The Abduction from the Seraglio Tickets

Royal Opera of Versailles (Palace of Versailles), Paris, France

Scene 2 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 1 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 3 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 4 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 5 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 6 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 7 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

Scene 8 from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"

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Available Dates: 18 - 23 Jun, 2026 (4 events)

Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Paris, France

Duration: 2h 50min with 1 interval

Acts: 3

Intervals: 1

Sung in: French

Titles in: French,English

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choose the date to see the peformers

Creators

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Librettist: Christoph Friedrich Bretzner

Librettist: Gottlieb Stephanie

Director: Michel Fau

Overview

A masterpiece of comic opera rediscovers its Mozartian or French vein.

In 1781, the young Mozart left the city of Salzburg and his job with Archbishop Colloredo, with whom he no longer got along. He then moved to Vienna, the musical capital that he set about conquering. To make a name for himself in the world of opera, the young composer took advantage of a commission from Emperor Joseph II for the Burgtheater. He then composed an opera that moved away from the highly codified opera seria to develop a more national genre: the singspiel , a musical comedy that would be his first opera in the German language.

The opera premiered a month after its completion, in July 1782, under the composer's direction. The reception was triumphant and the Emperor did not fail to congratulate Mozart, telling him, in a now-famous remark: "Too beautiful for our ears and far too many notes, my dear Mozart!" To which the composer is said to have retorted mischievously, "Just as much as is necessary, Sire!" The opera was performed again in Vienna, then in Prague, Leipzig and Salzburg, and marked the beginning of Mozart's Viennese career at the age of twenty-six!

What was able to seduce and astonish the emperor, like the rest of the public, was undoubtedly the audacity of the composition visible through the multiplication of effects and its irresistible joy. Mozart here gives in to the fashion of turqueries both in the choice of subject and in the use of instruments evoking a certain orientalism: the piccolo, the triangle and the cymbal, which we perceive from the opening, simulate the fanfares of the janissaries.

Gaétan Jarry, at the head of the choirs and orchestra of the Royal Opera, restores all its flavor to Mozart's music, enhanced by the staging of the great opera enthusiast, the eccentric Michel Fau, and by a French-language version that rings with absolute clarity!

Co-production Tours Opera Centre – Val de Loire

History

Premiere of this production: 16 July 1782, Burgtheater, Vienna

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The plot concerns the attempt of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of Pasha Selim. The work premiered on 16 July 1782 at the Vienna Burgtheater, with the composer conducting.

Synopsis

Place: the country house of the Pasha (German "Bassa"), in Turkey
Time: 16th century

Act 1
After a lively overture, Belmonte enters, looking for his betrothed, Konstanze, who with her English servant Blonde has fallen into the hands of pirates and been sold to Pasha Selim (Aria: "Hier soll ich dich denn sehen" – "Here surely I must find her"). Osmin, the Pasha's bad-tempered servant, comes to pluck figs in the garden and contemptuously ignores Belmonte's questions (Aria: "Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden" – "You may think, you've found a maiden"). Belmonte tries to obtain news of his servant, Pedrillo, who has been captured with the women and is serving as a servant in the Pasha's palace. Osmin replies with insults and abuse (Duet: "Verwünscht seist du samt deinem Liede!" – "The devil take you and your song, sir"). Belmonte leaves in disgust. Pedrillo enters and Osmin rages at him, vowing to get him tortured and killed in many different ways (Aria: "Solche hergelaufne Laffen" – "These young men who go a-spying"). Osmin leaves and Belmonte enters and happily reunites with Pedrillo. Together they resolve to rescue Konstanze and Blonde, who is Pedrillo's fiancée (Aria: "Konstanze, Konstanze, dich wiederzusehen … O wie ängstlich" – "Konstanze, Konstanze, to see thee again … Oh what trembling").

Accompanied by a chorus of Janissaries ("Singt dem großen Bassa Lieder" – "Sing to the mighty Pasha Selim"), Pasha Selim appears with Konstanze, for whose love he strives in vain (Aria of Konstanze: "Ach ich liebte" – "How I loved him"). Pedrillo tricks the Pasha into hiring Belmonte as an architect. When Belmonte and Pedrillo try to enter the palace, Osmin bars their way, but they hurry past him anyway (Terzett: "Marsch! Marsch! Marsch! Trollt euch fort!" – "March! March! March! Clear off!").

