act I aria “Ach ich liebte” proclaims that she

belongs only to Belmonte, and this confession of virtue and chasteness, though,

only further ignites the Pasha’s desire for her. The character has then only created

a more complicated situation for herself. If she deviates in any way from this

24 Susan Moller Okin, “Rousseau’s Natural Woman,” The Journal of Politics, 41/2 (1979): 415.

16

show of chaste behavior, she would no longer be the heroine. The only possible

solutions are death or Belmonte coming to her rescue.

Another complication for how women were expected to fit properly into

society is outlined in contemporary etiquette books. Related to the issue of

chastity was the male fear of the consequences of an unfaithful female. This fear

manifested itself from the laws surrounding issues of inheritance (and dowry to a

lesser extent). The political and social ramifications were thought to be beyond

dire if an illegitimate child was awarded the inheritance not rightfully his. It was

thought the structure of society would be weakened and eventually ruined if this

were allowed. The rules about and for women were therefore a way to

“guarantee” that the husband alone could possibly father any of her children.25

This decidedly put pressure on women and their sexuality from both private and

public spheres.

The character of Konstanze is then placed within this climate of fear; her

betrothal is seen as essentially binding to Belmonte.26 Any moment of possible

weakness with the Pasha would therefore be just as heinous as if she were wed to

Belmonte. If there were any chance that a future child would have questionable

parentage, her status of “noble heroine” would be immediately negated. The issue

of legitimate versus illegitimate parentage is then connected with the other issue

raised by this fear: the extreme importance of a woman’s reputation. Konstanze

attempts through her music to be cautious about her reputation—something

25 “Philogamus” from The Present State of Matrimony: or the Real Causes of Conjugal Infidelity and Unhappy Marriages in Women in the Eighteenth Century: Constructions of Femininity, ed., Vivien Jones (London: Routledge 1990), 77-81. 26 Ibid.

17

valued almost equally as actual behavior. Mozart, as we have seen, reflects this

idea in letters to his own Constanze, both before and during their marriage. A

woman’s reputation is one of the few things allowed her as leverage in life.

“Since woman is viewed entirely in terms of the function she performs in a male-

ruled culture, her moral worth is assessed solely in terms of the requirements and

prejudices of that culture.”27

The virtuous woman was made even more palpable through the portrayal

of contemporary noble heroines on the stage. The plotline of Die Entführung as an

“abduction opera” is not unique; it is not only in the abduction genre that the

noble heroine is held up to such high moral standards. Throughout all of opera

buffa, the sentimental heroine’s actions, words, and music must meet the social

principles of what is acceptable for a woman of the time (the same impossible

paradox that Rousseau puts forth). “The terrifying significance placed upon

sexual constancy led to an obsessive need to put female virtue to the test. Indeed,

it became almost a moral imperative to do so.”28 Till’s astute observation is

reflected with the heroines in several of Mozart’s operas, none more so than Die

Entführung’s Konstanze.29

27 Okin, 414. 28 Till, 114. 29 The notion of sentimentality, however, is not without complication. The question of feminine passivity was beginning to be challenged during this time, reflecting how many societal structures were changing. Female characters, as women began to take on more powerful roles in society, were similarly given additional control and influence over their fictional situations. For more see G. J. Barker-Benfield, The Culture of Sensibility (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992) and Janet Todd, Sensibility (London: Methuen & Co., 1986).

18

Looking past the possible expectations both Mozart and society would

have for this character, there are still other factors that make the changes in Act II

particularly creative. For one thing, it violates one of the “rules” of Singspiel that

Stephanie laid out in the preface of a later publication. He states that in the ideal

Singspiel “only seldom should more than two arias appear together…and

consecutive arias should not be sung by the same person.”30 Stephanie likely

disagreed with Mozart’s desire to make these changes, but no matter what

Stephanie’s opinion of the changes was, the end result for the role of Konstanze is

strikingly different than other contemporary productions. The desire to include a

whole extra aria for Konstanze required three completely new scenes from

Stephanie, along with the presentation of a new and unexplored side of the

character’s personality.31 Bretzner’s Konstanze, as mentioned above, was only a

sentimental, noble heroine as a version of the trope at the time. The new music

and text that is provided for Mozart and Stephanie’s Konstanze, however, does

not fit as easily into that convention. The gigantically difficult and lengthy rage

aria that follows the dialogue with the Pasha fashions a momentary space for the

character outside of the trope, teetering on the possibility of being her own savior

with her righteously indignant behavior. This alteration, though, was not

something that would have happened without a reason, and I posit that the main

explanation for this change lies with Caterina Cavalieri, the singer for whom the

role was written.

30 See Bauman, Die Entführung, 24-6. 31 Ibid., 21.

19

Franziska Kavalier was born in Vienna in March of 1755 (see Figure 1.2).

She later Italianized her name to Catarina Cavalieri, though she stayed in Vienna

essentially for the entirety of her life.32 The Italianization of her name would have

been a natural and prudent choice for a singer born of German origins. This was

due to the fact that Italian-born singers and those trained in the style carried the

history of reputedly being the top tier of artists in their craft. This tradition of

valuing Italian singers over others had been largely popular about a century

before, but still singers with Italian names were seen as more marketable and

valuable (confirmed, to an extent, by Cavalier’s name change). 33 Though she

purportedly did not travel to Italy, Cavalieri did receive her training in the Italian

style as Salieri’s student.34 She became a star on the Viennese stage, finding an

equal amount of success in comic and serious roles in both Italian and German

repertoires.35 She met with great acclaim because of her brilliant soprano voice,

but seriously lacked much skill as an actress according to many contemporary

accounts. Her voice was one “in which Mozart reveled all his life,” and she

inspired many Viennese composers to write her incredible virtuosic pieces, even

from the start of her involvement with the National Singspiel.36 From the

beginning of Cavalieri’s career, she “expected big pieces” and was considered,

32 Ibid., 13. 33 Winton Dean and John Merrill Knapp, Handel’s Operas: 1704-1726, Revised Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 28-31. 34 Her connection with Salieri was not only as a student, but supposedly also his mistress. See Bauman, Die Entführung, 13. 35 Patricia Lewy-Gidwitz, “Cavalieri, Catarina,” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 36 Bauman, Die Entführung, 13.

20

especially by Salieri and Mozart, to be a formidable vocal force to be reckoned

with.37

Figure 1.2. Johann H. Löschenkohl, Silhouette of Catarina Cavalieri (1785)38

Her repertoire both before and after Die Entführung is indicative of the

style in which she was used to singing, which fits neatly into her arias from

Mozart’s Singspiel. Patricia Lewy-Gidwitz analyzes a number of Singspiel arias

written by several composers specifically for Cavalieri up until Die Entführung.

37 Patricia Lewy-Gidwitz, Vocal Profiles of Four Mozart Sopranos (PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1991), 53. 38 As reproduced in Patricia Lewy-Gidwitz, “‘Ich bin die erste Sängerin’: Vocal Profiles of Two Mozart Sopranos,” Early Music 19/4 (1991): 565.

21

She notes that they require a powerful voice with an intense ability to sing both

fast and high notes in a forthright, proclamatory style. Many of them are bravura

arias in grand proportion, some of which feature concertante instruments.39 In

some cases, they exploit the contrast between the two registers through the use of

a series of extreme leaps from the bottom to the top known as cantar di sbalzo.40

At the same time, the arias tend to lack long portamento lines, which require the

singer to spin out the musical phrase. In short, the music written for Cavalieri

suggests her voice to be a forceful and energetic one, but notably lacking in

abilities that lends it to the lyrical, cantabile-style of singing.41

Cavalieri’s range was exceptionally impressive, though there are a number

of instances indicating that she struggled with the very top note of her tessitura.

Several arias written for her range up to c''', d''', and even to e'''. These extreme

high-notes were not always kept—for example, the only German opera Salieri

wrote, Der Rauchfangkehrer included an aria for Cavalieri that originally

contained an e'''. The autograph of the opera includes a note to transpose the piece

down a major second, which could indicate that either Salieri misjudged

Cavalieri’s abilities or she was losing the top notes in her range.42 A second well-

known example of this kind is with Mozart’s “Mi tradi” from Don Giovanni,

39 Lewy-Gidwitz, Vocal Profiles of Four Mozart Sopranos, 52-3 mentions, in particular, the solo violin in “So gut, wie er mir schiene” from Franz Aspelmayr’s Die Kinder der Natur and the concertante woodwinds in “Singt, ihr süssen Philomelen” from Maximilian Ulbrich’s Früling und Liebe. 40 Lewy-Gidwitz, “Ich bin die erste Sängerin,” 568. 41 Ibid. 42 Lewy-Gidwitz, Vocal Profiles of Four Sopranos, 58.

22

which was originally written in E-flat but later transposed down to D.43 The

character of Konstanze in Mozart’s opera shows off this higher range of

Cavalieri’s, though perhaps tellingly does not venture into notes above c'''. This

fact does not detract from the opportunities of performance, though, as each of the

solo pieces for the character is exceptionally difficult. Especially with the two

arias essentially back-to-back, a singer of lesser stamina and ability would not

have been able to perform this once, let alone in continuous performances.

As previously noted, Cavalieri’s involvement in Mozart and Stephanie’s

new production was decided early on, and one of the first pieces Mozart

composed for Die Entführung was Konstanze’s Act I aria “Ach, ich liebte.”

Mozart was excited enough for this compositional opportunity that on the same

day he wrote to his father that Stephanie gave him the libretto on August 1, 1781,

he also reported that: “I am so delighted at having to compose this opera that I

have already finished Cavalieri’s first aria, Adamberger’s aria and the trio which

closes Act I.”44 “Ach, ich liebte” also happens to be the aria Mozart refers to

when he said that he “sacrificed” it to Cavalieri’s “flexible throat.” It was only

about a month later that he wrote to his father on September 26, 1781, stating: “I

have sacrificed Constanza’s aria a little to the flexible throat of Mlle Cavalieri…I

have tried to express her feelings, as far as an Italian bravura aria will allow it.”45

It can be easily deduced that something occurred within the span of that month

that created a specific catalyst for these changes.

43 Lewy-Gidwitz, “Ich bin die erste Sängerin,” 575, n. 7. 44 Anderson, Letters of Mozart, 755. 45 Ibid., 769.

23

The above discussion of Cavalieri’s talents is helpful to understand fully

the singer that Mozart was writing for. Yet curiously the Act I aria which Mozart

composed for Cavalieri is clearly nowhere near as virtuosic a showpiece for

Cavalieri’s specific talents as her arias in Act II. The long delay in production set

in motion by a number of circumstances outside any of the cast’s or creator’s

control, enabled the significant reworking of the opera. Mozart and Stephanie

were both keenly aware of the full range of opportunities offered to them with this

opera, and likely were not thrilled at being replaced with Gluck revivals. To make

matters even more complicated for their success, the Gluck revivals not only

entangled Adamberger and Fischer’s time, but also brought in another fabulously

talented soprano to rival the talents of Cavalieri. Antonia Bernasconi’s arrival in

Vienna raised the bar of what audiences were expecting in virtuosity in coloratura

performance.46

Bernasconi was invited by Joseph II to star in the revival of Gluck’s

operas. For Cavalieri and Mozart, this meant a new challenge to out-perform the

female rival whose performances had essentially taken their place for the

prestigious honor of the court performances. One result was the alteration alluded

to in Mozart’s letter to Konstanze’s “Ach ich liebte,” as well as the creation of

Act II, scenes ii and iii, which became one of the most immoderate solo

opportunities in the repertory.47 The scenes referred to here are the ones that most

dramatically altered the libretto from Bretzner’s original into that of Mozart and

Stephanie’s. It is mentioned in the letter from Mozart to his father on September

46 Lewy-Gidwitz, Vocal Profiles of Four Mozart Sopranos, 56. 47 Ibid., 57.

24

26, 1781 that a number of alterations and additions were to be made to the yet

mostly untouched original Bretzner score. Until these unforeseen circumstances

began occurring, the addition or creation of musical numbers had been done using

Bretzner’s dialogue, and Mozart had not yet asked Stephanie to change anything

about the construction of the plot.48

Lewy-Gidwitz, however, observes that the rearrangement and additions to

the music of noble female character of Konstanze in Act II was done not just out

of acquiescence to his prima donna for her sake alone, but that it was done with a

greater purpose in mind. The placement of Konstanze’s two Act II arias back to

back created an unusual, new climactic moment in the opera. As Lewy-Gidwitz

notes, “these pieces are hard to sing and also anti-dramatic. But they were

composed to be just those things—a tour de force for Cavalieri and a

showstopper.”49

Though both these arias required Cavalieri’s specific talents as a singer, it

is “Martern aller Arten” that became Mozart’s crowning musical jewel for the

opera and the ultimate moment to prove his worth to the audiences of Vienna.

From the singer’s standpoint, “Martern aller Arten” was an excellent vehicle to

display her virtuosic ability, vocal agility, and clarity of tone. Though it could halt

the dramatic flow of the story line, this noble aria can be justified as a moment of

the character of Konstanze being swept away by intense emotion translating into

wildly virtuosic vocal expression. Cavalieri’s vocal power was based in her

essentially athletic ability, and her coloratura was often vocal exercises of triplet

48 Bauman, Die Entführung, 17. 49 Lewy-Gidwitz, Vocal Profiles of Four Mozart Sopranos, 57.

25

figures in extended sequences, which she then elaborated and ornamented. She

also impressed audiences by strenuous displays of a few vocal patterns, again in

the style of vocal exercises.50 The aria di bravura style was well within in her

natural wheelhouse.

The lament, or pathetic aria, however, was not a vocally comfortable genre

for Cavalieri, who had apparent difficulty performing long, lyrical vocal lines

convincingly. This therefore meant that with the arrival of the famous Antonia

Bernasconi, the aria Mozart had already written for Cavalieri needed to be altered

to truly showcase her strengths instead of the possibility of falling short compared

to the Gluck revivals that were currently on stage. A major side effect of these

musical and narrative changes was the alteration in the basic characterization of

Konstanze, mentioned above. Taking into consideration all of the intricacies of

the large and minute decisions that went into the [re-]creation of this character,

Konstanze is a character that deserves a thorough analysis.

