The Abduction from the Seraglio (German: Die Entführung aus dem Serail) is a 1782 singspiel opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, to a libretto by Christoph Bretzner. Although it's less famous than Mozart's later works, nowadays many know it thanks to a subplot in Amadeus about its production.
In the backstory, Konstanze and her servants, Beta Couple Pedrillo and Blonde, are taken captive by pirates. However, they are bought by Selim, a Turkish pasha, who brings them to the luxury of his palace... and soon falls in love with Konstanze. An attempt by Konstanze's beloved Belmonte to rescue the group from the pasha's seraglio is foiled, and on top of it all Belmonte turns out to be the son of Selim's bitterest enemy, so Selim prepares to execute him and the rest of the heroes. Ultimately, though, he has a change of heart and instead lets them go, and the final chorus has everyone praise his generosity.
There are productions of various operas that include the heroine's Ship Tease with the antagonist, but The Abduction is one of the operas to which it happens especially often, to the point of almost becoming the rule. It helps that Pasha Selim is extremely kind to Konstanze for most of the time, shares many tender scenes with her, and both her most famous arias are sung to him.
The Abduction from the Seraglio provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Selim decides that, since Konstanze won't yield to either pleas or threats, he'll use cunning to get her to accept him. However, he never gets around to doing so and we never even find out what his plan was.
- Benevolent Boss: Pasha Selim is adored by his servants, who sing two choruses in his praise.
- Betty and Veronica: Tenor Boy Belmonte and passionate Pasha Selim for Konstanze. The libretto has her unwaveringly loyal to Belmonte, many productions, not so much.
- Blaming the Victim: Pedrillo is jealous and suspicious of Blonde because he thinks Osmin might have raped her. Blonde slaps him when he says it, tells him he's not worthy of her, and only forgives him after long and profound apologies.
- Bravado Song: Pedrillo sings his aria "Frisch zum Kampfe" as he musters the courage to get Not-So-Harmless Villain Osmin drunk.Now to battle!Now to arms!Only cowards are afraid.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Pedrillo plans to get Osmin drunk in the hopes of invoking this trope. He seems to succeed... until it turns that no, Osmin is conscious enough to catch the heroes red-handed in their escape attempt.
- Chekhov's Gun: In the often-cut spoken lines, Pedrillo mentions that Selim was born and lived in Europe before settling in the Ottoman Empire and converting to Islam. It is seemingly a random piece of backstory that has nothing to do with the plot... and then in one of the final scenes Selim reveals he was forced to leave his country due to the machinations of Belmonte's father.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Selim lost his beloved (it's left unclear whether she died or simply was separated from him), his possessions, his good name, and was forced to leave his homeland and start from scratch in a completely different country and culture, all thanks to Lostados Sr.
- Deadpan Snarker: Selim.Osmin: [about Pedrillo] He has deserved death a thousand times!
Selim: Well, let him find it in his own country. - Defiant Captive: Blonde utterly refuses to obey Osmin and bosses him around instead.
- Epic Instrumental Opener: The aria "Martern aller Arten" has almost two minutes of fanfare and concertante-style orchestral solos before Konstanze starts singing. This can sometimes present a problem for directors to figure out what to do in this lead in terms of action on stage while waiting for the vocals to begin.
- Eye Scream: Blonde tells Osmin that if he tries to assault her again, she'll scratch out his eyes.
- Face Death with Dignity: Belmonte calmly tells Selim to take his revenge. Instead, Selim announces he has changed his mind.
- Forceful Kiss: In many a production, done by Selim to Konstanze (usually during the very, very long orchestral prelude to her third aria).
- Gilded Cage: Konstanze is treated like a queen, but Selim won't let her leave and keeps trying to court her.
- Going Native: Selim has fully embraced the Ottoman culture.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The heroes' entire plan. Pedrillo seemingly succeeds in getting Osmin drunk, but it turns out he isn't drunk enough to pass out, so the group is caught in the attempt to escape. Then Belmonte reveals his family name in the hopes of convincing Selim to release them for a ransom. Instead, it turns out Selim has a deep-rooted hatred for his father. If Selim hadn't had a change of heart, this would have been a tragedy.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Not only do Pasha and Osmin guard Konstanze and Blonde, respectively, with extreme jealousy, but Belmonte and Pedrillo are suspicious about the ladies' fidelity as well. Konstanze and Blonde are understandably angry.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Lampshaded by Selim as one of the reasons he lets the heroes go. He wishes that Konstanze never regrets her choice.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: One of Selim's reasons for pardoning the heroes. He knows that Belmonte's father in his place would have been merciless, and he doesn't want to sink to his level.
