Premiere of The Magic Flute (1791)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's two-act Singspiel The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), K. 620, to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, roughly two months before the composer's death.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The opera grew out of Mozart's deepening involvement with Emanuel Schikaneder's theatrical troupe, which had been the resident company at the Theater auf der Wieden since 1789. Mozart had already contributed passages, including the duet "Nun liebes Weibchen" (K. 625/592a), to the troupe's 1790 collaborative opera Der Stein der Weisen.

The Work. The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart set to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a Singspiel, a popular form that combined singing with spoken dialogue.

Premiere and Aftermath. The premiere took place on 30 September 1791 at the suburban Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before Mozart's death on 5 December 1791. The opera reached its 100th performance in November 1792 and was first staged outside Vienna on 21 September 1792 in Lemberg, followed by Prague.

People involved

Sources

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