Regieoper to be the most radically shocking to date. The inspiration for Mozart's opera was the overwhelming fascination of Europeans by all things Turkish. Orientalist elements abound in this story of a hero trying to rescue two girls from the clutches of an evil Pasha who has installed them in his harem, Seraglio. Instead of a genteel harem, Bieto has set this Abduction in a modern, garish bordello where men and women engage in extreme acts of sex and brutality. The sets consist mainly of whorehouse accoutrements, the lighting is colored and garish, and the costumes for the most part are
Robert Radford to another source) Hagen in "Götterdämmerung". He was then engaged with the Grand Opera Syndicate at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and he was successively engaged by Thomas Beecham in his productions at various venues, including Covent Garden, Drury Lane and His Majesty's Theatre. In Beecham's production of Wagner's "Ring cycle" he again played Fasolt, opposite the Fafnir of the younger Norman Allin, who succeeded him as Britain's foremost bass. Among his best-known roles were Mephistopheles (Gounod's "Faust"), Osmin ("Il Seraglio"), Sarastro ("The Magic Flute"), the Father (Charpentier's "Louise"), "Ivan the Terrible" and "Boris Godunov" (title role), which he