- ...In That Order: Osmin has a highly detailed plan concerning his rival Pedrillo: "First beheaded, then hanged, then impaled on red-hot spikes, then burned, then manacled and drowned; finally flayed". At least one production (the Zürich Opera video recording with Malin Hartelius and Piotr Beczala) plays up the comedic effect in full: Osmin meticulously stresses the "first", "then", and "finally" (while Pedrillo, amused, counts the threats on his fingers).
- Last Kiss: In the 2015 Glyndebourne production, Selim and Konstanze share a kiss in the final scene before she leaves with Belmonte.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Belmonte is noble, honest and courageous, and his father, from what we learn about him, doesn't sound like any of that.
- Meaningful Name: In the libretto, Konstanze's defining quality is her constancy. Subverted in numerous productions that have her stray towards Selim or at least consider doing so.
- Melancholy Musical Number: Konstanze has two arias ("Ach, ich liebte" and later "Traurigkeit") about how miserable she is after being separated from her beloved Belmonte.
- Melismatic Vocals: "Martern aller Arten"
— described (rather unfavourably) by Salieri in Amadeus as "ten minutes of ghastly scales and arpeggios, whizzing up and down like fireworks at a fairground". - My God, What Have I Done?: If the production (such as the one by Christof Loy) has Konstanze temporarily give in to Selim, she is horror-struck soon afterwards.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Osmin, after serving as comic relief for the entire opera, catches the heroes in their escape attempt and gloats about how he'll watch their torture.
- The One That Got Away: It turns out that there was a lady whom Selim loved more than life itself and who was torn from him thanks to the scheming of Belmonte's father (it isn't clear whether he separated them, killed her, or did something else). Even now, with the many women in his harem who adore him, Selim still feels the loss.
- Promoted to Love Interest: In the Christof Loy production, Blonde is shown to have some feelings for Osmin, and instead of making fun of him she is mostly sad and angry, since she sees the two of them aren't going to work out due to a massive Culture Clash.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The female leads are fiery, cheerful Blonde and melancholy Konstanze.
- Stockholm Syndrome: In many stagings, Konstanze is shown to grow very fond of Pasha Selim who holds her captive. It helps that a) before that, he rescued her and her Hired Help as Family servants from pirates and b) he treats them very well and is a generally good-hearted man if with an explosive temper and too passionately in love with Konstanze. Not to mention that, as his is a non-singing part, the directors are free to cast any attractive and/or charismatic actor without considering the voice type. For extra irony, the Ship Tease with Selim usually happens when Konstanze is singing how she'll never be inconstant to Belmonte.
- The Christof Loy production takes it up to eleven by having the syndrome affect not just Konstanze, but her fiery maid Blonde (who usually is too busy playing pranks on her captor Osmin to consider developing any tender feelings towards him). Konstanze shares a passionate kiss with Selim and barely restrains herself from continuing it. Blonde lectures Osmin on feminism, as usual, but her expressions and body language show that she is clearly attracted to him (for instance, she sits on his lap herself and giggles happily when he caresses her), and rather than making fun of him as she usually does, she grows angry and sad that he can’t understand women value their freedom.
- The 2015 Glyndebourne production cast handsome and fit Cirque du Soleil actor Franck Saurel as Selim and gave him a Shirtless Scene in the second act’s beginning. This Selim very nearly manages to seduce Konstanze: he almost gets her consent and only ruins his chances by blurting out that she must love him. And still she looks very torn about refusing him.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: When the two couples are getting ready to die horribly, Selim suddenly changes his mind.
- Unexpected Kindness: Pasha Selim sentences the four main characters to death, because they have been trying to whisk his beloved Konstanze away from his harem (and Konstanze, also being among the sentenced, has agreed to be whisked away) and because Konstanze's fiancé Belmonte is the son of Selim's bitterest enemy. However, at the last moment, Selim changes his mind and lets the entire group go. Amazed, they say heartfelt farewells to him and join in a celebratory final chorus praising Selim and wishing him a long life.
