Die EntfÃ 1\/4 hrung aus dem Serail ( in English : The Abduction from the Seraglio ) is an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . It is an example of a Singspiel : a type of German opera which had spoken dialogue as well as singing , and was often about magical stories . Die EntfÃ 1\/4 hrung aus dem Serail is in the genre of `` Singspiel '' , meaning that much of the action is carried forward by spoken dialogue , thus the music lacks recitatives and consists entirely of set numbers .