Lynton Atkinson
British director Elijah Moshinsky traveled to Istanbul's Topkapi Palace with a cast of gifted singers and actors to film a lavish production of Mozart's Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail (aka The Abduction From The Harem), and this documentary offers a look at both the behind-the-scenes efforts to put the project on screen and extended highlights from the resulting production. Mozart in Turkey also touches on the opera's performance history and Mozart's life at the time it was composed.
Stiffelio is considered "early Verdi" to musiclogists who classify things, but, in reality, it is a final transition between the maestro's earlier (but most enjoyable) works, and the mature craftsmanship of Rigoletto. Preceded by Luisa Miller (q.v.), there is more dramatic intensity and story line than in the earlier works. The plot centers around Stiffelio, a minister, who discovers that his wife, Mina, has been unfaithful.
