This seems to be the first CD recording of Entführung for some years, so it’s especially welcome. It follows Don Giovanni (DG, 12/12) and Così fan tutte (11/13) in the series of Mozart operas initiated by Rolando Villazón and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The depiction of the Christian and Muslim worlds might cause unease to some people nowadays – certainly Konstanze and Blonde make pointed remarks about the status of women in Turkey – but in the end it’s Belmonte’s father whom Pasha Selim justifiably calls a barbarian, and the Pasha himself who comes across as a true figure of the Enlightenment.

Once again, Nézet-Séguin shows how good he is in Mozart. His speeds are well judged, never too fast for the singers to articulate clearly. And he has the knack of bringing out detail without sounding fussy. There’s the hint of a rhetorical slowing-up before the accompanied cadenza in ‘Martern aller Arten’ – I could have done with more, actually – and powerful emphases in the violins in the section after Blonde has boxed Pedrillo’s ears. Particularly beguiling is the oboist’s rubato cutting across Osmin’s caustic remarks about Englishmen. The orchestra is beautifully balanced, with a fortepiano tinkling discreetly in the background.

In his first German role, Villazón sounds assured, both in speech and in song. He has a tendency to charge at phrases like a bull at a gate, which interestingly makes the wimpish Belmonte sound positively heroic. The coloratura in ‘Ich baue ganz’ is very well done, with superb breath control (and what enchanting woodwind-playing, offsetting the Gluckian plodding of the strings!). Diana Damrau, an experienced Queen of the Night, also has no trouble with the coloratura. If she sounds a little shrill in ‘Ach ich liebte’, her other two arias are faultless. The sadness of the first is touchingly conveyed through her soft singing; in the ensuing dialogue with Selim she is forceful, not resigned, before launching into the bravura of ‘Martern aller Arten’.

Anna Prohaska gives a winning account of ‘Durch Zärtlichkeit’, soaring up to top E with no sense of strain. It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that the role of spirited servant plays itself; but Blonde presents many challenges, and Prohaska meets them all. Paul Schweinester is equally adept as Pedrillo, striking just the right balance between courage and fear in ‘Frisch zum Kampfe!’. Franz-Josef Selig makes a superb Osmin, both formidable and comic, rich in tone across a range of more than two octaves. All the cast deliver the spoken words convincingly: none more so than Thomas Quasthoff as a passionate Selim. There’s still room for a recording that by including all the dialogue restores the balance between words and music.

Apart from a section in Belmonte’s second aria, none of Mozart’s optional cuts are made. Of earlier recordings, Jochum’s is worth seeking out for Fritz Wunderlich’s incomparable Belmonte; on period instruments Christopher Hogwood is supreme. Otherwise, this newcomer will do very nicely.