50 Lewy-Gidwitz, “Ich bin die erste Sängerin,” 567-8.

26

Chapter 2

Pushed to the Limit: Konstanze’s Gran Scena

Konstanze is not an easy character for a singer to portray; she is a

rightfully complicated reflection of the aspirations and qualms of many women in

Mozart’s Vienna. She represents what a bourgeois woman was expected to be,

and her abduction and sequestration in a harem played on the real or imagined

fears that the Viennese still harbored over the Turkish invasion that occurred a

century before. Konstanze’s fidelity, remaining true until death for her “real”

[Western] beloved, would have given the audience a sense of relief. To die would

be better than becoming “one of them.” The authority that Konstanze exhibits in

the opera comes to fruition in the second act of the opera, where, as Nicholas Till

writes, “[she] fences the Pasha’s sexual threats with the defensive shield and

fancy footwork of rapier-like coloratura in her monstrous aria, ‘Martern aller

Arten.’”51

Yet, it is not just the technical difficulty of the singing that makes this role

so challenging. Konstanze moves beyond the stereotypical sentimental heroine to

become a more complex character as the Singspiel progresses. Her “Western”

moral fiber and growing independence stand out in comparison to the hero,

Belmonte. As Thomas Bauman notes, “the strength of Belmonte’s ardent love for

51 Till, Mozart and the Enlightenment, 110.

27

[K]onstanze is also his weakness, for it makes him hapless prey to pangs of

jealousy and fear over her fidelity.”52 Konstanze’s personality, on the other hand,

is more forceful than Belmonte’s because of her steadfast devotion to him as

exemplified in her aria di bravura, “Martern aller Arten.”

Scholars have quite rightly focused on “Martern aller Arten” as the

showstopper that underscores the soprano’s independent spirit. They have also

pointed out that with its addition to the original libretto, the singer/ actress

portraying Konstanze is asked to sing two demanding arias in a row. While

secondary sources have mentioned the previous lament aria, “Traurigkeit ward

mir zum Loose,” in passing, not much has been written about its significant

connection with “Martern aller Arten.” I believe both “Traurigkeit ward mir zum

Loose,” and “Martern aller Arten,” not only showcase Cavalieri’s considerable

vocal abilities, but should also be viewed as a double aria or gran scena which

highlights the development of Konstanze’s dramatic force.

Before Konstanze’s entrance in Act II, Blonde is alone on stage, having

had another sparring match with the basso buffo Turkish servant Osmin. After his

exit, Blonde immediately sees her mistress wandering her way, looking

emotionally distraught. Here, Blonde sums up quickly a major difference between

herself and the noble Konstanze. Blonde is able to keep some kind of positive

spirit up because her Western love, Pedrillo, is also a captive, along with the

women. The lovers do not see each other often, but they do get to steal their

moments. Konstanze, however, has been forcibly separated from her Belmonte,

52 Bauman, Die Entführung, 86.

28

not yet aware that he has come to rescue the three of them. The different

circumstances between the two female characters ostensibly sets the scene for

Konstanze’s accompanied recitative “Welcher Wechsel herrscht in meiner Seele,”

and expressive aria, “Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose.”

As noted in chapter one, this accompanied recitative was one of the

numbers added to the original Bretzner libretto. It additionally signals a decisive

shift from the realm of the comic Singspiel to high-minded opera seria. The

dramatic purpose is to remind the audience of the character’s view of her dire

predicament. The introduction begins with a sweeping arpeggio in the lower

strings, which gives way to a sigh motive in the upper strings (see Example 1). As

we shall see, this quintessential empfindsam melodic idea will appear throughout

the entire scena. Here, it pervades the recitative, appearing three times between

Konstanze’s short disjointed phrases. The string accompaniment holds pedal tones

the first three times Konstanze begins to sing, supporting her vocal line.

Example 1: Act II, sc. ii, “Welcher Wechsel,” mm. 1-353

53 All examples from the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe online, found at <http://mozarteum.at/wissenschaft/digitale-mozart-edition/neue-mozart-ausgabe.html>.

29

The words (seen in Figure 2.1) reflect the irregularity in the vocal phrases

as the character expresses her deep sorrow at being forsaken and left alone with

no hope of regaining the security of her beloved. Konstanze’s vocal line gets

notably choppier and shorter as the recitative progresses. Cavalieri, as noted in

chapter one, was not known for her cantabile, lyrical style. The long, held tones in

the accompaniment then provided the singer with harmonic support; they also

offered her the freedom to communicate a mood of pathos with the frequent rests

signifying that the character is overcome with sentimental emotion. The asterisks

(*) in Figure 2.1 show the number of rests that occur within a short nineteen-

measure recitative. It should also be noted that the only repeated poetic line,

“Banger Sehnsuchts Leiden,” purposefully emphasizes Konstanze’s most

palpably sentimental melodic line of the recitative. This dramatic recitative serves

as a fitting introduction to the lament aria that follows.54

Figure 2.1

Recitative: Welcher Wechsel herrscht in meiner Seele*

Seit dem Tag,* da uns das Schicksal trannte!* O Belmonte!* Hin sind die Freuden,* Die ich sonst* an deiner Seite kannte!* Banger Sehnsuchts Leiden* [x2]* Wohnen nun dafür* in der beklemmten Brust.*

What changes in my soul Since that day when fate separated us! O Belmonte! To the joys I knew otherwise by your side! Anxious longing suffering Living now in my oppressed heart.

“Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose,” epitomizes the noble heroine’s plight

with its pathetic mood, minor mode, and disjointed vocal line. It overflows with

54 See Appendix for the complete libretto and English translation of Act II, Scene ii-iv.

30

cries of anguish as portrayed in the turns, melismas, and most significantly the

rests that interrupt the melodic line. The prominent winds of the accompaniment

act as an equal partner with the soprano; they also foreshadow the concertante

style of the bravura aria that follows. Sung as a kind of soliloquy, this number

serves as a powerful vehicle in communicating the emotion the character. It is an

aria the Viennese audience would have expected to hear in order to sympathize

with Konstanze’s untenable situation.55

The poem consists of ten lines of text, comprised of seven or eight

syllables each, noted in brackets to the left of Figure 2.3. The text is essentially

split into two sections, A and B. As Bauman notes, Mozart set Bretzner’s text as a

cavatina, which was an abbreviated aria consisting of only the first part or “A”

section of the baroque da capo aria.56 The A and B sections of the text musically

serve as the first part of the musical setting, which harmonically modulates from

the g minor during the A section to its relative B-flat major at the beginning of the

B section. In the second part, the two sections of the poem are repeated with the

music returning to g minor at the beginning of section A and remaining in the

tonic throughout the repeat of section B (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2

Music: Part One Part Two: Text: Section A Section B Section A Section B Key: g minor B-flat major g minor —

55 For a particularly insightful analysis of the first two lines of this aria, see Bauman, Die Entführung, 89-91. 56 Ibid., 76.

31

The number of syllables in both sections of the text is the same, as well as

the same rhyme scheme (the eight syllable lines have the same end rhyme, as do

the seven syllable lines), giving the poetry of the text a natural balance and flow.

The higher number of syllables for this sentimental aria is worth noting; as seen

below, the following aria of “Martern,” has shorter lines. Interestingly, this does

not mean that the lines are notably less choppy in “Traurigkeit.” Both arias are

similar in their lack of lyrical lines as dictated by Cavalieri’s vocal abilities. What

this then means for the characterization, though, is a consistency that easily

transports Konstanze from the musical world of the sentimental heroine into the

rage that the martial aria demands.

Figure 2.3

A. [8] Traurigkeit* ward mir zum Loose,* Sadness overcomes my fate, [7] Weil ich dir* entris*sen bin.* Because I am torn from you. [8] Gleich der wurmzernagten Rose,* Like the worm-eaten rose, [8] Gleich dem Gras im Wintermoose, Like the grass in winter moss [7] Welkt mein ban*ges Le*ben hin.* My fearful life withers.

If the vocal lines were broken up in the recitative preceding “Traurigkeit,”

then the lines of the aria have mostly disintegrated. Marked again by an asterisk in

Figures 2.3 and 2.4, it is no longer just the ends of lines that are punctuated with

rests—a number of pauses are now placed in the middle of words, literally

causing the vocal line to sonically resemble that of a weeping woman, sobbing

while ruminating on her plight. As with most arias, the text is sometimes

articulated more than once within a section, and the breath marks are noted for

when they are most present during each section. The third and fourth lines of the

32

A section, though comparatively longer phrases, are done with the orchestra in

staccato, accented eighth notes, breaking up any lyrical flow the lines would

otherwise have. The sigh motive is also particularly leaned on during this section,

bringing the full empfindsam style to the sonic forefront of the piece thus far.

Though not lyrical, there is no doubt that the heroine’s music is anything other

than sentimental in nature, truly lamenting over her lost love.

The B section, beginning at measure 35, moves past a lament for only

what is lost to her, as the text now speaks of her inability to express such a deep

and desperate sorrow to anyone or anything (see Figure 2.4). Only the winds

accompany the first two vocal lines, imitating the air that Konstanze knows it is

useless to speak to. At the third line, the strings re-enter, reinforcing the notion

that the air is unwilling to carry the heroine’s pain alone before it deposits all the

emotion back into the body of the character. The word “Klagen” (“complaints”)

has the only held tone, which resembles the advanced vocal technique of the

messa di voce.57 While a long, held tone is not unique in the context of a soprano

sentimental aria, the fact that the winds concurrently plays figuration along with

the singer, shapes the orchestra’s specifically support role, particularly for

Cavalieri who might have required their backup 58 The B section ends with a

twice repeated descending line on the words “in mein armes Herz,” followed by

57 Defined as “The singing or playing of a long note so that it begins quietly, swells to full volume, and then diminishes to the original quiet tone. The messa di voce is one of the most important techniques of 17th- and 18th-century Italian singing style, first as an ornament and then as a pedagogic tool.” As seen in Ellen T. Harris, “Messa di voce,” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 58 On Cavalieri’s distinctive vocal style and technique see chapter one and also Lewy-Gidwitz, “Ich bin die erste Sängerin,” 565-75.

33

the words “Traurigkeit,” also repeated twice, leading the music back to the

opening descending motive and the return to g minor.

Figure 2.4

B. [8] Selbst der Luft darf ich nicht sagen* Even to the air I cannot speak of [7] Meiner Seele bittern Schmerz:* My soul’s bitter pain: [8] Denn, unwillig,* ihn zu tragen,* Unwilling to carry it alone, [8] Haucht sie aller meine Klagen* It breathes all my complaints [7] Wie*der* in* mein armes Herz.* Back into my poor heart.

Besides remaining in the tonic, part two of the aria differs from the first in

that there are more moments of coloratura for the singer, allowing more sigh

motives and sentimental suspensions to be played out, keeping the empfindsam

style fully integrated in all layers of the orchestra and vocal line. The aria ends

with multiple repetitions of the last line of the B section with its descending sigh

motive to further drive home the pathos of the aria. In a four-measure postlude,

the strings repeat in staccato fashion the descending sigh motive, yet again

echoing the character’s despair and lack of any hope.

Of all the musical elements that exemplify the power of this lament, the

key choice of G-minor is one that stands out. As noted by Gretchen Wheelock,

Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his definition of mode states that “each key, each mode,

has its own expression which must be understood, and this is one of the means by

which the skillful composer becomes master, in some manner, or the affections of

his audience.”59 Wheelock clarifies that while there were no universal definitions

59 Quote and citation can be found on page 201. Gretchen A. Wheelock. “Schwarze Gredel and the Engendered Minor Mode in Mozart’s Operas,” in

34

for key characteristics, musicians did connect individual keys with certain

emotions. “[T]here was considerable agreement among eighteenth-century writers

that minor keys signaled regions of gloom—of melancholy, weeping, languishing

laments—a domain associated in turn with the tender ministrations of women.”60

Konstanze’s aria, then, falls squarely in that type of categorization of

female key choice, particularly when it comes to Mozart’s laments. Listing all the

minor-mode arias in Mozart’s operas, Wheelock shows that G minor was a

popular minor key for Mozart and that those arias in that key most strongly

portrayed grief. G minor for Mozart, according to Roland Tenschert, “represented

in manly activism more the expression of passion, of the daemonic, of defiance or

rebellion against an adverse fate, and in womanly passivity the soulful condition

of despondency, grief, painful resignation, and despair. Often, however, both

these sides are found bound together [my emphasis].”61 Minor mode arias, in

general, presented a fine balance of a weak and passive affect while also

providing a powerful and subversive function. “Viewed in eighteenth-century

terms[,] Mozart’s dramatic works suggest the power of women’s voices to

undermine and transform conventional categories of gendered expression.”62 It is

my belief that “Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose,” is not one or the other—it is a

marriage of the weak and powerful, passive and subversive, presented in a way

that makes the character’s powerful grief logical, particularly when paired with

Musicology and Difference: Gender and Sexuality in Music Scholarship, ed. Ruth A. Solie (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 201-21. 60 Ibid., 202. 61 “Die G-moll Tonart bei Mozart,” Mozart-Jahrbuch 1951 (Salzburg, 1953), 122, as cited and translated by Wheelock, “Schwarze Gredel,” 204. 62 Ibid., 205.

35

the following aria that is motivated by a powerful self-defensive anger.

Konstanze, though singing a minor-mode lament, demonstrates, with her disjunct,

non-cantabile melodic line supported by the winds, that she embodies the power

Wheelock discusses—she is broken-hearted but strong enough to not complain

about her situation to anyone but the wind, recognizing she is essentially alone. At

this moment in the Singspiel, her only savior is her Western beliefs that guide her

morally through this impossible situation.63

Konstanze takes the power of this sentimental lament and pushes that

energy forward into the aria di bravura, “Martern aller Arten.” As mentioned

above, little attention has been paid to the relationship between these two pieces.

Though the formulation of the gran scena does not take place until the early

nineteenth century, these back-to-back arias can be viewed as a precursor to this

important Italian form with “Traurigkeit,” equivalent to the cantabile and

“Martern aller Arten,” rounding out the musical moment as the cabaletta. I am not

arguing that these two arias exactly match the make-up of the Italian scena, but

rather that they are in some ways dramatically analogous to the early nineteenth-

century operatic prototype.

Similar to the tempo di mezzo of the later Italian scena, two short, spoken

dialogues follow Konstanze’s sentimental aria. The tempo di mezzo is “a fast

transitional passage that separates a cantabile from a cabaletta…It is generally

63 This connects directly back to the issue of Belmonte’s power versus Konstanze’s, as well. Belmonte has been singing songs also of despair, many times alone on stage, but the character has a general inability to use his laments and turn them into something that moves the dramatic action forward—the same character who is billed as the part of the Western, noble hero.

