Opera Company of Philadelphia's 'Abduction' strong but lacking

How can an opera production look so fun yet feel so distant? So it was with the Opera Company of Philadelphia's handsome, technologically elaborate, and largely well-sung production of The Abduction From the Seraglio, which attempted to restore Mozart's frothiest operatic work to the comedic status that it must have occupied when written more than 200 years ago.

Reset in World War I-era Istanbul, the opera unfolded amid graceful arches and flickering, black-and-white silent-film footage on the Academy of Music stage, first giving the production and cast credits and then setting the scene for the opera's rescue plot about women escaping from the harem of the powerful Bassa Selim. But did the effort serve the opera? Was the opera worth serving?

Many operas arise from antiquated dramaturgy, but often character types and plot contrivances have somehow echoed into our own time. But singspiels - the operetta-like form that spawned Abduction - seem long buried, leaving us to puzzle over a number of odd features. The pivotal Selim character doesn't sing at all. Some arias have long orchestral introductions that stage directors rarely know how to handle. Then there's the eternal bugaboo - spoken dialogue that needs to be heard in a large, unamplified house and usually inspires cloyingly artificial delivery.

Conceptually, the production couldn't have been stronger. The film footage worked beautifully. Costumes were sumptuous and color-coordinated. A platform built around the orchestra allowed singers to have closer contact with the audience. Yet it was all about atmosphere with too little characterization. Stage director Robert B. Driver is best with character-based comedy, but seemed to lose his compass with the sillier, hyper-animated manner of this Abduction production. It played like children's theater. Staging problems were solved by adding some harem girls, who, in fact, dispersed rather than focused the opera's fragile narrative. Elaborate headgear made sure facial features couldn't be read and caricatures would be maintained. Even when singers were physically closer to their listeners, there seemed to be nothing for them to confide. As good as the singing mostly was, nobody commanded his or her role.