List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Operatic works of W. A. Mozart comprise 22 musical dramas in a variety of genres. They range from the simple, derivative works of his juvenile years to the fully-fledged operas of his maturity. Three of the works were abandoned before completion and were not performed until many years after Mozart's death. His mature works are all considered classics, and are never out of the repertory.[1]
Mozart, from a very young age, had "an extraordinary capacity [...] for seizing on and assimilating whatever in a newly encountered style (was) most useful to him".[2] In a letter to his father, dated 7 February 1778 he writes: "As you know, I can more or less adopt or imitate any kind and style of composition". [3] He then used this gift as a means for breaking new ground, becoming simultaneously "assimilator, perfector and innovator".[2] Thus, his early works follow the traditional forms of the Italian opera seria and opera buffa, and the German singspiel. In his mature phase he enhanced all of these forms with the richness of his innovation, in Don Giovanni achieving a conflation of the two Italian styles by including within it a seria character in Donna Anna, buffa characters in Leporello and Zerlina, and a mixed seria-buffa character in Donna Elvira.[1] A particular feature of Mozart's later work is the stream of memorable, strongly-drawn female characters, in particular the so-called "Viennese soubrettes" who, in Charles Osborne's phrase, "contrive to combine charm with managerial instinct".[4] Music writer and analyst Gottfried Kraus has remarked that these were already present, in embryonic form, in such early operas as La finta giardiniera, 1774.[5]
Mozart's texts came from a variety of sources, the early works often being settings of existing texts.[6] Mozart's first opportunity to decide his own librettist appears to be his choice of Giambattista Varesco for Idomeneo in 1781. Five years later he began his most enduring collaboration, with Lorenzo Da Ponte, his "true phoenix".[7]
Compiling the list
Basis for inclusion
The list includes all the theatrical works generally accepted as composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In this context "theatrical" means performed on a stage, by vocalists singing in character, in acordance with stage directions. Some sources have adopted more specific criteria, leading them to exclude the early "sacred singspiel" Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots which they classify as an oratorio.[8] However, as Osborne maks clear, the libretto contains stage directions which suggest that the work was to acted, not merely sung, and it is formally described as a "geistliches Singspiel" (sacred play with music), not as an oratorio.[9]
Sequence
The list is the order that the works were written, insofar as this can be precisely established. When (as with the case of Die Zauberflöte and La clemenza di Tito) two works were being composed concurrently, the work which came first to performance is placed earlier.
List of works
| Kochel No. | Year | Title | Libretto | Characters | Type of opera | First performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K.35 | 1767 | Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots Part I[10]
(Eng: The Obligation of the First Commandment) |
Ignaz von Weiser[11] | Christian (tenor); Spirit of Christianity (tenor); Worldliness (soprano); Divine Mercy (soprano); Divine Justice (soprano) | Sacred Singspiel | Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg, 12 March 1767 (Part I only) |
| K.38 | 1767 | Apollo et Hyacinthus
(Eng: Apollo and Hyacinthus) |
Rufinus Widl, after Ovid's Metamorphoses | Oebalus (tenor); Melia (soprano); Hyacinthus (soprano); Apollo (alto); Zephyrus (alto); Two Priests (bass) | Musical intermezzo to a Latin comedy | Great Hall, University of Salzburg, 13 May 1767 |
| K.50 | 1768 | Bastien und Bastienne
(Eng: Bastien and Bastienne) |
F. W. Weiskern and J. H. Muller[12] | Bastien (tenor); Bastienne (soprano); Colas (bass) | Singspiel in one act | House of Dr Messmer, Vienna, October 1768 (uncertain);[13] First confirmed performance, Architektenhaus, Berlin, |