36

free in form and varies in length according to the dramatic situation, its prime

function being to effect the required change of mood. In an aria this may involve

the entrance and departure of a secondary character.” 64 Though certainly not an

exact match according to the nineteenth century definition and usage, the

dialogues with both Blonde and the Pasha (separately) act as the catalyst for

Konstanze’s emotional shift, readying the audience for the explosive second aria

“Martern.” In the first of these two dialogues, Blonde tries to console her

mistress. She is concerned about Konstanze’s sorrow and inquires directly about

her emotional state. Konstanze gently admonishes Blonde for her ability to remain

calm when their fate is so grim. The line between the heroine and her servant is

emphasized for the audience—Blonde can still find hope and can still find some

joy in the beauty of the evening, but Konstanze is completely taken over by her

depression and frustration with her fate of being forced to love a man who stands

for everything she was brought up to hate. Within the full dialogue, the word

“Hoffnung” (hope) is volleyed back and forth between servant and mistress, both

characters proclaiming their stance on the issue. While Blonde advocates holding

out for hope, Konstanze believes that the best way to protect herself is to focus on

the reality of the situation. She is alone, and without the absolute promise of

Belmonte coming to whisk her away back to her rightful home, she prepares to do

what is necessary for her own moral survival.

64 Julian Budden, “Tempo di mezzo,” In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.

37

From this exchange, the audience is able to put in clear terms how the two

female characters behave and react in the same kind of situation. The audience

has seen from Blonde’s earlier aria (“Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln”) and

duet with Osmin (“Ich gehe, doch rathe ich dir”) that she is holding true to her

Western upbringing. Yet, there is a more carefree air about her general

predicament with Osmin, as she is not beneath “gouging his eyes out” if he comes

too close to her. This suited well the stereotypes found in opera buffa at the time.

Vienna was particularly cognizant of social status, though the court and

landholder’s system was a non-traditional one. In theatrical productions, this

meant that the unusual aspects of their social hierarchy aided the hyper-awareness

audience members had to the social situations characters were put in on stage.65

Blonde, being the female servant, had comparatively less to lose than her

mistress. She could therefore afford to be more light-hearted and naïve than her

mistress without gaining dislike from the Viennese audience. Konstanze, in

contrast, as the prized new possession of the ruler of their new Turkish home,

represents a gravitas figure. This point is driven home every time she comes on

stage, even after being reunited with Belmonte.

Even more central to the characterization of Konstanze is her interaction

with the Pasha. Though Konstanze is of a “lower” social ranking than Selim, she

cannot be his rightfully as she is attached to someone else. Furthermore, though

65 Mary Hunter, The Culture of Opera Buffa in Mozart’s Vienna (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), 54-5. Though Hunter’s book is dealing with the cultural and social aspects and norms for opera buffa, I believe that is very closely related to the character dynamics of this particular Singspiel. There are a number of reduced scores that even label the work as an opera buffa outright.

38

he is a “renegade” Westerner, Selim is still considered primarily Turkish, and as

such would not have gained much sympathy from the audience.66 His actions are

seen as wrong in the eyes of the Western audience and the character does not

project the same kind of respect that a Western character’s actions do, except in

the end when he allows for the “proper” romantic matches to be fulfilled. Only

then does Selim immediately rise in status and authority.

Pitting Konstanze’s will against that of the Pasha’s creates a surprisingly

complex dichotomy. Both born of Western blood, Selim tries to be gracious with

his new “wife” and not force her into loving him. It seems that his love is genuine,

as Konstanze is mentioned as his “most prized wife.” His elevated social class and

his gender should therefore make him a sympathetic character, but because of his

“Other” status portrayed throughout most the opera, he is the opposite. Though

referring to male authoritative roles, Hunter’s observation is still applicable to the

Konstanze/Selim dichotomy: “The reversal of authority in [opera buffa] serves the

classic comic function of teaching by ridicule: those who fail to recognize the

importance of true love (within the acceptable limits) and the necessity of

generational change will inevitably turn out to be fools.”67 The character of

Osmin absorbs all the comic action that would have been shared between him and

the Pasha (as Turkish characters and those in control). This leaves Osmin the

ultimate fool and Selim in a semi-limbo state as a character. He is not quite

Eastern or Western enough, nor is he the ultimate villain or hero. As Bauman

66 The term “renegade” was applied to Westerner-born peoples who left their homeland for the Eastern countries, usually due to religious prosecution or exile rather than their own free will. 67 Hunter, Culture of Opera Buffa, 74.

39

notes, “the Western stereotypes of Islamic violence and sexual [license], which

both intimidated and fascinated the European mind, inevitably lose their power

and terror once the Muslim is coerced into acting and thinking like a European

lover.”68

Pasha Selim’s character is also a non-singing role, and with no real

“voice” of his own it is easier for him to remain in this liminal space. The

rebellion against the ruling decree of this Turkish ruler, then, holds less weight

and is a less frightening prospect to the heroine, and therefore the audience. Yet if

Konstanze is not in a truly difficult position, does it make her sorrow and her

anger (either of her extreme emotions) less meaningful, as she would be resisting

something of a lesser significance? The answer, I think, is in Bauman’s

observation/ analysis of the Pasha’s character. The level of intimidation is latent

in the setting of the drama, with every non-Western aspect of the set and

characters inherently threatening to the audience and Western characters. Yet, the

two prominent Turkish characters themselves provide a fascination—one is

comical and repulsive, born into his Eastern lifestyle and feels it is superior to

Blonde’s Western traditions, and the other one rejecting his Western roots as they

rejected him.

Osmin is presented as a grotesque character, whose every appearance on

stage is the subject of ridicule and comic relief—he has control when the Western

men are on stage, but in the presence of a Western woman, he is almost fully

subjected to her will, rather than the reverse. In the first scene of the second act,

68 Bauman, Die Entführung, 33.

40

Osmin and Blonde interact harshly with their cultural differences the center of

their argument, highlighting their stances on the freedom of women. The

character of Osmin responds to Blonde’s declaration of independence and

freedom from him with disdain which turns to fear at her line: “Woman is

woman, let her be where she will. If your women are such fools to allow

themselves to be kept under a yoke, so much the worse for them. In Europe, they

understand things better. Just let me get a foothold here, and they shall soon

change their minds.”69

The Pasha’s status as a renegade makes his character more complex than

that of his Turkish servant. Selim’s history is made clear within the final scene,

but throughout the drama he represents in many ways the opposite of Osmin’s

grotesque nature. The character does not threaten the heroine until he feels he has

exhausted his other alternatives (courtship and time). Her rejection is relatable to

her Western culture exiling and rejecting Selim, undermining his authority when

this character is supposed to be the ruler and ultimate authority. Selim’s threat of

“torture of every kind” is the first time he threatens Konstanze, which makes this

declaration more powerful than Osmin’s repeated (and then empty) bullying.

Selim’s harsh, strong response to Konstanze’s final rebuke then results in the

dramatic action of her presenting a counter power-play. For in no Singspiel for a

Viennese audience has the East triumphed (easily or otherwise) over the West.

69 “Weib ist weib, sie sei wo sie wolle! Sind eure Weiber solche Närrinnen, sich von euch unterjochen zu lassen, desto schlimmer für sie, in Europa verstehen sie das Ding besser. Laß mich nur einmal Fuß heir gefaßt haben, sie sollen bald anders werden.”

41

Returning to Konstanze, her role would fall under the tradition of the

sentimental heroine, and would be one who “engineers nothing; indeed it is in

large part her sweet passivity that marks her as noble.”70 For Hunter, there are

certain social rules that these female characters reinforce with their mere

existence on stage, including the notion that her identity is completely relational

to other characters of the drama. “She herself engineers no action, but she is the

focal point of almost everything engineered by the other characters.”71

Hunter’s final social rule for the sentimental heroine is that the

maltreatment of these women in particular is “unexceptional, if also unfortunate;

that women in some sense need to be kept in their place by threats and abuse.”72

Hunter continues: “Most sentimental heroines endure persecution without

resistance, in effect complying with the genre’s habit of not shaming or punishing

characters (especially men) who engage in activities ranging from unjustified

mistrust and ostracism to actual physical violence, though this is never shown on

stage.”73 At this point in the Singspiel, some things ring true about this traditional

view of the heroine’s role. Her music thus far certainly follows the sentimental

style, and she tends towards passive, reactionary behavior. Yet, when push comes

to shove, she suddenly rises to the occasion in a way that is fairly uncharacteristic

of her stereotype. Konstanze’s character most prominently diverges from the

norm during her dialogue with Selim.

70 Hunter, Culture of Opera Buffa, 85. 71 Ibid. 72 Ibid., 86. 73 Ibid.

42

This scene encapsulates a dramatic moment where a director’s choice of

cutting dialogue or not becomes very important. Many layers of interaction and

information about the characters occur during this exchange. Selim’s Western

courtesies towards Konstanze are restated, serving as a reminder to the audience

of their relationship (or lack thereof), while also creating tension immediately.

Selim finally loses his temper after Konstanze rejects him yet again, showing the

audience the “reality” of the “enlightened” Western versus the “barbaric” Eastern

attitude towards love and happiness, particularly in regard to matrimony. Selim

flexes his power over Konstanze, turning his requests into demands with an

emboldened “or else” attached to them, following Hunter’s delineation of the

treatment of sentimental heroines by their male counterparts.

Selim speaks first within the scene, reminding Konstanze that the day is

ending and tomorrow she must love him.74 Konstanze interrupts, incensed by the

word “must,” declaring that one cannot command real love, but that it seems to

just be how the “Turks go about it,” thinking that everything can be ordered. This

recalls Blonde’s rough, goading responses to Osmin occurring moments before.

After Konstanze’s harsh words towards Turkish customs, Selim counters with a

question: “And do you think our women are any less happy than your people?”75

Both women are under duress in this foreign land, but Blonde’s status as a non-

noble gives the character a freedom of speech or trains of thought which are not

allowed for her noble counterpart. Blonde can respond with no respect towards

74 The libretto uses “mußt,” or “muß” as the command. 75 “Und glaubst du etwa, unsere Weiber wären weniger glücklich als in euren Ländern?”

43

her captor, as he is purely Turkish, that she wishes to alter and better the Eastern

customs that dramatically vary from her own Western ones. Konstanze, on the

other hand, can only curtly reply that the Turkish women know no better. Selim

then turns to a minor plea, inquiring if there would be any hope that she could or

would change her mind. Osmin and Blonde do not have these moments, as Osmin

has no sympathetic aspect to his characterization. Selim, however, as one born

within the Western culture, is allowed this complex duality within his character’s

personality.

At this moment of honesty on Selim’s part, Konstanze responds bluntly:

“Sir! I must confess to you freely, for why should I withhold any longer, and

flatter myself with empty hope that you will weaken through my pleas; I will

always think of you as I do now, respect you, but – love you? Never!”76 The

complexities between the Western and Eastern traditions that exist within the

character of the Pasha are clearly on display here. Selim, not getting the answer he

was hoping for, rebukes her forward address, asking if she fears the power that he

has over her. It is this kind of line that echoes Osmin’s, where the character

attempts to use their power to intimidate these women into submission. The

emotional and almost tender moment of the Pasha’s previous line has passed, and

he reverts back into role of Turkish ruler, losing any sympathetic reaction from

the Viennese audience. Konstanze, feeling this shift, brings her guard back up,

stating that death is the only thing she expects now, and she welcomes it freely.

76 “Herr! Ich muß dir frei gestehen, denn was soll ich dich länger hinhalten, mich mit leerer Hoffnung schmeicheln, daß du dich durch mein Bitten erweichen ließest, ich werde stets so denken wie jetzt; dich verehren, aber – lieben? Nie!”

44

Pasha Selim then utters the line that provides the opening text for Konstanze’s

aria di bravura, threatening not death but tortures of every kind. Konstanze, even

before the music begins, has the last word, bravely stating that she will bear any

mental or physical harm. This dialogue is then dramatically analogous to the later

Italian tempo di mezzo in effecting a change of mood in the scena from one of

pathos to defiance.

With “Martern aller Arten,” we arrive at the cabaletta section of the gran

scena. Here, Konstanze’s rebellious reaction not only resists Selim’s advances

and threats of violence, but also defies the stereotype of the sentimental heroine.

Where this could have been an appropriate time for the Pasha to sing an

aristocratic male rage aria, the music belongs to and is controlled by Konstanze.77

By usurping his anger and the opportunity for him to sing, Konstanze places him

in the worst light yet, actively villainizing the character more definitively than

before. She even appropriates the martial key of C major, along with supporting

trumpets and drums. Using the Pasha’s own words as the starting point for this

virtuosic aria, Mozart sonically anchors Konstanze as the Western heroine against

the Turkish villain.78 This aria is then a statement of Konstanze’s nobility in no

uncertain terms. Its forceful, athletic vocal style, as Hunter writes: “stand for the

Baroque aristocratic tradition of representing power through sheer display which

77 Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 47-8. 78 To insert an aria such as “Martern” caused a complication to the story line, as mentioned in chapter one.

45

may not have been—at least for the Viennese aristocracy—a simple matter for

derision.”79

Though “Martern aller Arten,” as a monstrous, virtuosic aria, may sound

artificial, it is extremely effective in fleshing out the character of Konstanze. As

Wheelock notes: “Konstanze…takes on a new and powerfully mixed voice: in

turn imperious and imploring, athletic and empfindsam.”80 This “mixed voice”

along with the pathos of the lament aria before not only justifies her defiance

towards a male authority figure, but also allow her to retain her status as a

sympathetic heroine as opposed to a female villain.

