Mozart's Zaide
Peter Sellars (stage director), Louis Langrée (conductor) – With Russell Thomas (Sultan Soliman), Morris Robinson (Osmin), Ekaterina Lekhina (Zaide) – Aix-en-Provence Festival
Cast
Peter Sellars — Stage director
Ekaterina Lekhina — Zaide
Sean Panikkar — Gomatz
Alfred Walker — Allazim
Russell Thomas — Sultan Soliman
Morris Robinson — Osmin
Camerata Salzburg
Program notes
Zaide, the unfinished opera by Mozart, in a production directed by Peter Sellars which was the focus of controversy at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2008.
Composed in 1780, two years before The Abduction from the Seraglio, Zaide contains melodies of incredible inventiveness. The opera lacks an overture, a finale and many spoken dialogues, yet the missing elements allowed Sellars to elaborate and transform the work into a grand manifesto against slavery. Sellars' vision provoked a scandal, as it had previously in Vienna and London, but the Cour de l'Archevêché has experienced plenty of scandals.
The opera stars Russel Thomas (Sultan Soliman), Ekaterina Lekhina (Zaide) and Sean Panikar (Gomatz) and is conducted by Louis Langrée with the Salzburg Camerata. Sellar’s assistant director said of the performance: "You probably won't share this vision, you may be shocked or even remain indifferent to our contemporary approach, however, it is a gift and we hope that you will greet it with open arms and open minds."