Act 2

The Pasha has given Blonde to Osmin, to be his slave; however, she defiantly rebuffs her new master's rough lovemaking attempts (Aria: "Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln" – "With smiles and kind caresses"), threatens to scratch out his eyes, and chases him out of the room (Duet: "Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir" – "I'm going, but mark what I say"). Konstanze enters and greets Blonde in distress (Aria: "Welcher Wechsel herrscht in meiner Seele … Traurigkeit ward mir zum Lose" – "Oh what sorrow overwhelms my spirit … Endless grief tortures my spirit"). The Pasha enters, demands her love, and threatens to use force, but she resolutely rejects him. (Aria: "Martern aller Arten" – "Tortures unrelenting") Left alone, he muses on her determination to remain chaste, which increases his desire for her.

Pedrillo informs Blonde that Belmonte has come and is planning to rescue them. Blonde is filled with joy. (Aria: "Welche Wonne, welche Lust" – "Oh, the happy, happy day"). After singing a short ditty to boost his courage (Aria: "Frisch zum Kampfe" – "Now Pedrillo, now for battle!"), Pedrillo invites Osmin to drink (Duet: "Vivat Bacchus! Bacchus lebe!" – "Here's to Bacchus, long live Bacchus"). Despite his religious prohibition against alcoholic beverages, Osmin drinks heavily and falls asleep. Konstanze joins Belmonte who declares his love (Aria: "Wenn der Freude Tränen fließen" – "When tears of joy flow"). The two couples reunite (Quartet, Belmonte, Konstanze, Pedrillo, Blonde: "Ach Belmonte! Ach, mein Leben" – "Ah, Belmonte, ah my dear one!"). After their initial expressions of love and joy, Belmonte and Pedrillo both question anxiously whether their respective fiancees have remained faithful during their forced separation; to their delight the women respond with indignation and dismay, and Blonde slaps Pedrillo's face. The two men apologize for their failure of confidence; the women forgive them for the offensive questions.

Act 3

Belmonte and Pedrillo come to the garden with ladders (Aria, Belmonte: "Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke" – "Love, only love, can now direct me"). Pedrillo gets the attention of the women by singing a ballad about a rescue similar to the one he is planning (Romanze, Pedrillo: "In Mohrenland gefangen war" – "In Moorish lands a maiden fair"). However, Osmin enters, sees the ladders, and rouses the castle. Osmin exults in the prospect of seeing them all hanged (Aria: "O, wie will ich triumphieren" – "My triumphant hour's approaching"). Belmonte pleads for their lives and tells Pasha Selim that his father is a Spanish Grandee and Governor of Oran, named Lostados, and will pay a generous ransom. Unfortunately, Pasha Selim and Lostados are long-standing enemies. The Pasha rejoices in the opportunity to subject his enemy's son to a horrible death. He leaves Belmonte and Konstanze to bid each other a last farewell; they lovingly assure each other that being tortured to death will be a pleasure, so long as they get tortured to death together (Duet: "Welch ein Geschick! O Qual der Seele.... Weh, du soltest für mich sterben" – "What dreadful fate conspires against us.... Woe, you will die because of me"). However, the Pasha decides that he can make a better point against Lostados by showing mercy and releasing Belmonte and his friends. All are set at liberty – much to the dismay of Osmin, who would prefer to see them all brutally executed (Finale: "Nie werd' ich deine Huld verkennen" – "Your noble mercy passes measure").

Venue Info

Royal Opera of Versailles (Palace of Versailles) - Paris
3 Place Léon Gambetta, Versailles

The Royal Opera of Versailles is the main theatre and opera house of the Palace of Versailles. The Royal Opera is one of the greatest works by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel. Inaugurated in 1770 during the reign of Louis XV, it was at the time the largest concert hall in Europe, and was also a great technical achievement and an impressive feat of decorative refinement. A theatre for monarchic and then republican life, it has hosted celebrations, shows and parliamentary debates.

Designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, it is also known as the Théâtre Gabriel. The interior decoration by Augustin Pajou is constructed almost entirely of wood, painted to resemble marble in a technique known as faux marble. The excellent acoustics of the opera house is at least partly due to its wooden interior.

The house is located at the northern extremity of the north wing of the palace. General public access to the theater is gained through the two-story vestibule. Some parts of the Opéra, such as the King's Loge and the King's Boudoir represent some of the earliest expressions of what would become known as the Louis XVI style.

Lully’s Persée — written in 1682, the year Louis XIV moved into the palace — inaugurated the Opéra on 16 May 1770 in celebration of the marriage of the dauphin — the future Louis XVI — to Marie Antoinette.

The Opéra Royal can serve either as a theater for opera, stage plays, or orchestral events, when it can accommodate an audience of 712 or as a ballroom when the floor of the orchestra level of the auditorium can be raised to the level of the stage. On these occasions, the Opéra can accommodate 1,200.