The aria begins with its sixty-bar ritornello immediately following the

Pasha’s last spoken line from the scene before of “Elende! Nicht Tod! Aber

Martern aller Arten!” Several scholars, looking at this huge ritornello, equate

“Martern” to a concert aria with its “concerto-like structure . . . together with a

complement of solo concertante instruments.”81 The dimension of the introduction

only increases with the addition of four solo instruments. I would argue that the

whole format of the extended introduction and aria adds an extra layer to

Konstanze’s defiance of the Pasha, None of this would have been possible for the

character to accomplish without Cavalieri’s “flexible throat,” and therefore, while

some scholars feel this aria is another example of Mozart “sacrificing” his music,

79 Hunter, Culture of Opera Buffa, 139. 80 Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 51. 81 Ibid., 52.

46

it was an opportunity Mozart the composer and natural dramatist that was not to

be missed.82

Example 2: Act II, sc. iii, “Martern aller Arten,” mm. 1-6

The ritornello begins with a strong unison statement, immediately

supporting Konstanze’s last spoken lines of rebellion. The opening motive

outlines the C major triad played by the winds and timpani with dotted rhythms

begun on a strong downbeat in 4/4 (see Example 2). This bold declaration not

only presents a central motive of the aria, but also has all the trademarks of

martial music. Konstanze has command over the stage, the Pasha, and the

Viennese audience, even before she begins to sing—her music is powerful enough

to silence the angered Turkish ruler. In just three measures, this introduction has

created a rough and ready atmosphere, tough and defiant with a strong, noble

attitude.

82See Anderson, Letters of Mozart, 769. As noted also in Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 50.

47


If this was a heroic martial aria, then the singer might enter after this short

introduction. Instead, the music begins to unfold in a very different way. A quartet

of instrumental soloists unexpectedly enters in the manner of a sinfonia

concertante. The oboe begins with a lyrical, flowing melody, which is continued

by solo violin, solo flute, and finally solo cello. The full orchestra then re-enters

with the opening motive, followed by the soloists, who switch gears by offering

48

the sigh motive that has already marked Konstanze’s lament aria and will

foreshadow Konstanze’s similar oscillation between martial and empfindsam style

in this aria (see Example 3). Each time the opening motive of the ritornello

returns, too, it is slightly more developed, which I read as a firm reminder to the

audience of the injustice that the heroine was threatened with. This serves the

double purpose of providing an introduction that shows instrumentally both sides

of Konstanze’s character, while also not letting the audience forget how and why

the character is so rightfully in a rebellious rage.

The fact, also, that the full orchestra presents the forte martial opening

while the solo instruments are directed to play the piano, empfindsamer sighs is

yet another layer of an instrumental characterization of the heroine. This contrast

of dynamics and thematic material provides insight to Konstanze in a way unseen

before within the Singspiel. If she were too powerful, with an opening ritornello

that was only forceful, loud, and angry, the audience would be more likely to

associate her with female villains. They would therefore be less likely to continue

to find the character sympathetic. She, like the solo instruments, represents both a

sentimental victim and a strong defiant heroine. At measure 42, the ritornello

begins to build in intensity, due to the quick dynamic changes between piano and

forte, undulating back and forth for four measures. A crescendo in the full

orchestra sweeps the music forward as Konstanze’s emotions are also building to

a frenzied state, prompting the character to soon vocalize her emotions. The soli

instruments enter one last time, in a piano dynamic, while the orchestral lines

surrounding them remain at their elevated state, creating a final confluence

49

between the sweetness and the power that have continuously balanced one

another throughout the whole of the ritornello. This is yet another way to

understand Konstanze’s character as three-dimensional. These two sides of her

are not fighting against one another—rather her personality can make sense as a

whole if understood as a truly powerful, Western female, who is still identifiable

as the heroine with sentimental, empfindsam qualities.

This sixty-measure ritornello is a crucial and integral part of this aria, but

one which directors seem to have extreme difficulty staging, and many times

decide to cut it down. Yet its length, in proportion to the aria that follows,

balances out the work. Furthermore, as we have seen, it musically foreshadows

the aria and provides insight into the conflicting moods and characterization of

Konstanze. Mozart could very successfully compose this kind of character

development for Konstanze because he had the singer who could physically fulfill

the virtuosic needs the new version of the heroine demanded. It is unfortunate that

more recently the general feeling is that the length is an awkward one, and

unnecessary for, or stalling, the dramatic movement of the action. This, like the

cutting of the spoken dialogue, can greatly affect the opera overall.83 Cavalieri,

with her extreme vocal dexterity and ability, apparently was up for the challenge,

but that does not negate the fact that it is a vocally taxing moment for the prima

donna. The ritornello, aside from providing an insight into the different facets of

the action, also serves a practical purpose in supplying an extra moment of rest

and preparation for the singer. This is a subject upon which I will touch on again

83 See Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 54-7 for a few examples of modern productions.

50

in chapter three, when discussing the Oper Frankfurt production with Diana

Damrau.

Once it begins, the aria vacillates between two tempos—allegro and

allegro assai. Bauman makes the observation that a two-tempo aria was not a

common musical tradition of the time, yet within this Singspiel it appears often

enough that it almost becomes normalized within the closed work.84 The two

tempos for Konstanze continue to support the idea that her character is one that is

not solely defined by a single emotion. The treatment of the two tempos in this

aria di bravura becomes vital to how her complexity is portrayed and how the

character manipulates her own text and dramatic action through Mozart’s music.

The text of the aria was originally printed as a block of sixteen lines of

text in the libretto, but easily splits into three distinct sections. The first section,

labeled as “A,” uses, as mentioned above, the Pasha’s last line from his dialogue

as a springboard for the aria, mocking his power by telling Selim that “nothing

can unnerve” her and declaring she “would only tremble if I could be untrue.”

The A section is based on the opening C-major arpeggio from the ritornello (see

previous Example 2), developing and extending it with the vocalise-like

coloratura that Cavalieri was famous for. Wheelock notes that, “traditionally,

coloratura and virtuosity have been regarded as relatively empty of feeling, or at

least as less revealing of a character’s inner emotions than those expressive,

lyrical arias that lay claim to the ‘heartfelt.’”85 Though technically true, reading

excessive coloratura as to only bring attention to the singer and the act of

84 Bauman, Die Entführung, 76-7. 85 Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 51.

51

performance under these specific circumstances closes off a deeper understanding

of the characterization of Konstanze through Mozart’s ability to compose such

music for a singer who had the technical ability to perform it. The coloratura is

exceptionally emotional during the A section of the aria, where the character

flexes her muscles in front of the Pasha, musically supporting and proving that

she is not one to be intimidated when she knows she is morally in the right. This

first section consists of six lines of text, each line containing six syllables with a

number of plosive consonances (the first letter in bold in Figure 2.5) and sharply

defined dental sounds that occur in the middle of words (italicized in Figure 2.5).

The music, with its disjunct melodic line and dotted rhythms, highlight the violent

words and imagery of the text.

Figure 2.5

A. Martern aller Arten Tortures of every kind Mögen meiner warten, May await me, Ich verlache Qual und Pein. I deride agony and pain. Nichts soll mich erschüttern, Nothing can unnerve me, Nur dann würd’ ich zittern, I would only tremble Wenn ich untreu könnte seyn. If I could be untrue.

The B section then begins, with the empfindsam sighs of the instrumental

soloists from the ritornello (see previous Example 3). The text consists of only

four lines, with an alternation between five syllables and four syllables for each of

the lines. The setting of these shorter lines contrast greatly with the A section.

Here the concertante soloists orchestrate as it were this musical shift, prompting

Konstanze to recall the sentimental qualities of her preceding lament aria and

reminding both the Viennese audience and Selim that she is not completely out of

52

control. She shows that she remains the sentimental heroine, pleading once again

for the Pasha to be moved by her plight. Emphasis is placed on more rounded

vowels in direct contrast with the plosive consonances of section A. Figure 2.6

shows in bold the vowels on which there are multiple, long-winded melismas (one

even spanning fourteen measures on the “e” of “Segen”), creating the more lyrical

line and the length of the first articulation of the B section.

Figure 2.6

B. Lass dich bewegen, Let yourself be moved, Verschone mich! Spare me! Des Himmels Segen May heaven’s blessing Belohne dich! Be your reward!

The first statement of the B section is also about twice as long as the A

section, featuring an expanding virtuosic display for the singer to make her

sentimental statement. The dynamics of the vocal line are also constantly

shifting—the A section included sharp szforzandos, accenting the consonants that

naturally already contain a more jagged sound, while measure 93 brings back the

sighing motive from the opening ritornello’s solo instruments along with a dolce

marking for the remainder of the orchestra which enters at measure 95. Here, the

solo instruments take center stage with Konstanze, forming a solo quintet. One

could say that the solo quartet instigates this wildly contrasting B section, and

brings a new dimension to the aria and to the characterization of Konstanze. Our

heroine is not then lost to her more masculine, aggressive emotions; she still begs

for the Pasha’s mercy.

53


The B section draws to a close by measure 159, and at 160 the orchestra

begins a third section, suddenly shifting from Allegro to the faster Allegro assai

on a strongly accented arpeggiated C major chord (see Example 4). This C section

returns the character to her initial defensive stance found in the A section, but

uses a text that is predominantly accusatory towards Selim. She now sings mainly

in extremely short bursts of words and phrases, the jagged lines of the A section

transforming into vocal knives. This is particularly clear by the setting of the

penultimate two lines “Ordne nur, gebiethe, Lärme, tobe, wüthe,” as Konstanze

54

mocks the Pasha’s potential directives by giving harsh directives of her own, as

seen in Example 5.


From the music and the setting of the text, it is clear that she is the one

“raging” and “storming” against her captor, mocking his lack of true authority

over her. It also rearticulates her willingness to be a martyr for her love and for

the moral righteousness of the Western social system versus the Eastern,

unethical, and cruel system, seen in Figure 2.7. The orchestra oscillates in their

dynamics, with dramatic, fast changes between the same piano and forte, as seen

at the end of the introduction. This dramatic elevation gives Konstanze’s vocal

line support and enough weight to be taken seriously as a martial aria, reminding

the Pasha and the audience of the non-sentimental aspect of her emotional state at

this moment. Like the A section, the first statement of C lasts only about thirty-

seven measures before returning to a second statement of the plaintive B section.

Figure 2.7

C. Doch du bist entschlossen. But you are determined. Willig, unverdrossen. Willingly and unwearied Wähl’ ich jede Pein und Noth. I choose every pain and misery. Ordne nur, gebiethe, Order away, command, Lärme, tobe, wüthe, Bluster, storm, rage, Zuletzt befreyt mich doch der Tod. In the end death shall free me.

55


Many of the same words are used in both the A and C sections, and the

rougher nature of the text is highlighted by the dynamics. There is also a

downward movement contained in her phrases, one of the more important ones

being the word “Tod” (“death”). In measure 185, the word appears the first time

sounding on an A, and only three measures later is sung a whole step down on a

G. Immediately in the following bar, “Tod” is sung on an F#, the root in a F#

fully-diminished seventh-chord played by the entire orchestra. This F# is accented

again an octave higher in measure 193, before the first C section ends altogether

on a C major chord. This downward motion on the word “death” paints a number

of pictures for both her audience on stage and in the theater (see Example 6). The

musical choices Mozart made here give no room for doubt in Konstanze’s

truthfulness and fidelity. Both the Pasha and the rest of the audience are given

cause to pause as she demands all attention. Moving to an unexpected musical

moment as seen with the accented “Tod,” it is clear that Konstanze’s dark

mockery of threats of violence against her only make her rise to the occasion to

fight back. This character is unlike any other Mozartean female in her expression

56

of both the sentimental and noble power, especially within the confines of a

Singspiel.

The second articulation of the B section lasts about forty-two measures,

notably shorter than the first, but still longer than the previous martial section.

There are only three lengthy melismas this time, all on the first syllable of

“Segen,” not unlike the fourteen-measure melisma in the first B section. This

section, though again sweeter in its lyrical lines, softer dynamic and pathetic in

text is less florid overall, as compared to the previous B section. The tempo falls

back to the primo tempo of allegro, but the melodic line includes a faster

repetition of the text, which gives a more desperate feel to Konstanze’s vocal line.

The alternating piano/forte dynamic of the A and C sections even creeps in within

the orchestra during measures 235-6, creating a feeling of anxiety within the

surrounding music. As she becomes more and more anxious, the final section of C

returns with a pause of only three beats. Even if this section of the aria moved the

Pasha, the lightening quick return of the C section gives him no time or space to

interrupt her from barreling into the final moments of her aria di bravura.

The final C section completes the aria. At seventy-seven measures, it is the

longest section of the entire piece. Konstanze’s entrance with the sharply

arpeggiated C major chord rushes into the section, rather than coming in a

measure after as with the first time through the previous instance of this section.

The switch back to the allegro assai tempo amplifies this rushed feeling as the

orchestra builds in intensity and drives the music to its end. Surprisingly, the

vocal line is devoid of coloratura until the third and final repetition of the line

57

“Zuletzt befreyt mich doch der Tod,” (“In the end death shall set me free”). The

first two declarations are done in the same harmonically falling style of the first C

section, the odd progression simply made clearer by the double repetition starting

in measure 264. On the third time the line is sung, intense coloratura is added on

the second syllable of “befreyt,” denoting a vocalize freedom, textually coloring

the word literally within the music. This is repeated one final time before the final

high A-flat in the voice, strings, and the four solo instruments, while the

woodwinds are in octaves sounding on C.

The freedom of the coloratura at the end signifies a freedom of character

that Konstanze certainly conveys through the music, but the fact that she is

doubled by the strings keeps her within the set structure Mozart outlines for the

character. Not necessarily unusual in and of itself, but in the circumstances of the

hybrid, half martial, half sentimental aria, there is a continuity to the entire

moment that intimately interconnects both sides of the character’s personality

while not letting the heroine completely alienate herself in character from the

Western audience. All of the character’s power and rage is somewhat restrained

by the frame of the music harmonically, sonically, textually, and dramatically.

That is not to say that for a heroine this was not an exceptional case of vocality,

but as compared to a female villain like the Queen of the Night from Die

Zauberflöte, whose rage is allowed in her second aria to go unchecked (which

then leads to her demise), the character of Konstanze is never too out of control.

Once Konstanze exits, the Pasha has dialogue that instantly conveys his

alarm at the sight of this character’s power so strongly stated. “Is this a dream?”

58

he asks—one could excuse Selim’s reaction by creating a bit more of a back-story

for the character. He is the ruler with a harem, and so it is likely that a woman

would never dare to reject him in such a way. But as an audience member, that

kind of story is not explicit, it could only be assumed if one chooses to think

about it. Selim is technically also supposed to be a Western character, so would he

be so shocked to see a gentlewoman reacting in such a way when her way of life

is threatened? There apparently are a number of things that are to remain

unresolved, as his line continues, “Where does she derive the courage to oppose

my wishes? ...Well, what threats and entreaties cannot accomplish, cunning shall

accomplish.”86 The character immediately exits, but then there is no intrigue that

Selim orchestrates or even takes part in, save the finale when the two Western

couples are caught trying to escape. Selim is a larger part of the drama, but his

incapacity to be effective is also made much clearer. His only real effect on the

action is, again, in the finale when he pardons the couples.

