Diana Damrau, Anna Prohaska, Rolando Villazon & Yannick Nezet-Seguin - Mozart: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (2015)

Mozart's first true operatic masterpiece, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), K. 384, cavorts around a Turkish harem with sexy slow numbers and brilliant arias for the principals. (Thomas Quasthoff fans note: he appears here in the purely speaking role -- the opera is a Singspiel, with spoken dialogue -- of the Pasha Selim.) This live recording from the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, made in 2014, captures most of the opera's virtues. Soprano Diana Damrau in the role of the imprisoned Konstanze, is lively and equal to the challenges of the dangerous "Martern aller Arten" (Tortures of all kinds), and conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin keeps things moving and doesn't overload the Chamber Orchestra of Europe to the point where its energy is drained. The cast in general is well integrated into the overall conception, and if there's a weak point it's with the most celebrated member of the cast, tenor Rolando Villazon in the hero role of Belmonte, whose big tone is out of proportion with the music in general. The performance feints in the direction of historical performance with its fortepiano continuo, but can't compete in that regard with William Christie's historically informed version. It is on balance, however, a highly listenable Mozart in a live recording that puts the singers front and center, and brings them across well. -- James Manheim