Sweatshops are evil and we should fight them, and Mozart wanted to show us this through Zaide. Or so director Peter Sellars tried to convince us, although Edward Seckerson of the Independent reckoned that was a bit of a stretch.

The Observer's Anthony Holden was half convinced, finding that the chief "fascination of the evening" was "listening to half-formed Mozart fighting out of its shell, as Sellars tried to breathe contemporary life into a mundane tale of escape and revenge". But, in the final analysis, "Sellars' claims for the work as 'an anti-slavery opera for the 21st century' were looking (and sounding) overstated".

Hilary Finch of the Times did embrace the idea, quite confident in Sellars' ability to dispel two myths for our time: "One, that Mozart wrote his escape-from-the-harem operas simply to satisfy a taste for tinkly Turkish music; and, two, that slavery has been abolished."

Beyond the contentiousness caused by a 30-minute lecture from the director of Anti-Slavery International, the music was generally thought to be rather good. Conductor Louis Langrée inspired much praise, ensuring "Mozart's young, fervent music lashed, stung and sobbed just as it should", according to the Times, helping to "load Sellars' dice with a blistering intensity" for the Independent. In addition, soprano Hyunah Yu, tenors Norman Shankle and Russell Thomas, and bass Alfred Walker all commanded general praise for strong performances.