Like the Pasha’s unresolved words not matching his actions, Konstanze’s

power is also left not fully dealt with. Once she leaves the stage, her power is

gone; she never returns to the anger that is presented in this scene. Konstanze

represents the traditional role of the noble heroine, and no further

86 “Ist das ein Traum? Wo hat sie auf einmal den Mut her, sich so gegen mich zu betragen? Hat sie vielleicht Hoffnung, mir zu entkommen? Ha, das will ich verwehren! (Will fort.) Doch das ist’s nicht, dann würde sie sich eher verstellen, mich einzuschläfern suchen. Ja, es ist Verzweiflung! Mit Härte richt ich nihts aus, mit Bitten auch nicht, also, was Drohen und Bitten nicht vermögen, soll die List zuwege bringen.” See appendix for full translation.

59

acknowledgement of this “outburst” is mentioned again.87 The character walked

along a fine line within the long “Martern” always dangerously close to the edge

of an emotional presence that would no longer be acceptable for a noble heroine,

especially one that is otherwise sentimental. As soon as she exits, though, her

power is rendered unnecessary due to her reunion with Belmonte the next time

she is on stage. Her reward for protecting her virtue, defending her culture, and

not crossing the boundary of what would be right and proper for her character’s

emotional range is to be reunited with her beloved. As Till writes, “during the

eighteenth century the moral emphasis of constancy underwent a significant shift

that led to assume an almost entirely passive, sexual connotation…economic and

political activities were now the amoral practices from which women as the new

guardians of morality had to be protected.”88 As an “enlightened” female,

Konstanze is able to take on Selim’s power, which is then negated by Belmonte’s

presence, as he is her rightful protector. She no longer has to fight her own battles,

and it would be improper to try on her own. It is a distinct reflection of how a

bourgeois woman is supposed to behave within the context of the Viennese

society.

Though her authority does not last long within the frame of the Singspiel,

Konstanze’s gran scena beginning with “Traurigkeit,” through the end of

“Martern,” creates a space that Mozart knew Cavalieri could specifically fill. As

Till notes, “the libretto at least gave him the opportunity to display his musical

87 This kind of analysis recalls the issues and idea of the “frame” of the operatic stage, as discussed in Susan McClary, Feminine Endings (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2002), 80-111. 88 Till, Mozart and the Enlightenment, 112.

60

wares to the Viennese public.”89 And rather than feeling his music was

“sacrificed…to the flexible throat,” of Cavalieri, Mozart was able to feature the

well-known coloratura singer, as well as his verifiable talent as a young

composer. The balance that Mozart was able to strike in the music helps

Konstanze’s character be something his future sentimental heroines were not. The

end result is a powerful female character that is complex in her emotional

expression, three-dimensional in her portrayer’s capacity for truly virtuosic

coloratura.

89 Ibid., 102.

61

Chapter 3

Konstanze in Action The 2004 Frankfurt Opera production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail,

directed by Christof Loy, with Diana Damrau as Konstanze, exemplifies and

embodies many of the points discussed in the previous chapters, and manages to

remain quite faithful to the full Mozart/ Stephanie 1782 libretto.90 Damrau is able

to not only physically sing the role as it was originally written, but also provides

an ability to act that matches her vocal prowess, creating a believable Konstanze

for modern audiences. I believe it is important to include here a discussion of a

production of this opera, as the staging provides a sense of reality and presence to

operatic discourse that otherwise can remain incomplete. Studying the libretto and

score alone can only lead so far, as both Mozart and Stephanie always meant for it

to be performed. Yet Die Entführung is an opera that is not commonly staged

today, likely partly due to the now off-color characterization of the Turkish

culture and general religious practices. The opera is also difficult to produce

because a singer able to perform the role of Konstanze as it was originally written

is rare. It is not unusual for directors, when producing the opera, to cut these

90 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Deutsches Singspiel in drei Aufzügen KV 384. Oper Frankfurt. Performed February 2004. (Frankfurt am Main: hr MEDIA, 2005). DVD, 185 min.

62

scenes down to a more “manageable” size, usually cutting dialogue first. The arias

have also been manipulated to either a lowered key or pieces of them are cut from

the performance all together.91 The chapter will be a focused analysis of Act II,

scenes ii through iv, the same scenes discussed in the previous chapter.

The DVD reproduces a video recording of the stage production at the

opera house in Frankfurt. Microphones line the lip of the stage, as well as hang

high above the singers. The director Christof Loy chose to keep the set design to a

minimum. The set for Act II consists of two sets of chair to the far corner of stage

left and along the outer edge of downstage right. In the center sits a table set for

two, decorated with white linen, including napkins, red roses, and a three-pronged

candelabra. As backdrop there are large panels of wooden slats, set wide apart, so

as to see the blue back lighting. The costume design is also rather minimalist, and

perhaps typical of recent years’ Regietheater, privileging a generic twenty-first-

century look. Both echo a colonial Middle Eastern influence, though firmly

rooted in a more Westernized style. Blonde is dressed in a simple and mildly

conservative black and white outfit, while Konstanze for her Act II scenes is in an

affected Turkish or more Eastern style: a full-length, dark silk gown, large gold

jewelry, and a beaded hair-covering that resembles a stylized turban, that

completely hides Damrau’s hair. Rather than being actual Turkish dress, it

presents itself as a Western assumption of what Turkish dress might be. Pasha

Selim, in contrast, is dressed in a sharp, black tuxedo, complete with cummerbund

and black tie. The character of Konstanze stands out compared to the others on

91 See Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 50-1; 54-7.

63

stage in these scenes, not only due to her peculiar style, but also the colorful

aspect of her costume. The deep red of her dress accented by the gold contrasts

the more stark black and white of both Blonde and the Pasha’s outfits,

emphasizing both her physical presence and femininity.

The libretto is very close to the 1782 text, including the long sections of

spoken dialogue that are usually omitted in some form in modern productions.

The information the dialogue conveys is mostly intact but the wording is updated

to contemporary German, thus making it more accessible to the theater audience.

That it is not in the highly antiquated German of the Mozart/ Stephanie libretto is

doubly worth noting because it keeps the opera more contemporary—something

both Mozart and Stephanie would have found incredibly important. Singspiels, in

general, were focused on being modern productions, and updating the language of

the dialogue is directly in line with that tradition. The DVD also does not have

any subtitle options in this specific format, further indicating that this production

was geared toward contemporary German audiences.92

Through the choice of camerawork, each part of the scena is highlighted,

giving each its own feel and focus. The camerawork of these scenes—the entire

gran scena—directs the DVD audience to focus on Konstanze. Everything about

the scena centers around her, even though Loy keeps Blonde on stage throughout

the entirety. We only see parts of reactions and minor interactions between

92 A newer recording of the production has been released earlier this year (2012) with a slightly altered casting (Damrau and Quest remain as leads), with subtitles in several languages. This likely was done to expand the accessibility to this production, enabling a much wider audience to purchase and enjoy this version of the opera.

64

mistress and maid, controlled completely by the gaze of the camera. The full-

stage shots are few, reminding us that while it is a “live” performance, each

character has a doubled purpose and placement: both within the scope of the set

imagined by Loy and the frame of the camera, directed by Barrie Gavin. In the

following pages I will pay particular attention to the interpretive layer added by

the video recording. The production as rendered on DVD, provides a “televisual”

experience of the staged opera, one framed precisely by the camera and the

editing. A prime example is the sustained use of close ups appear to deprive the

heroine of her stage space during the cantabile section of the scena. Throughout

her soliloquy her movements are tightly contained and her gestures imprisoned in

a position of inescapable closeness to the viewer. She is imprisoned by both the

Pasha and the frame of the camera by extension.

Before Konstanze enters, though, Gavin prepares the audience for these

epic scenes by focusing tightly on Blonde’s face during her opening dialogue of

Act II, scene ii. Blonde is alone on stage, and has just set a lone table prepared for

a romantic dinner for two, complete with candles, bottles of wine, and red roses.

A large oriental rug lies under the table, and the backdrop remains the same with

dark brown, Venetian blinds, closing the back of the forestage. Seemingly aware

of the close frame, Blonde makes only small fidgeting motions, and her minute

but distinct facial expressions show her character’s distress for her situation and

sympathy for Konstanze’s dire one by biting her lip and wringing her hands. The

music of the introduction to the accompanied recitative begins with the camera

still close on Blonde, who slowly looks back towards stage left. Then the camera

65

follows her gaze and finds Diana Damrau as Konstanze, who is standing still in

profile, partially hidden by the blinds at the back of the stage. The accompanied

recitative is then comprised overwhelmingly of extreme close-ups of Damrau’s

face, similarly showcasing her minute expressions.

Figure 3.1a and 3.1 b: Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production

(2004) at 22:40 and 22:59.

The camera moves out for Konstanze’s “Traurigkeit” aria, though still

entirely focused on Damrau’s acting in medium shots. It is as though the character

is enabled to notice and focus on a wider expanse of the stage through the change

in the music. Konstanze is still trapped by the gaze of the camera; her space to

exist and communicate in is still highly controlled by Gavin. Also, as Konstanze’s

sorrow expands, the frame of the camera gets larger, though her staged

movements remain incredibly contained and small. During the B section of

“Traurigkeit,” (at 22:24), the shot suddenly encompasses about half of the stage,

showing Blonde sitting in a chair at the edge of stage right, watching. Blonde

immediately begins to stand and walk towards Konstanze, halting once, before

approaching her from behind and cradling Konstanze’s arm in hers, as the latter

seemingly holds on to the chair to stop herself from collapsing from her sorrow

66

(see Figure 3.1a). Konstanze then slowly moves herself upright once more, never

looking at Blonde (see Figure 3.1b). The heroine only acknowledges her maid’s

presence by putting a hand on top the one Blonde has placed on her arm. After a

few moments, Blonde dejectedly turns and jerkily walks away from her mistress,

back towards her chair at far stage right, wringing her hands. Through these

gestures, it is clearly communicated that Konstanze is entirely alone, unwilling to

accept or acknowledge any support her maid tries to give. It is also made clear

that the Blonde is trying to console her mistress, and seems to be very affected by

Konstanze’s mood, behavior, and attitude. Both Loy and Gavin connect the two

women physically throughout these scenes through their directorial choices.

Figure 3.2. Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at

23:36.

Konstanze’s internal turmoil becomes more apparent as the aria

continues. At the return to the A section, Konstanze gesticulates to the empty

chair across from her at the table. The line “Because I am torn from you” is

addressed to the empty chair, as if Konstanze is imagining her beloved Belmonte

67

there, hearing and understanding her words of pain and suffering. The camera

begins to pan back out, encompassing the entire table, to showcase the effect of

Konstanze literally singing to no one (see Figure 3.2). She becomes desperate at

the lack of effectiveness, and turns her body (still seated) towards the audience,

grabbing again the back of the chair with one hand. Through her staging,

Konstanze communicates her desire for actual companionship and love—her

singing mournfully to the empty chair indicates that the character feels incomplete

(supported by the expression of “being torn” from her love).

The editing and camerawork of the first section of the scena therefore

forces the DVD viewers to focus almost solely on Konstanze, her inner turmoil,

with all the minutest facial expressions and gestures contained within the tight

frame of the camera. Konstanze is unable to escape her situation, imprisoned as

she is by both the Pasha and the camerawork. Similarly, the ensuing dialogue is

given dramatic drive and emphasis through camerawork. That the two characters

are allowed to share a tightly framed shot indicates Blonde’s desperate inching

towards Konstanze’s space and placement on the stage. The apparent empathy of

Blonde reflects and emphasizes the connection between the two characters. The

staging on the contrary seems to foreground their social difference, and brings to

the fore the advantage Blonde holds over her mistress in the knowledge that

Pedrillo is never too far away. Blonde cannot understand the full extent of

Konstanze’s sorrow, as her position, though lesser or lower in social status, allows

her a freedom that the noble heroine does not have. Blonde also is more free to

move about, both in terms of staging and within the frame of the camera. In the

68

shots that hold Konstanze still and captive, Blonde has the ability to exit or exist

in the peripheral space of the frame. When the Pasha is about to enter, for

example, Blonde moves away from Konstanze, and although she remains on stage

in this production, the moment of camaraderie is gone. They are separated from

each other by the camera’s frame, and the intimacy of the final close up is

replaced by a full stage shot (see Figure 3.3).

Selim (played by Christopher Quest) enters (at 29:44) with loud footsteps,

almost marching in. This section of dialogue, the second half of the tempo di

mezzo, begins similarly by holding the characters of the Pasha and Konstanze in a

tight frame, even though Blonde is still on stage. The argument between the

characters becomes exponentially heated when they begin to compare the Western

and Eastern cultures. As the actors sling their angry and desperate words back and

forth, the camera stays trained on them, momentarily getting smaller to feature

Selim’s hand as he angrily crushes his water glass at Konstanze’s rude response

that the women of Selim’s harem (and in general the women of Turkey) are not

treated the right (Western) way because they “know no better.” The camera then

pans to his face, which looks surprised at the destruction, and he quickly glances

at Konstanze before responding in a thoroughly calmer tone. The audience and

the characters on stage are then both reminded of his ultimate command over the

outcome of any subsequent situation through this show and focus on physical

power.

A moment later, a sudden full stage shot shows how the characters have

separated themselves from the table (see Figure 3.4). Konstanze has moved

69

downstage left and the Pasha upstage right, crossing back quickly when he

delivers his final, ultimate-threat of “Not death, but torture of all kinds,” pointing

at Konstanze to emphasize each word. Konstanze whips back around to face the

Pasha as she defiantly states in a growl and rough voice “I will bear those too.”93

Figure 3.3 and 3.4. Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 29:29 and 31:48.

