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The Abduction from the Seraglio is sung in German with an electronic surtitles screen above the stage carrying a translation in English (and Welsh in Wales) of everything that is being sung - so it's easy to follow all the action! Check when booking your tickets that a view of the surtitles is available from the seats you chose.


Running time approximately 3 hours

Supported by

and the WNO Partnership

Act III
It is midnight. Belmonte calls upon love to give him strength. Pedrillo sings a Moorish ballad as the signal of the escape. As Constanza and Blondes attempt to climb down the ladder, Osmin comes out of his house and calls for the Janissary guard to capture them and lead them away. He gloats at the prospect of seeing them on the gallows, then goes to tell the Pasha of the treacherous abduction. Constanza begs for Belmonte’s life, and Belmonte asks for mercy, as he is from the rich Spanish family who will pay whatever ransom Selim asks. His name is Lostados. Selim knows the name: Belmonte’s father, Commandant of Oran, is his bitterest enemy, and now Belmonte is in his power. He leaves to tell Osmin what to do with them, and Belmonte and Constanza sing a piteous duet, lamenting their fate and swearing fidelity to the point of death. Selim returns and tells them that he would scorn to behave with as much evil as Belmonte’s father: instead, he will set him free, and send them on their way. In the finale, they declare that ‘He who such goodness cannot prize, should be disgraced in all men’s eyes’, while Osmin rage that he has been cheated of his revenge, and that they should be ‘hung in chains, then garrotted, then impaled until they’ve rotted, burnt alive, hung, drawn and quartered, boiled in oil, at last they’re slaughtered!’ But the Janissaries end the opera with a jubilant chorus praising Pasha Selim and his fame.