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The Abduction from the Seraglio (film)

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The Abduction from the Seraglio
Based onDie Entführung aus dem Serail
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Directed byAlan Burke
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time90 minutes
Original release
Release22 February 1961 (1961-02-22)
Release12 April 1961 (1961-04-12) (Melbourne)[1]

The Abduction from the Seraglio is a 1961 Australian TV version of Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail and sung in English. It was one of a number of operas broadcast by the ABC in the early days of Australian television.[2]

Cast

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  • Rae Cocking as Constanze
  • Rosalind Keene as Blonde
  • Alan Light as Pasha Selim
  • Donald Smith as Belmonte
  • Neil Warren-Smith as Osmin
  • Gino Zancanaro as Pedrillo

Reception

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The critic for The Sydney Morning Herald thought "it would be hard to pick a more unsuitable opera for television" than The Abduction from the Seraglio due to the length of the arias and lack of movement. But he felt the production was "handsome and remarkable" which proved that "no opera can be presumed unfit for television, provided the delight in visual ingenuities is matched by a genuine appreciation of its purely musical opportunities."[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Four TV Opera Debuts". The Age. 6 April 1961. p. 12.
  2. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  3. ^ "The Seraglio on Television". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 1961. p. 7.
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