The sixty-measure, opening ritornello of “Martern aller Arten”

immediately follows (at 32:02), visually accompanied by a physical face-off

between the Pasha and the heroine, and thus begins the cabaletta of the scena. The

camerawork and staging develop in this section to feature a Konstanze turning her

internal turmoil to essentially an external tantrum. The camerawork of this aria

begins to give the heroine more space as the ritornello develops, meaning that the

camera appears to be following her movements, rather than leading or

constraining them. The camerawork also enhances the feeling that the character of

Konstanze is operating in the liminal space between the tragedy of the cantabile

moment of the recitative plus “Traurigkeit” and the new energy and anger of the

cabaletta, “Martern aller Arten.” The character is kept separate and alone, trapped

93 The line is truncated as compared to the libretto from the 1782 premier. Potentially done for dramatic emphasis as well as a more colloquial style of German.

70

by the frame of the camera, recalling the earlier camerawork of the cantabile. Yet

she is not in the same mental state as she was during that section, denoted by the

vacillations of the musical mood of the opening ritornello, bringing her musically

closer to the cabaletta section. Gavin is reminding the audience of the sentimental

emotional state of Konstanze by referencing the camerawork of the cantabile,

while also looking forward to the stronger emotions of rage to come.

Figure 3.5 and 3.6. Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 32:31 and 33:08.

In terms of leading the action forward, the characters maintain their

confrontational stance through the orchestra’s opening martial theme, keeping the

audience aware of the shift in the Pasha and Konstanze’s relationship. The quartet

of soloists enter and the camera moves to a close up of Konstanze, who shows a

number of different emotions through multiple facial expressions and small

gestures, including defiance as she throws down her napkin that she had held onto

through that moment. She then turns to look pleadingly at the Pasha, moving

slightly towards him, as well, foreshadowing what that music will be during the

aria later. She seems to change her mind, however, and once more sharply faces

away from him. The Pasha approaches her to scrutinize her behavior and

71

reactions, before exiting the stage in a huff, using the stiff, straight lines of the

Oriental rug as his path (see Figure 3.5).

In this moment of the opening ritornello, the audience is shown a quick

summary of Konstanze’s emotional rollercoaster, fully showcased later with

“Martern aller Arten.” This is also where the staging is put into the forefront by

the choice of camerawork—Gavin lets his tight frames go in favor of showcasing

the more elaborate staging of Konstanze and the Pasha. The DVD audience is

then allowed to note just how the characters are connected to each other, actively

affected by each other’s movements. The staging has Konstanze flitting between

extreme bouts of violence and the softer side of her sexual attraction to the Pasha.

Even from the Act I aria of “Ach ich liebte,” it is clear that Selim and Konstanze

find the other intriguing and attractive. Loy’s staging of the ritornello makes it

patent that a large part of the battle Konstanze is having is internal rather than

against Selim. The audience bears witness to this battle, as it begins to manifest

itself outward through the opening ritornello, culminating in the tour de force aria

of “Martern.”

During the Pasha’s absence, when the instrumental soloists enter a second

time, Blonde timidly moves towards Konstanze in empathy, and Konstanze again

loses her strong stance and glare. She makes clear her concern for her recent

outburst, becoming anxious and jumpy. Konstanze’s fear immediately becomes

relief when she sees that the character of Blonde has touched her shoulder rather

than the Pasha. Konstanze is able to let herself be consoled by her maid,

continuing the moment of connection between them that was previously

72

interrupted (see Figure 3.6). The women briefly lean their heads gently against

each other, their hands clasped together, seen as the camera frames them in a

wider shot, momentarily safe in the absence of the Pasha. This completes the

moment between the two Western female characters, further connecting the action

during the ritornello to the action of the tempo di mezzo.

The rest of the ritornello includes the re-entrance of Selim, along with the

corralling of Konstanze, bringing her back to the table in center stage.

Accompanied by the B theme of the introduction, she seems unable to muster the

strength and defiance she just had that spurred the beginning of the ritornello.

Konstanze also has lost Blonde’s moral support, as both women lose their

independence of movement with the Pasha onstage. For example, once the Pasha

re-enters, he crosses upstage, Blonde simultaneously countering his action. Selim

then moves to pick up his fallen napkin; Blonde mirroring his actions once more

to pick up Konstanze’s discarded napkin (see Figure 3.7). This action also

visually frames Konstanze as the center of the shot. She is the still eye of the

storm surrounded by the two other characters movements. The camera moves in

to frame the Pasha and Konstanze at the table, with the former overtly attempting

to act as if nothing had happened. This is emphasized by the return of the framing

of the two characters at the table, echoing the camerawork from the beginning of

their dialogue. The music of the ritornello has changed the sonic space of the

characters and the Pasha’s hand is bloody from breaking the water glass, but

everything else is set as it had been before. For the last time, both Konstanze and

73

her music struggle against the sweetness of the quartet of soloists, with the aria

finally beginning at 34:03.

Figure 3.7. Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 33:48.

The music, as foreshadowed by the opening ritornello, vacillates between

the same rage and the more meek and sweet-tempered mood. The two themes

become equally important visually as the aria unfolds, one keeping the other

mostly in check. The staging similarly lets the heroine outwardly show this

struggle in her gestures, motivated at times by the actions and movements of the

other two characters onstage. Once her aria di bravura of “Martern aller Arten”

begins, Konstanze’s gestures immediately become larger, holding her arm away

from her body for the first time in the scena rather than her usual movement in

towards her body. Her eyes and face no longer express confusion or concern—

they instead show confidence, defiance, and anger. The camera focuses more

closely on Konstanze as she moves around the chair, picks up her champagne

glass and tosses the liquid insultingly over her shoulder.

74


34:40.

The focus of the audience is fully on the heroine now, yet she has a greatly

increased freedom in terms of the frame of the camera as compared to the

cantabile. Her actions during the A section only seem to get larger and more

defiant, placed front and center by the camerawork. It becomes so large that

Blonde is even shown sharply turning upstage and away from the spectacle,

presumably embarrassed for herself and/or her mistress’ lack of decorum and

respect (see Figure 3.8). As she does this, further proving the point, Konstanze

simultaneously leans into the table in close confrontation with the Pasha,

challenging him. Leading towards the end of the A section, the camera juxtaposes

a close up of Konstanze finishing her vocal line with a close up of the Pasha’s

mostly unemotional face, contrasting the “crazed woman” to the composure of the

rational man. The camerawork and staging then put Konstanze in a more

irrational light, but Konstanze changes her attitude with the change in the musical

theme as if she could tell her actions had become too extreme.

75

The externalized rage she has just expressed becomes a moment of

transgression. With the B section (at 35:15), Konstanze suddenly appears more

aware of herself and her actions, which have been unbecoming of a noble woman,

as if she has woken up from a dream. She moves back from an outward show of

her struggle, internalizing her pain once more. Here she pleads with the Pasha for

his forgiveness and mercy—not for her actions just now but for her life and love.

The Pasha’s insistence has driven her to this irrational reaction, and her inner

struggle is fully brought out into the open. In her pleading, she turns to face the

Pasha circling towards him. Her high, fast, and athletic coloratura is now

complemented by an expression of concern rather than the hard determination

from section A. When Konstanze lets down her physical guard and barrier with

the Pasha, he is also staged similarly, physically responding to her, even though

the text declares that he is not moved by her words. Konstanze has approached

Selim from behind, using the coloratura as her motivation of movement. At her

touch, Selim puts his closest hand on the table, grabbing and bunching the linen in

physical response though his face still shows little. As Konstanze finishes her

phrase, Selim becomes a man fighting for his self-control, standing abruptly and

leaning on the table away from Konstanze, who unrelentingly leans with him (see

Figure 3.9a). She continues to touch his back, singing and pleading. She even

places her head on his shoulder blades in emphasis, to which Selim bows his

head. Konstanze ends her phrase and Selim breaks away to cross stage left in the

instrumental break. In this moment, their physical closeness is accented by their

gestures, and again Konstanze does not let the Pasha escape her touch. Because of

76

their mutual attraction, the staging creates a dangerous game of who is actually

attempting to control whom. Though the Pasha is keeping Konstanze captive, she

apparently has the upper hand during this section, slowly breaking down Selim’s

self control by her closeness. The sexualization of their relationship creates a

more complicated dynamic than the libretto presents. The added complication of

Konstanze and Selim’s mutual attraction brings in question the heroine’s absolute

constancy—something not necessarily inherent in the libretto and score alone.

Figure 3.9a and 3.9b. Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production

(2004) at 36:47 and 37:02. The point is driven home when the camera contains most of the stage, as

Konstanze rushes to grab him by the shoulders and turn him around, showing the

DVD audience just how much stage space she is purposefully crossing to demand

his attention. In the same movement, she kisses him, which is swiftly returned.

The Pasha spins her in a 180-degree turn and they continue to kiss until the

orchestration of the music thins slightly (see Figure 3.9b). Though the kiss may

seem to undermine the show of constancy from the heroine, I read the kiss as a

modern ploy to create a sensational moment. Her constancy does not, however,

remain totally in question for long for her staging is about to become more

77

outrageous, which balance her potentially scandalous actions. Konstanze is the

one to break the kiss, just as she started it, and begins to sing, pleading once more,

while she collapses to the floor while holding on to the Pasha’s arm. His face

stays close to hers, a gesture emphasized by the extreme close up of their faces,

and remains so until the C section begins in full force. The forceful nature of the

music is accentuated by Konstanze’s pushing the Pasha down and away. She

remains on the floor but the defiant expression has reappeared. The full stage is

seen as the Pasha stands and removes his tuxedo jacket hastily while crossing

away from Konstanze, towards stage right. Konstanze’s rage has also returned

with the music, neither one seeming to come first—a simultaneous reaction to

counter the vulnerability expressed in the B section. Her emotional journey

marked all of the beginnings and endings of the sections thus far, emphasizing

and showcasing her control over the current state of her relationship with the

Pasha.


38:25.

78

Selim turns towards Konstanze once there is some distance between them,

holding his jacket in a ball, throwing it violently down as she stands in a swift

movement. Konstanze immediately makes more large, defiant gestures with her

arms and tall stance. His angry response only seems to challenge and enhance

Konstanze’s subsequent reaction, each of them spurring the other on. At the

commands of “Lärme, tobe, wüthe,” she crosses up and to the right, towards the

table with her torso leading her body. Her posture is one that communicates

confidence and confrontation, while she continues to punctuate her words with

large, wild arm gesticulations. The camera, which has been trained on a close up

of Konstanze, pans back out to show about half of the stage. We can see now that

Selim is panting with emotion, almost as if he is ready to charge at Konstanze.

The camera returns to a close up of Konstanze, bringing all attention to her once

more as she sings “In the end death shall set me free,” while crossing to the table

to extinguish one of the candle’s flames with the palm of her hand (see Figure

3.10). This bold gesture refers directly back to the end of the dialogue, when she

vehemently responds to Selim’s threats. Konstanze is backing up her words with

actions—she is proving that she would rather be tortured, die, than give herself to

the Pasha and forsake her beloved Belmonte.

The Pasha has rushed over, entering the frame as Konstanze tosses her

head back in pain. While this action is occurring, the B section returns and Selim

grabs Konstanze to stop her from potentially continuing to her hurt herself.

Konstanze once again has dictated the direction of the action with her own

actions, supported by the thematic changes in the music. Her hair-covering falls

79

off as she collapses again into Selim’s arms as he drags her away from the table.

In this moment, the character looks wilder than she ever has before. Her hair has

been seen down before in Act I, but this state of her appearance is of a different

caliber since it is seen as an accidental action rather than having purposefully

chosen to rip it off her head. Her hair is uncombed and long, adding to the forlorn

look on the character’s face.

Figure 3.11a and 3.11b. Still photographs from video of Frankfurt Opera production (2004) at 38:38 and 39:54.

Konstanze also now seems to remain standing only because he is holding

her up; her arms go mostly limp and her knees are bent. Like her disheveled

appearance accented by her loss of hair-covering, she has also lost full control of

her body and voice as this occurs during an instrumental segment of instrumental

interlude in the aria. The staging now focuses on how emotionally overwhelmed

Konstanze has become that she can no longer seem to fully function. Her inability

to control her body reflects a potential mental breakdown—she is taxed by her

own actions and emotions. As she begins to sing, the Pasha’s hand remains on her

waist and the sexual tension between them reemerges (see Figure 3.11a). From

the kiss to the self-induced torture and back again, the audience and the Pasha

80

watch and, specifically of the latter, barely have a role in this emotional

rollercoaster of an aria. Yet there is an evolution of her emotions, even though

they vacillate dramatically. In this second articulation of the B section, Konstanze

looks more pathetic and desperate than ever, bringing her character back solidly

into the sympathetic noble heroine trope.

The staging of the B sections in the aria’s larger context also seems to

bring into question Konstanze’s constancy, in her clutching of Selim along with

the highly passionate kiss. The harsh violence of the A and C sections, though,

seem to balance out those actions with the torture she inflicts on herself, which

represents a kind of self-punishment for her previous moment of weakness. The

frame of the camera is still close on Konstanze, letting the audience once again

focus solely on her pain and inner turmoil. The Pasha, partially in the frame,

reminds the audience that he is there, somehow connected to the heroine, but still

completely unable to actually answer her pleading, begging, and raging.

Konstanze gently pushes herself away from Selim’s feet at 39:43, a position on

the floor that she had been in for a number of minutes, opening her arms wide.

She then slowly brings her hands together as the camera zooms out. We see she is

on her knees, and with her hands now together, she appears to be begging or

praying (see Figure 3.11b). At this, the Pasha (still only partly in the frame) picks

up his jacket from the ground next to her and moves to put it around her

shoulders. The Pasha is constantly staged in this aria as her puppet, doing

everything that Konstanze would want or need except release her to return home.

81

Rather than a thoroughly villainous character, Selim is purposefully reacting in a

rational way.

The moment when Konstanze kneels on the ground in what could be a

prayer is driven home by the orchestral and vocal flourish, indicating the end of

the second articulation of the B section before immediately going into the final

restatement of the C section (at 40:02). The camera has panned back out to a

partial view of the stage to bring back the full context of space and placement of

all characters. It is as if Gavin is preparing for the end, reminding the DVD

audience of where all the characters have ended up spatially on the stage, noting

that where each is placed is important. Immediately after the camera changes its

frame to focus back on Konstanze, the C section comes charging back in,

accented by her large movement of pushing her arms back outwards, rejecting the

Pasha’s jacket. By doing so, she also rejects Selim’s gesture of kindness and

possible reconciliation. The camera moves out to frame both the Pasha and

Konstanze, showing him physically towering over her while she rails against him

with grander arm gestures. With her hair down, the character looks even more

crazed and disheveled than she had at the beginning of the second articulation of

the B section.

