Mozart's DIE ENTFUHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL to Open This Week at the Met

Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, which has not been seen on the Met stage in almost a decade, opens April 22 led by James Levine, who recently announced that he would assume the new title of Music Director Emeritus at the conclusion of the Met's current season.

Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratovamakes her role debut as Konstanze with rising tenor Paul Appleby as Konstanze's lover Belmonte. Kathleen Kim sings the maid Blondchen with Brenton Ryan in his Met debut as Pedrillo, and Hans-Peter König as the overseer of the harem Osmin.

James Levine conducted John Dexter's new production premiere of Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1979 and has led 36 performances of the opera at the Met and seven on tour with the company. Over the course of his career, Levine has led more than 2,500 performances with the Met and has served as its Music Director since 1976. Earlier this season, he led a revival of Wagner's Tannhäuser, the holiday presentation of Strauss's Die Fledermaus, and Verdi'sSimon Boccanegra, and later this season, he will conduct two MET Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall. During the Met's 2016-17 season, his first as Music Director Emeritus, he will lead revivals of three works he has conducted more than anyone in Met history: Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri, Verdi's Nabucco, and Mozart's Idomeneo.

Albina Shagimuratova makes her role debut as Konstanze and made her company debut in 2010 as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Since then, she has reprised the role in the holiday presentation of The Magic Flute and starred in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with the Met. Recent performances with other notable companies include reprising the title character in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, LA Opera, and La Scala; Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte at the Vienna State Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden; and Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. Later this season, she can be seen as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni and reprising the role of Konstanze at the Bavarian State Opera Summer Festival.

Paul Appleby has previously sung Belmonte with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and was selected as a winner of the 2009 National Council Grand Finals Concert after singing "O wie ängstlich" from Die Entführung aus dem Serail. As a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his Met debut in 2011 as Brighella in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, followed by Demetrius in the world premiere of the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, Hylas in Berlioz's Les Troyens, the Chevalier de la Force in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Brian in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys, and last season, he sang David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. Next season, he will sing Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Met.

Kathleen Kim adds a new role to her Met repertory after previously singing Blondchen at the Minnesota Opera. She made her company debut in 2007 as Barbarina in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro followed by performances as Oscar in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Olympia in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Chiang Ch'ing in John Adams's Nixon in China, and Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, a role she will reprise at the Glyndebourne Festival this summer.

Brenton Ryan makes his company and role debut as Pedrillo. He has previously sung Belfiore in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims and Bardolfo in Verdi's Falstaff at the Wolf Trap Opera Company; Gastone in Verdi's La Traviata, Léon in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Beppe in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at the Los Angeles Opera; and Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville and Narr in Berg'sWozzeck at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Later this season, he will sing the Male Chorus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretiaat Wolf Trap Opera and reprise the role of Pedrillo at the Los Angeles Opera.

Hans-Peter König has previously sung Osmin at Deutsche Oper am Rhein. He made his Met debut as Sarastro inDie Zauberflöte in 2010, followed by Wagner roles including Daland in Der Fliegende Hollander; Hagen, Fafner, and Hunding in Der Ring des Nibelungen; and Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Later this season, he will star as Sir John Falstaff in Nicolai's Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor at Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail Fun Facts

The National Singspiel first sponsored the commission of Die Entführung aus sem Serail. The 25-year-old Mozart lobbied to work on this opera after showing the head of National Singspiel his earlier work Zaide, as well as excerpts from Idomeneo, which had premiered the previous year to great success in Munich. Mozart began composing the opera rapidly originally thinking he only had two months to complete it, but eventually he was granted an extension to complete the opera to his liking. It premiered to great success in 1782 at the Burgtheater in Vienna and was shown frequently throughout his lifetime in Vienna and in Germany.

Die Entführung aus sem Serail has been staged 68 times by the Met since the company premiere in 1946. Levine has conducted 43 of those performances.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail Radio Broadcasts

The May 7 performance of Die Entführung aus dem Serail will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74. The performance on April 22 will also be streamed live on the Met's website, www.metopera.org.

The May 7 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For more information on Die Entführung aus dem Serail including casting by date, click here.

Pictured: A scene from Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail." Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.