Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Staatsoper Unter den Linden & Andrea Moses rethink Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” with Bülent Ceylan and a fresh view of cultural diversity.

Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”, premiered in Vienna in 1782 as a key work of the “German National Singspiel” promoted by Emperor Joseph II, is today regarded as a complex and at times not entirely unproblematic opera. Different cultures and mentalities collide, and concepts of gender are conveyed that are at the very least open to discussion. Mozart’s opera is a work that must be understood in the context of its time, and its performance in the present day raises a number of questions.

In the new production at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, space is to be given precisely to this aspect of questioning and reflection. Featuring the well-known comedian Bülent Ceylan, who humorously explores his German and Turkish identity in his stage work, the production takes on a distinctive character. Ceylan not only performs the spoken role of Bassa Selim, but also acts as a commentator and interpreter of the events.

The staging seeks to make both German (Central/ Western European) and Turkish perspectives visible. Director Andrea Moses creates an entertaining spectacle that deliberately departs from traditional operatic conventions, operating at the intersection of so called “high art“ on the one hand and “popular art“ on the other to attract new audiences, while re-examining the opera within a fresh theatrical framework.

Genre Opera
Recording location Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin
Production year 2026
Duration 155'
Video format HD
Production Company A production of EuroArts Music in co-production with ZDF, 3sat, in co-operation with Staatsoper Unter den Linden, rbb
TV Director Andreas Morell
Stage Director Andrea Moses
Sets Raimund Bauer
Graphics Andrea Gabriel
Costumes Anja Rabes
Chorus Master Gerhard Polifka
Light Design Irene Selka
Choir Staatsopernchor
Orchestra / Band Staatskapelle Berlin
Conductor Thomas Guggeis
Soloist Adela Zaharia (Konstanze), Serafina Starke (Blonde), Siyabonga Maqungo (Belmonte), Michael Laurenz (Pedrillo), David Steffens (Osmin), Bülent Ceylan (Bassa Selim)
Distribution TV EuroArts Music International
Distribution VOD / SVOD EuroArts Music International