This splendid Entführung, taped live in Salzburg in August, 1956, has plenty to recommend it despite what might appear to be less than fascinating casting. Conductor George Szell finds all of the lightness and fun in the opera while keeping attacks and accents strong and muscular. There are moments during which he slows down considerably to underline a particularly sweet or graceful moment–Belmonte’s “Wenn der Freude Träner fleissen” is one of them–and his judgment is unerring. When he lets the orchestra go, cymbals and triangle resounding, it’s quite a show.
The finest member of the cast is Kurt Böhme, whose Osmin probably is the best among many excellent ones on CD. He has all the notes, including the low-D, which he growls out meanly, but moreover he has Osmin’s attitude right: the character is dangerous but vaguely ridiculous, absolutely certain of himself but a fool and servant of Pasha Selim. He sings with remarkable “face”–a truly dramatic reading.
Both women, one might note, are soubrettes, but the chirping level is remarkably low. Yes, their voices are light and lack heft, a trait that would be admirable in Erika Köth’s Konstanze, but they’re excellent. Köth is an accurate, moving Konstanze who brings real gravity to “Traurigkeit” and real temperament to “Martern aller arten”. She’s lovely in the duets and ensembles as well, keeping the brightness in her tone for the shinier moments.
Rudolf Schock’s tenor voice is beefier than is normally associated with Belmonte, and indeed Szell (clumsily but wisely) cuts part of his third-act showpiece, “Ich baue ganz”; but Schock manages to scale his voice to a really gentle sound more often than not, and he easily stands up to the more dramatic aspects of the role. His vocal acting is sincere and involved, and “Wenn der Freude Träner fleissen” is one charming moment among many. Tenor Murray Dickie is a terrific Pedrillo, singing fearlessly in “Frisch zum Kampfe” (Mozart’s noisiest tenor aria) and characterfully throughout. Hannsgeorg Laubenthal’s Selim is well-inflected. The sonics are superb for their time, with the racket of the Turkish music no problem for the engineers. This set in your collection might be enough, but Gardiner’s (DG) and Böhm’s (also DG) are crucial.
