The US premiere tonight of Mick Csaky's "Mozart in Turkey," in San Rafael,
was the appropriate program for a Midsummer Mozart Festival benefit.  The
festival and the film's subject, "Abduction from the Seraglio," are
strongly linked.

Twenty-seven years ago, when George Cleve conducted the San Francisco
Opera's spring series production of "Abduction," the orchestra musicians
rallied around Cleve and formed the festival.  Tonight, Cleve, major
festival benefactors, Csaky and harem historian Alev Lytle Croutier all
converged at the Rafael Film Center.

Croutier, author of "The Palace of Tears," about the history of harems,
was an advisor to the film as well as an on-screen participant.  Her
contribution at the benefit was the explanation how the Viennese pastry
baked in form of a (Turkish) crescent and (Turkish) coffee combined
centuries ago to provide the major Turkish contribution to culinary
culture:  the "continental breakfast."

Csaky, producer and director of "Mozart in Turkey," spoke about the idea
of taking "Abduction" to Istanbul's Topkapi Palace, but not just for a
production of the opera to be filmed on the site.  The film turned out to
be a documentary of producing the opera, with a little more than half of
the work included as excerpts.

Several years ago, in an interview about "Cold Comfort Farm," John
Schlesinger told me that he was planning to direct the film of the opera
in Istanbul, the idea suggested by Sir John Tooley, former director of
Covent Garden.  That didn't happen (artistic and financial disagreements,
apparently), and it's not entirely clear why the hybrid replaced the whole
opera.  The truth is that all that talking about what the film-makers are
doing and why doesn't contribute much either to the film or the enjoyment
of the opera.

As to "Abduction" itself, it benefits greatly from the setting and from
Charles Mackerras' glorious musical direction.  Stage director for the
opera was Elijah Moshinsky, who spends a great deal of time on camera,
commenting both on the work and on the filming of the opera.

The men in the cast are uniformly excellent:  Paul Groves is a robust
Belmonte - exhibiting a Mozartean voice, which may be just as useful
in much heavier works - Peter Rose is a towering Osmin (physically and
vocally), and Lynton Atkinson is doing well as Pedrillo, as does Desiree
Rancatore as Blonde.

And that leaves Yelda Kodalli - Turkey's pride and the San Francisco
Opera's disastrous Queen of the Night last season - in the role of
Konstanze.  She is far, far better here than she was in the War Memorial,
but of course the studio performance might have had as many takes as
needed.  Even so, adequate as her performance is, Kodalli is not sustaining
her lines, not only as a matter of what may be a technical problem, but
also exhibiting a lack of a truly "musical" performance.  She sings, but
does not shape.  Unlike the others in the cast who all act well (especially
Oliver Tobias as Pasha Selim, notwithstanding the excessive number of
brooding close-ups), Kodalli gets through the role, just.

At any rate, for handful of us around the world for whom "Abduction" has a
special musical appeal, "Mozart in Turkey" is a welcome newcomer.  I'd just
like to see the half that didn't make it.

Janos Gereben/SF, CA
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