Komische Operette in 1 act – KV 486
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto: Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger
First performed: Schönnbrunn Palace, Vienna, 7 February 1786; Kärntnertor Theater, Vienna, 11 February 1786

BUFF, A buffo singer	Bass	Joseph Weidmann
MONSIEUR VOGELSANG, A singer	Tenor	Valentin Adamberger
MADAME HERZ, A singer	Soprano	Aloysia Weber
MADEMOISELLE SILBERKLANG, A singer	Soprano	Caterina Cavalieri
FRANK, An impresario	Spoken	Gottlieb Stephanie Jr.
Johann EILER, A banker	Spoken	Johann Franz Hieronymus Brockmann
HERZ, An actor	Spoken	Joseph Lange
MADAME PFEIL, An actress	Spoken	Anna Maria Stephanie
MADAME KRONE, An actress	Spoken	Johanna Sacco
MADAME VOGELSANG, An actress	Spoken	Maria Anna Adamberger

SETTING: Vienna, 1786

An imperial command is hard to refuse. Mozart, halfway through a little number called The Marriage of Figaro, was ordered to compose after-dinner entertainment for Joseph II and visiting dignitaries.

Mozart whipped up his comic confection, a satirical look at backstage politics and egos, in two weeks, and served it to a glittering crowd at the Schönbrunn’s Orangery.

Among those present were the Governor-General of the Austrian Netherlands, Duke Albert of Sachsen-Techsen; his wife the Archduchess Marie Christine, Joseph II’s sister; and the King of Poland’s nephew Prince Stanislas Poniatowski.

The second half of the evening’s entertainment was also meta-theatrical: Salieri‘s Prima la musica e poi le parole, an ancestor of Strauss‘s Capriccio.

From the Wiener Zeitung (8 February 1786):

On Tuesday, His Majesty the Emperor gave a festival at Schönbrunn for Their Excellencies the Governors-General of the Imperial and Royal Netherlands, and a gathering of the local nobility. Forty courtiers as well as Prince Poniatowski being invited, these escorted their own ladies, and at three o’clock set out from the Hofburg in pairs, travelling by both open and closed carriages. His Imperial Majesty accompanied Her Serene Highness the Archduchess Christine. The party alighted at the Orangery, which had been prepared most lavishly and attractively for luncheon for the guests. The table, beneath the orange trees, was most prettily decorated with both local and exotic flowers, blossoms and fruits. While His Majesty, the distinguished visitors and the guests partook of their meal, the Imperial and Royal Chamber Musicians performed on wind instruments. After the banquet, a new play with arias, called Der Schauspieldirektor was performed by actors of the Imperial and Royal National Theatre on a stage especially erected at one end of the Orangery. At its conclusion, an opera buffa, likewise newly composed for this occasion, and entitled Prima la musica e poi le parole, was given by the company of the Court Opera, on the Italian stage erected at the other end of the Orangery. All this time, the Orangery was most gloriously illuminated with numerous lights from candelabra and wall-brackets. After nine o’clock, the entire company returned to town in the same order, each coach being accompanied by two grooms with links.

(quoted in Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Mozart, 1978)

Both operas were performed three times in public at the Kärntnertor Theater, with, according to the Ephemeriden der Litteratur und des Theaters, Berlin, 1786, “extraordinary success and attendance” (quoted in Osborne).

Der Schauspieldirektor has been revised for production several times, including by Goethe (1791). For his Mozart und Schikaneder (1845), Louis Schneider chose as subject the composition of The Magic Flute.

Der Schauspieldirektor is a witty satire of back-stage trials and tribulations, an ancestor of Donizetti‘s Convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (Viva la mamma!) and Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. The tempestuous C major overture is surprisingly dramatic, while the two soprano arias wouldn’t be out of place in one of the da Ponte comedies. The undoubted highlight is the quarrel trio, with the women trying to outdo each other’s highest notes, and singing heartfelt passages on the words “Adagio” and “Allegro”. Der Schauspieldirektor may be a musical dessert, but it’s far from a trifle.

SYNOPSIS

The impresario Frank and his assistant Buff are assembling a theatrical troupe, funded by banker Herr Eiler, on condition that his fiancée Mme Pfeil can star. They audition various actors. (This is all spoken, and is often omitted in revised versions.)

Now the singers audition. Soprano Mme Herz sings an ariette, “Da schlägt die Abschiedsstunde”: