Mozart with an oil rig — and a panda

THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO (Lowry Lyric)

OPERA North’s new English-language production of this early Mozart masterpiece is quite a worlds-in-collision affair.

Set originally in the palace and harem of a mediaeval Turkish general, it instead comes mostly up to date in Tim Hopkins’ production, which he also designed.

The story’s clash between Muslim and Christian values and Eastern and Western secular codes is here married to remarkable visuals of a modern Dubai-like world, with its skyscrapers, bulldozers, aeroplanes and oil rigs — not to mention Wonder Woman and a giant panda.

The playful spirit of the original is maintained by the cast’s willingness to have fun where it is appropriate — to the extent that in the third act, an entirely incongruous pianist sits at an electric piano on a corner of the stage, playing sound effects on the keyboard.

The scene is a bit ill-timed and overdone, but its comic heart is in the right place.

Also in the right place are the voices of the cast and the conducting of Rory Macdonald

Allan Clayton as Belmonte displays a finely-wrought voice that has clearly worked hard to get where it is, while Kate Valentine is a fine Constanze. They are a fine match, as are Nicholas Sharratt and Elena Xanthoudakis as servant couple Pedrillo and Blonde, while Clive Bayley and Martin Hyder add humour and gravitas respectively as the Pasha’s overbearing security chief and the Pasha himself.

Though the work is a light-hearted one there are several emotional scenes and Hopkins gives them the seriousness they deserve.

The director and cast attempt to play the evening both for comedy and pathos, the action moving from laughs to high emotion from scene to scene.

Often a director will pick comedy and try to make everything amusing when it simply isn’t: the story is about a women torn about returning to the lover who has vowed to save her while also having growing feelings for the man who “stole” her.

Hopkins is funny when he can be, serious when he needs to be. The result isn’t perfect, but it does let the drama — and the music — show through strongly.

Tonight: Don Carlos, Verdi.