At “Lärme, tobe, wüthe,” in this final section, the Pasha grabs her upper

arms, forcing Konstanze to stand (see Figure 3.12). With this offering of the first

aggressive behavior from the Pasha, all his moments of softness (including

placing his jacket over the shoulders of Konstanze) lose their meaning. Before,

her struggle had been mostly internal, but now it boldly manifests itself in the

82

physical altercation that occurs between the two characters. Instead of Konstanze

raging against herself, her external tantrum has become actively against the

Pasha’s attack. They struggle violently with Konstanze’s hair adding drama

through its extra movement. Konstanze frees herself and is moved out of the

frame, the Pasha’s gritted teeth and livid facial expression become the sole focus

of the shot (at 40:03). The heroine is now justified in her rejection of this Turkish

ruler. It is the only moment of violence he commits against her, and is enough to

undermine any sympathy for the character. Because of his spoken part, he is given

no melodic voice of his own to counter her raging and arguments—this kind of

spoken role is usually filled by a villainous character rather than a heroic one. The

point is emphasized by the raw anger of gritted teeth and wide eyes (see Figure

3.13a). This is not a facial expression worn by a hero who will save his love. It is

rather the face of the villain, which the close up shot makes sure the audience

does not miss or forget.


40:29.

83

The camera turns then to a close up of Konstanze for her final vocal

phrase, in which she manages to look almost equally crazed and wild, pushed to

her vocal and emotional limit. During the pause before her final “der Tod,” at

41:16 is one where she looks as if she has gone mad, widening her wild stare (see

Figure 13b). Once she has finished singing, the camera holds the full stage once

more and Konstanze quickly backs away from Selim for a few steps before

turning to run off stage, leaving from where she entered during the final bars of

instrumental music. The final bar of the aria is played with the camera moving to

a close up of Selim’s surprised face; his eyebrows are raised, his eyes wide. A

loud applause from the audience begins at 41:28, lasting a solid thirty seconds.

The full stage shot is used during this time, showing Blonde and the Pasha frozen

in their positions. The moment of being drawn in for the DVD audience is

broken—the applause serves as a reminder that the drama they are watching is a

recording of a live, staged performance.

Figure 3.13a and 3.13b. Still photograph from video of Frankfurt Opera

production (2004) at 40:13 and 41:16. After this second aria, the final scene (Act II, scene iv) features Selim’s

miniature monologue. The monologue post-scena is quite interesting in this

84

production due to the cut that occurs. As discussed briefly in the previous chapter,

the monologue, in general, raises issues of this renegade Western character-turned

Eastern ruler with a harem. Being a Western-born character complicates Selim’s

existence as a character, in that if he is to provide the enlightened moral at the end

of the opera, he cannot be only Turkish. The moral would need to come from a

Western character who could exemplify the lesson, rather than stand for its

antithesis.94 Loy makes the Pasha’s transformation from villain to high-minded

ruler a bit easier for the character by cutting some of the more odd or questionable

lines in this scene.

With his first stuttered, rhetorical question of “Is this a dream?” he

wonders about Konstanze’s defiance and emotion, and in shaking his head, is

reminded that Blonde is still onstage. He moves to her quickly, grabbing her

shoulders when he asks “Does she perhaps have hope to escape me?” This is the

only moment that is made to appear non-rhetorical, but he does not wait for an

answer and she does not move to give one. The close up shot until this point has

remained trailing the Pasha through his line, moving with him as he crosses back

and forth across the stage. His movements are all captured by the camerawork,

and his reaction is made to be the one that matters more (as compared to Blonde).

With Konstanze gone, the more important character of Selim is given center

stage, though still in the context of a reaction to the noble heroine. After a

dramatically understated pause, he is again more rational sounding when he states

his final line: “Yes, it is desperation.”

94 As noted in chapter one: See Waldoff, Recognition in Mozart’s Operas, 62-4 for more on the ending of the opera.

85

Selim’s original final line of: “Well, what threats and entreaties cannot

accomplish, cunning shall,” is cut from this production. This makes the Pasha’s

reaction focus more on Konstanze, rather than seeming to partially ignore her

outburst by looking towards his future actions. The implied impotence of this line

is also skirted by its exclusion. The Pasha remains essentially rational and

magnanimous to the end of the opera with this production’s shortened monologue,

never having offered to create an extra intrigue that does not actually occur. This

being the case, as opposed to Selim leaving the “intrigue” incomplete to win

Konstanze over, Loy’s production negates the idea of any of Selim’s power

remaining unfulfilled.

It is now only Konstanze’s power that is put forth to be left hanging; it is

limited to her gran scena, particularly “Martern,” as discussed in the previous

chapter, letting the audience thoroughly single out this moment as the only one of

its kind in the opera. Konstanze has no apparent use for her power once she is

reunited with Belmonte, which happens the next time she appears on stage. Her

return to a stereotypical sentimental heroine denies her any need for her own free

will. All her actions from this point forward are completely relative and dictated

by Belmonte’s presence.95

The staging also brings to the fore the issue of constancy in a specific

social context. The character of Blonde is directed to remain on the stage

throughout the entire exchange between Konstanze and Selim, as mentioned

before, acting as a witness to all the actions of the heroine. Blonde’s presence

95 Hunter, Culture of Opera Buffa, 85-87.

86

enhances the meaning behind the staging of the opening ritornello of “Martern

aller Arten,” and the rest of the scene, so often seen as anti-dramatic, is allowed a

drama that did not exist without the character’s presence.96 The moment of the

double aria is, by all accounts, a “showstopper,” in the most literal sense of the

word. Damrau’s vocal agility shines in this role, deftly maneuvering through all

the most difficult passages with an affect of ease. It is true that once “Martern”

has ended, the audience in the theater takes the next thirty seconds to clap and

cheer for the virtuosic soprano, literally stopping the action of the opera.

However, it is not, in my view, an anti-dramatic moment.

I posit that one of the main reasons Blonde remains onstage in this

production is to bring the issue of constancy to the foreground. By keeping her on

stage throughout the entire gran scena, Konstanze is given an audience larger

than just the Pasha and her performance can be seen partly as one for her maid.

The staging therefore helps to propel the action in an otherwise static moment and

to communicate more clearly the status of the relationships of all the characters on

stage. As the other abducted Western woman, Blonde is the only one who could

possibly relate to Konstanze’s situation, and that potential of their relationship is

explored more thoroughly under Loy’s stage direction.

Moreover Blonde’s reactions help guide the audience’s reactions.

Konstanze’s rage is all the more interesting to witness when Blonde looks

embarrassed for her mistress, as for example when she helps her to sit back down

at the table, napkin and all, to eat with Pasha during the opening ritornello (at

96 See Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 50-1 and Bauman, Die Entführung, 77-82.

87

33:54). When the aria finally begins and the camera frames the table to include

Blonde’s turn upstage, the message this sends to the audience is clear.

Konstanze’s behavior is out of place and unexpected, causing Blonde to look

uncomfortable at being present. The drama of the moment is heightened by

Blonde’s rejection of Konstanze—the only one who could understand the heroine

is betraying her. By no longer showing support or camaraderie, Blonde bows to

the wishes of the one who is keeping her and her two fellow Westerners captive.

Blonde is also a more prominent presence during the first B section, when

Konstanze is standing behind Selim. At her touch, the Pasha is not the only one

who reacts. Blonde moves left to the outer edge of this frame, and shows a sort of

disbelief at Konstanze’s approach and touch on Selim’s shoulders. The camera

zooms in, though, cutting her and her response out of the frame. Again, Loy has

used the character to guide the audience’s response. Blonde’s reaction, though

only quickly featured, has affected the way the interaction between Konstanze and

Selim is watched. The other abducted Western woman keeps actions and gestures

in perspective. Her reactions are purposefully shown at certain points and left out

during other moments—all moments explicitly decided by Loy and Gavin.

The event that is purposefully devoid of Blonde’s reaction is the kiss that

occurs during the instrumental section of the aria’s first B section. The camera

holds only different shots of Selim and Konstanze during this section, leaving the

DVD audience only guessing about Blonde’s whereabouts onstage. If

Konstanze’s rage had been something Blonde was uncomfortable with, the kiss

would be something completely irrational and unacceptable. It is not until the full

88

shot of the stage that we see that Blonde can only be partially seen behind one of

the panels in the back, as if she is hiding from the scene she is witnessing. Blonde

apparently cannot leave, but she also apparently does not want to stay. Her

mistress’ actions marginalize her presence, making it all the more noticeable.

Blonde is not shown again until the very end of the aria, during the heroine’s exit.

As Konstanze runs past Blonde, the latter reaches her arms out, as if seeking to

console. Konstanze, however, does not slow down. The character of Blonde is left

with empty arms, still tucked away in a corner of the stage. Both characters

communicate levels of desperation to the audience through this gesture,

reminding the audience of their connection.

All of the social issues discussed in the first chapter that relate to the

creation of Konstanze’s character manifest themselves through Loy’s direction of

Blonde. From Mozart’s personal investment in creating a faithful heroine to the

reflection of social obligation for Western, Enlightened women, Konstanze’s

character carries a great deal of baggage and weight. Blonde’s presence helps

communicate at least some of them to a modern audience. Konstanze’s rage and

momentary lapse in her “impenetrable” constancy is witnessed by her maid, a

character whose very presence holds her more accountable for her actions than

she would otherwise be. Konstanze still makes up for her transgression with her

act of self-flagellation in putting out the flame with her hand willingly. She is

ultimately rewarded, as mentioned in the previous chapter, with being reunited

with her beloved.

89

The production’s focus on the character of Konstanze throughout these

Act II scenes brings to life all of the issues the music and libretto from 1782

present for a modern audience. Both the staging and camerawork lead the

audience through the character’s journey of inner turmoil bubbling over to

become externalized in the dramatic action of the scenes, guided by the

reactionary behavior of the Pasha and Blonde. In addition, Konstanze’s tightrope

walk along the line of heroic righteousness and villainous rage also create a

dramatic drive to the scene not found in any other Mozartean heroine. Her gran

scena of Act II “performs the virtue of her name,”97 while showcasing the singer’s

ability, and communicating the cultural baggage a noble Viennese heroine

represents. Konstanze remains a prime example of a stereotypical character that

extends beyond the normal reaches of such a trope due to the political and social

circumstances set in front of a composer and performer who could stand up to the

challenge.

97 Wheelock, “Staging Mozart’s Women,” 52.

90

Conclusion

The progression of Konstanze from a traditional sentimental figure to a

woman who assertively confronts her oppressor makes her a unique heroine in the

annals of Singspiel opera. Yet at the same time that she creates a bold statement

about women and the performance of rage, she also exhibits features that were the

norm for bourgeois women of the time. This duality in her nature creates a

complex stage persona that is partly due to the evolution of the role itself.

Konstanze, as we have seen, began life as a quintessentially passive

heroine in Christoph Friedrich Bretzner’s libretto. Gottfried Stephanie the

Younger and Mozart, during the ten months they worked on the opera, made

substantial changes to the original libretto that enlarged the role. The unique vocal

abilities of the soprano Caterina Cavalieri also contributed to the development of

the character, in particular the addition of the second act aria, “Martern aller

Arten.”

Of primary importance was the concept of the faithful virtuous woman,

which played a central role in the morality code of Enlightenment thought.

Mozart was keenly aware of the importance of women maintaining their fidelity,

as he wrote in his correspondence to his father and to his wife. Konstanze in Die

Entführung, then, becomes a symbol of this ideal. Though she exceeds the normal

limitations of a sentimental heroine in Act II, she does not remain out of control.

91

She rather returns to the social norms and behavior that the stage heroine should

represent.

Her two arias in Act II reinforce this prototype. A rarity for Mozart’s

operas, they together can be considered a type of gran scena, akin to the later

Italian model. The use of these back-to-back arias enables the exploration of a

wider range of emotions than possible in the standard eighteenth-century aria,

which presents only a single affect. The first, lament aria, “Traurigkeit ward mir

zum Loose,” not only serves as a foil for the virtuosic “Martern aller Arten,” but

also intimates the multiple affects portrayed in the second aria. Konstanze’s

crowning moment, while about proving her constancy, is emotionally confused.

In “Martern aller Arten,” she embodies both the pathetic heroine and the frenzied

female villain. This conflict in affect then offers up a complicated portrayal of a

powerful woman who, though momentarily unstable, remains true to her character

type.

These points then become the pillars of the Loy/ Gavin production. With

Diana Damrau, the performance features the perfect Konstanze, who has the

extraordinary ability to both act and sing. In general, the production adheres to the

1782 libretto as well as to the musical score. Loy and Gavin give each of the parts

of the scena space to be featured in different ways—partly through choice of

camerawork and partly through staging decisions. Through Loy’s staging, too, the

opening ritornello of “Martern” is used to communicate to the audience that the

character is not conveying just one single emotion in that moment. Konstanze in

this production is not just unstable musically and emotionally. By kissing the

92

Pasha, she also becomes dangerously close to yielding to her adversary and

forsaking the idea of her unwavering fidelity. This issue of constancy is given a

good amount of space in the production, kept in the forefront of the audience’s

mind by the strategic decision to keep her maid, Blonde on the stage. Through the

addition of the extra narrative provided by the staging and camerawork, Loy and

Gavin showcased the ways in which Konstanze is a thoroughly complex

character.

On the whole, Konstanze stands as an extraordinary operatic figure. She

portrays, in her gran scena, a complicated combination of affects that can be

viewed as a precursor to the conflicting emotions of some of Mozart’s later

sentimental heroines. Conversely, she also exhibits a power and rage that

resonates with the composer’s female villains. Though she displays these

dichotomous feelings, she remains anchored by her faithfulness. It is this

complicated persona that makes her an anomaly among Mozart’s heroines as well

as a fascinating case study.

93

APPENDIX

Act II, Scenes ii-iv Taken from original libretto for Vienna premiere on 16 July 178298

Zweiter Auftritt Second Scene

Blonde, Konstanze. Blonde, Konstanze

BLONDE: Wie traurig das gute Mädchen daher kommt! Freylich thut’s weh, den Geliebten zu verlieren und Sklavinn zu seyn. Es geht mir wohl auch nicht viel besser; aber ich habe doch noch das Vergnügen, meinen Pedrillo manchmal zu sehen, ob’s gleich auch mager und verstohlen genug geschehen muß: doch wer kann wider den Strom schwimmen!