| K.51 | 1768 | La finta semplice
(Eng: The feigned simpleton) |
Carlo Goldoni | Fracasso (tenor); Simone (bass); Don Cassandro (bass); Don Polidoro (tenor); Rosina (soprano); Ninetta (soprano); Giacinta (contralto) | Opera buffa in three acts | Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg, |
| K.87 | 1770 | Mitridate, rè di Ponto
(Eng: Mithridates, King of Pontus) |
Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi, after Racine's tragedy Mithridate | Mitridate (tenor); Aspasia (soprano); Sifare (soprano); Farnace (alto); Ismene (soprano); Marzio (tenor); Arbate (soprano) | Opera seria in three acts | Teatro Regio Ducal, Milan, |
| K.111 | 1771 | Ascanio in Alba
(Eng: Ascanio in Alba) |
Giuseppe Parini | Ascanio (soprano); Venus (soprano); Silvia (soprano); Aceste (tenor); Fauno (soprano) | Pastoral opera in two acts | Teatro Regio Ducal, Milan, |
| K.126 | 1772 | Il sogno di Scipione
(Eng: Scipio's dream) |
Pietro Metastasio, after Cicero | Scipione (tenor); Publio (tenor); Emilio (tenor); Constancy (soprano); Fortune (soprano) | Dramatic serenade in one act | Archbishop's residence, Salzburg, 29 April or 1 May 1772 |
| K.135 | 1772 | Lucio Silla
(Eng: Lucio Silla) |
Giovanni de Gamarra, revised by Metastasio | Lucio Silla (tenor); Cecilio (soprano); Celia (soprano); Lucio Cinna (soprano); Giunia (soprano); Aufidio (tenor) | Opera seria in three acts | Teatro Regio Ducal, Milan, |
| K.196 | 1774 | La finta giardiniera
(Eng: The pretend garden-maid) |
Raniero de'Calzabigi, revised by Marco Coltellini | Sandrina (soprano); Don Anchise (tenor); Count Belfiore (tenor); Arminda (soprano); Ramiro (soprano); Serpetta (soprano); Nardo (bass) | Opera buffa in three acts | Redoutensaal, Munich, |
| K.208 | 1775 | Il rè pastore
(Eng: The Shepherd King) |
Pietro Metastasio | Aminta (soprano); Elisa (soprano); Tamiri (soprano); Agenore (tenor); Alessandro (Alexander the Great) (tenor) | Opera in two acts | Archbishop's residence, Salzburg, 23 April 1775 |
| K.345 | 1773
& 1779 |
Thamos, König in Aegypten
(Eng: Thamos, King of Egypt) |
Tobias Philipp von Gebler | Chorus: no named characters | Choruses and entr'actes for a heroic drama | Kärntnertor Theatre, Vienna 4 April 1774 (two choruses); first complete performance Salzburg, 1779-80 |
| K.344 | 1779 | Zaide
(Eng: Zaide) |
Johann Andreas Schachtner | Zaide (soprano); Gamatz (tenor); Allazim (bass); Sultan Soliman (tenor); Osmin (bass); Zaram (speaking role); Four slaves (tenors) | Singspiel (incomplete) | Frankfurt (location unrecorded), 27 January 1866[15] |
| K.366 | 1781 | Idomeneo, Rè di Creta
(Eng: Idomeneo, King of Crete) |
Giambattista Varesco | Idomeneo (tenor); Idamante (soprano, later rewritten for tenor); Arbace (tenor); Ilia (soprano); Elettra (soprano); High Priest of Neptune (tenor); Voice of Neptune (bass) | Opera seria in three acts | Court Theatre, Munich, |
| K.384 | 1782 | Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(Eng: The Abduction from the Seraglio) |
Gottlieb Stephanie Jr | Belmonte (tenor); Pedrillo (tenor); Constanze (soprano); Blonde (soprano); Osmin (bass); Pasha Selim (speaking part); Klaas (speaking Part) | Singspiel in three acts | Burgtheater, Vienna, 16 July 1782 |
| K.422 | 1784 | L'Oca del Cairo
(Eng: The Goose of Cairo) |
Giambattista Varesco | (Provisional) Don Pippo (bass); Donna Pantea (presumed soprano); Celidora (soprano); Biondello (tenor); Calandrino (tenor); Lavin (soprano); Chichibio (bass); Auretta (soprano) | Opera buffa (incomplete) | Fantaisies-Parisiennes, Paris, |
| K.430 | 1784 | Lo sposo deluso
(Eng: The Deluded Bridegroom) |
Lorenzo da Ponte | (Provisional) Bocconio (bass): Eugenia (soprano); Don Asdrubale (presumed tenor); Bettina (soprano); Pulcherio (bass); Gervasio (not known); Metilde (presumed soprano) | Opera buffa (incomplete) | Fantaisies-Parisiennes, Paris, |
| K.486 | 1786 | Der Schauspieldirektor
(Eng: The Impressario) |
Gottlieb Stephanie Jr | Buff (bass); Herr Vogelsang (tenor); Madame Herz (soprano); Madamoiselle Silberklang (soprano); Speaking parts: Frank, Eiler, Herz, Madame Pfeil, Madame Krone, Madame Vogelsang | Comedy with music in one act | Palace of Schönbrunn, Vienna, |
| K.492 | 1786 | Le nozze di Figaro
(Eng: The Marriage of Figaro) |
Lorenzo da Ponte, after Pierre Beaumarchais | Figaro (bass); Susanna (soprano); Dr Bartolo (bass); Marcellina (soprano); Cherubino (soprano); Count Almviva (baritone); Don Basilio (tenor); Countess Almaviva (soprano); Antonio (bass); Don Curzio (tenor); Barbarina (mezzo-soprano); Two servant girls (soprano and mezzo-soprano) | Opera buffa in four acts | Burgtheater, Vienna, 1 May 1786 |
| K.527 | 1787 | Don Giovanni
(Eng: Don Giovanni or Don Juan) |
Lorenzo da Ponte | Don Giovanni (baritone); Leporello (bass); Commendatore (bass); Donna Anna (soprano); Don Ottavio (tenor); Donna Elvira (soprano); Masetto (bass); Zerlina (soprano) | Dramma giocoso in two acts | Nationaltheater, Prague, |
| K.588 | 1790 | Cosi fan tutti
(Eng: Thus, all women!) |
Lorenzo da Ponte | Ferrando (tenor); Guglielmo (baritone); Fiordiligi (soprano); Dorabella (soprano); Don Alfonso (bass); Despina (soprano) | Opera buffa in two acts | Burgtheater, Vienna, 26 January 1790 |
| K.621 | 1791 | La clemenza di Tito
(Eng: The clemency of Titus) |
Pietro Metastasio, revised by Catterino Mazzolà | Tito Vespasiano (tenor); Vitellia (soprano); Servilio (soprano); Sesto (soprano); Annio (soprano); Publio (bass) | Opera seria in two acts | Nationaltheater, Prague, |
| K.620 | 1791 | Die Zauberflöte
(Eng: The Magic Flute) |
Emanuel Schikaneder | Tamino (tenor); Papageno (baritone); Queen of the Night (soprano); Pamina (soprano); Monostatos (tenor); Speaker (bass); Sarastro (bass); Papagena (soprano): Three Ladies (soprano, soprano, mezzo-soprano); Three boys (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto); Two Priests (tenor, bass); Two Men in Armour (tenor, bass) | Singspiel in two acts | Theater auf den Wieden, Vienna, 30 September 1791 |
Notes and references
- ^ a b Kenyon, pp. 283–85
- ^ a b Cairns, p. 11
- ^ Cairns, p. 17
- ^ Osborne, pp. 191–92
- ^ Kenyon, p. 302
- ^ For example, Pietro Metastasio's text for Il rè pastore had been written in 1751 and had been set to music before. Kenyon, p. 303
- ^ From a letter to his father, circa 1774, quoted in Holden, p. xv
- ^ Kenyon begins his guide to the operas with Apollo et Hyacinthus (Kenyon, p. 287); Cairns more or less dismisses Die Schuldigkeit (p. 24), seemingly following the view of Edward J. Dent, quoted by Osborne, p. 27
- ^ Osborne, p. 26
- ^ Part II is by Michael Haydn, Part III by Anton Cajetan Adlgasser. Osborne, p.16
- ^ Weiser is the most likely of several possible authors of the text. See Osborne, pp. 24–25
- ^ The text was derived from a French parody of a work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Le Devin du Village, 1752. Osborn, pp. 45–46
- ^ Dr Franz Anton Mesmer was the founder of the form of hypnotherapy known as "mesmerism". Batta, p. 343
- ^ Because of its known first performance date, La finta semplice is often placed before Bastien und Bastien in listings of Mozart's operas, because of uncertainties as to when the latter was completed.
- ^ Zaide was not performed during Mozart's lifetime.
- ^ For the Vienna premiere, six months later, certain changes were introduced, mainly to accommodate the ranges og a different group og singers. Modern performances generally conflate the Prague and Vienna productions. Osborne, p. 268
Sources
- Batta, Andreas (editor): Opera - Composers, Works, Performers (English edition) Könemann, Cologne 2000 ISBN3 8290 3571 3
- Cairns, David: Mozart and his Operas Penguin Books, London 2006 ISBN 0 140 29674 3
- Glover, Jane Mozart's Women MacMillan, London 2005 ISBN 1 4050 2121 7
- Holden, Anthony: The Man Who Wrote Mozart: The extraordinary life of Lorenzo Da Ponte Phoenix, London 2007 ISBN 978 0 7538 2180 0
- Kenyon, Nicholas: The Pegasus Pocket Guide to Mozart Pegasus Books, New York 2006 ISBN 1 933648 23 6
- Osborne, Charles: The Complete Operas of Mozart Victor Gollancz, London 1992 ISBN 0 575 03823
- Robbins Landon, H. C.: 1791 - Mozart's Last Year Fonana, London 1990 ISBN 0 00 654324 3
- Till, Nicholas: Mozart and the Enlightenment Faber and Faber, London 1993 ISBN 0 771 17042