BLONDE: How sadly the dear lady approaches! Indeed it is hard to lose one’s love and be a slave. I do not fare much better, but I at least have the joy of seeing my Pedrillo once in a while, even though it happens rarely and the moments must be stolen. But who can swim against the river!

KONSTANZE: (ohne Blonden zu bemerken)

KONSTANZE: (only Blonde observes her)

Recitativ. Recitative: Welcher Wechsel herrscht in meiner Seele Seit dem Tag, da uns das Schicksal trannte! O Belmonte! Hin sind die Freuden, Die ich sonst an deiner Seite kannte! Banger Sehnsuchts Leiden Wohnen nun dafür in der beklemmten Brust.

What changes in my soul Since that day when fate separated us! O Belmonte! To the joys I knew otherwise by your side! Anxious longing suffering Living now in my oppressed heart.

Arie. Aria: Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose, Sadness overcomes my fate, Weil ich dir entrissen bin. Because I am torn from you. Gleich der wurmzernagten Rose, Like the worm-eaten rose, Gleich dem Gras im Wintermoose, Like the grass in winter moss Welkt mein banges Leben hin. My fearful life withers.

98 W. A. Mozart, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384: Facsimile of the Autograph Score. (Los Altos, CA: The Packard Humanities Institute, 2008), pp 53-4. Trans. by the author.

94

Selbst der Luft darf ich nicht sagen Even to the air I cannot speak of Meiner Seele bittern Schmerz: My soul’s bitter pain: Denn, unwillig, ihn zu tragen, Unwilling to carry it alone, Haucht sie aller meine Klagen It breathes all my complaints Wieder in mein armes Herz. Back into my poor heart.

BLONDE: Ach mein bestes Fräulein! noch immer so traurig?

BLONDE: Ah my dearest lady, still so sad?

KONSTANZE: Kannst du fragen, die du meinen Kummer weißt? – Wieder ein Abend, und noch keine Nachricht, noch keine Hoffnung! – Und morgen – ach Gott! Ich darf nicht daran denken!

KONSTANZE: Can you ask, you who knows my sorrow? – Another evening has passed, and still no news, nor any hope! And tomorrow – oh, God! I dare not think of it.

BLONDE: Heitern Sie sich wenigstens ein bischen auf. Sehn Sie, wie schön der Abend ist, wie blühend uns alles entgegen lacht, wie freudig uns die Vögel zu ihrem Gesang einladen! Verbannen Sie die Grillen, und fassen Sie Muth!

BLONDE: At least be a little more cheerful. See how beautiful the evening is, how everything smiles back in blossom, how joyfully the birds invite us with their song! Banish you cares and take courage.

KONSTANZE: Wie glücklich bist du, Mädchen, bey deinem Schicksal so gelassen zu seyn! O daß ich es auch könnte!

KONSTANZE: How lucky you are, maiden, to sustain your fate so calmly. Oh that I could do the same.

BLONDE: Das steht nur bey Ihnen, hoffen Sie –

BLONDE: That is left to you. If you hope –

KONSTANZE: Wo nicht der mindeste Schein von Hoffnung mehr zu erblicken ist?

KONSTANZE: Where there isn’t the slightest ray of hope to be seen?

BLONDE: Hören Sie nur: ich verzage mein Lebtag nicht, es mag auch eine Sache noch so schlimm aussehen. Denn wer sich immer das schlimmste vorstellt, ist auch wahrhaftig am schlimmsten dran.

BLONDE: Just listen: I do not despair all the days of my life; no matter how bad things look. After all, whoever imagines the worst is truly the worst off.

KONSTANZE: Und wer sich immer mit Hoffnung schmeichelt und ziletzt betrogen sieht, hat alsdenn nichts mehr übrig als die Verzweiflung.

KONSTANZE: And who always flatters with hope and is in the end let down, then they have nothing left but despair.

95

BLONDE: Jedes nach seiner Weise. Ich glaube bey der meinigen am besten zu fahren. Wie bald kann Ihr Belmont mit Lösegeld erscheinen, oder uns listiger Weise entführen? Wären wir die ersten Frauenzimmer, die den türkischen Vielfraßen entkämen? – Dort seh ich den Bassa.

BLONDE: To each his own. I believe my way is the best, though. How soon can your Belmonte appear with ransom money, or cunningly steal us away? Would we be the first women to escape these Turkish gluttons? – There I see the Pasha!

KONSTANZE: Laß uns ihm aus den Augen gehn.

KONSTANZE: Let us get out of his eyesight.

BLONDE: Zu spat. Er hat sie schon gesehen. Ich darf aber getrost auf dem Wege trollen, er schafte mich ohnehin fort. (im Weggehen.) Kourage! wir kommen gewiß noch in unsere Heimath!

BLONDE: Too late. He has already seen you. I should leave now, he will just angrily tell me to go anyway. (as leaving) Courage! We will certainly get back to our home yet!

Dritter Auftritt. Third Scene Konstanze, Selim. Konstanze, Selim

SELIM: Nun Konstanze, denkst du meinem Vegehren nach? Der Tag ist bald verstrichen, Morgen mußt du mich lieben, oder –

SELIM: Now Konstanze, did you think about my request? The day is almost over, you must love me tomorrow, or –

KONSTANZE: Muß? Welch albernes Vegehren! Als ob man die Liebe anbefehlen könnte, wie eine Tracht Schläge! – – Aber freylich wie ihr Türken zu Werke geht, läßt sichs auch allenfalls befehlen – Aber ihr seyd würklich zu beklagen. Ihr kerkert die Gegenstände eurer Vegierden ein und seyd zufriden eure Lüste zu büßen.

KONSTANZE: Must? What a ridiculous demand! As though you could demand love as if was a good beating! – – But of course, it is how you Turks work, you are best at giving orders – but you are truly deplorable. You imprison the objects of your desire and are content to make amends for your lustful behavior.

SELIM: Und glaubst du etwan, unsere Weiber wären weniger glücklich, als ihr in euren Ländern?

SELIM: And do you think our women are any less happy than your people?

KONSTANZE: Die nichts bessers kennen!

KONSTANZE: They know no better!

96

SELIM: Auf diese Art wäre wohl keine Hoffnung, daß du je anders denken wirst.

SELIM: On this matter, there would be no hope that you will ever think differently.

KONSTANZE: Herr! Ich muß dir frey gestehen – – – denn was soll ich dich länger hinhalten, mich mit leerer Hoffnung schmeicheln, daß du dich durch mein Bitten erweichen liessest – – Ich werde stets so denken wie jetzt; dich verehren, aber – – lieben? Nie!

KONSTANZE: Sir! I must confess to you freely – – – for why should I withhold any longer, and flatter myself with empty hope that you will weaken through my pleas – – I will always think of you as I do now, respect you, but – – love you? Never!

SELIM: Und du zitterst nicht vor der Gewalt, die ich über dich habe?

SELIM: And you do not tremble at the power I hold over you?

KONSTANZE: Nicht im geringsten. Sterben ist alles, was ich zu erwarten habe, und je eher dies geschieht, je lieber wird es mir seyn.

KONSTANZE: Not in the slightest. Death is everything I have to expect, and the sooner it happens, the better it will be for me.

SELIM: Elende! Nein! Nicht sterben, aber Martern von aller Arten – – –

SELIM: Wretch! No! Not death, but torture of all kinds – – –

KONSTANZE: Auch die will ich ertragen; du schreckst mich nicht, ich erwarte alles.

KONSTANZE: I will bear those too; you do not frighten me, I expect everything.

Martern aller Arten Tortures of every kind Mögen meiner warten, May await me, Ich verlache Qual und Pein. I deride agony and pain. Nichts soll mich erschüttern, Nothing can unnerve me, Nur dann würd’ ich zittern, I would only tremble Wenn ich untreu könnte seyn. If I could be untrue. Lass dich bewegen, Let yourself be moved, Verschone mich! Spare me! Des Himmels Segen May heaven’s blessing Belohne dich! Be your reward! Doch du bist entschlossen. But you are determined. Willig, unverdrossen. Willingly and unwearied Wähl’ ich jede Pein und Noth. I choose every pain and misery. Ordne nur, gebiethe, Order away, command, Lärme, tobe, wüthe, Bluster, storm, rage, Zuletzt befreyt mich doch der Tod. In the end death shall free me. (geht ab) (exit)

97

Vierter Auftritt. Fourth Scene

Selim allein. Selim alone:

Ist das ein Traum? Wo hat sie auf einmal den Mut her, sich so gegen mich zu betragen? Hat sie vielleicht Hoffnung, mir zu entkommen? Ha, das will ich verwehren! (Will fort.) Doch das ist’s nicht, dann würde sie sich eher verstellen, mich einzuschläfern suchen. Ja, es ist Verzweiflung! Mit Härte richt ich nihts aus, mit Bitten auch nicht, also, was Drohen und Bitten nicht vermögen, soll die List zuwege bringen. (Geht ab.)

Is this a dream? Where does she derive the courage to oppose my wishes? Does she perhaps have hope to escape me? Ha, that I will prevent! (Begins to leave) But that is not it; she is putting on a false appearance; seeking to lull me. Yes, it is desperation! I achieve nothing by being hard, or by imploring her. Well, what threats and entreaties cannot accomplish, cunning shall. (exits)

98

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbate, Carolyn. “Opera; or the Envoicing of Women,” in Musicology and Difference: Gender and Sexuality in Music Scholarship, ed. Ruth A. Solie, 225-58. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

Allanbrooke, Wye Jamison, Mary Hunter, Gretchen A. Wheelock. “Staging

Mozart’s Women,” in Siren Songs: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Opera, ed. Mary Ann Smart, 47-66. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Anderson, Emily, ed. The Letters of Mozart and His Family. New York: W. W.

Norton & Company, Inc., 1989. Baron, Kristina Lynn. “Decoration or Dramatic Function? Mozart’s Use of

Coloratura in Three Comic Soprano Roles,” MA Thesis, University of Victoria, 2006.

Bauman, Thomas. “Bretzner, Christoph Friedrich.” The New Grove Dictionary of

Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. ——. W. A. Mozart, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1987. Beales, Derek. “Court, Government and Society in Mozart’s Vienna,” in

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart: Essays on his Life and his Music, ed. Stanley Sadie, 3-20. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Brown-Montesano, Kristi. Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas.

Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Budden, Julian. “Tempo di mezzo.” The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed.

Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Dean, Winton and John Merrill Knapp. Handel’s Operas: 1704-1726, Revised

Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Eisen, Cliff, et al. “Mozart.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Gidwitz, Patricia Lewy. “ ‘Ich bin die erste Sängerin’: Vocal Profiles of Two

Mozart Sopranos.” Early Music 19/4 (1991), 565-76+79. ——. “Cavalieri, Catarina.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Harris, Ellen T. “Messa di voce.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Online.

99

Hunter, Mary. The Culture of Opera Buffa in Mozart’s Vienna: The Poetics of

Entertainment. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. ——. Mozart’s Operas: A Companion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. Landon, H. C. Robbins. Mozart and Vienna. New York: Schirmer Books, Inc.,

1991. Marshall, Robert L., ed. Mozart Speaks: Views on Music, Musicians, and the

World. New York: Schirmer Books, 1991. McClary, Susan. “Excess and Frame: The Musical Representation of

Madwomen,” in Feminine Endings, 80-111. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Entführung aus dem Serail: An Opera in Three Acts

for Soli, Chorus and Orchestra with German and English Text, vocal score. Miami, FL: CPP/Belwin, Inc., 1968.

——. Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Deutsches Singspiel in drei Aufzügen KV

384. Neue Mozart-Ausgabe online, <http://mozarteum.at/wissenschaft/digitale-mozart-edition/neue-mozart-ausgabe.html>.

——. Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Deutches Singspiel in drei Aufzügen KV

384. Oper Frankfurt. Performed February 2004. Frankfurt am Main: hr MEDIA, 2005. DVD, 185 min.

Necula, Maria-Cristina. “The Interviews: Diana Damrau,” in Life in Opera: Truth,

Tempo, and Soul: Encounters with Stars, Innovators, and Leaders of Today’s Opera World, 22-37. New York: Amadeus Press, 2009.

——. “Magically…Diana!” in Life in Opera: Truth, Tempo, and Soul:

Encounters with Stars, Innovators, and Leaders of Today’s Opera World, 270-5. New York: Amadeus Press, 2009.

Nedbal, Martin. “Morals across the Footlights: Viennese Singspiel, National

Identity, and the Aesthetics of Morality, c. 1770-1820.” PhD diss., Eastman School of Music, 2009.

Okin, Susan Moller. “Rousseau’s Natural Woman.” The Journal of Politics, 41/2

(1979): 393-416. Jones, Vivien, ed. Women in the Eighteenth Century: Constructions of Femininity.

London: Routledge, 1990.

100

Rice, John A. Mozart on the Stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2009. Rushton, Julian. “Entführung aus dem Serail, Die.” The New Grove Dictionary of

Opera. Ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Spitta, Philipp, et al. “Weber.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Stilwell, Jama. “A New View of the Eighteenth-Century ‘Abduction’ Opera:

Edification and Escape at the Parisian ‘Théâtres de la Foire.’” Music and Letters 91/1 (2010): 51-82.

Till, Nicholas. “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” in Mozart and the

Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart’s Operas, 102-16. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1992.

Waldoff, Jessica. Recognition in Mozart’s Operas. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 2006. ——. “Reading Mozart’s Operas ‘for the sentiment,’” in Mozart Studies, ed.

Simon P. Keefe, 74-108. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Webster, James. “The Analysis of Mozart’s Arias,” in Mozart Studies, ed. Cliff

Eisen, 101-99. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. Wheelock, Gretchen A. “Schwarze Gredel and the Engendered Minor Mode in

Mozart’s Operas,” in Musicology and Difference: Gender and Sexuality in Music Scholarship, ed. Ruth A. Solie, 201-21. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

Zenck, Claudia Maurer. “German opera from Reinhard Keiser to Peter Winter,” in

The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music, ed. Simon P. Keefe, trans. Anke Caton and Simon P. Keefe, 331-84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Konstanze Acting Out in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Documents

Transcript of Konstanze Acting Out in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail