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Curated playlist

Operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • The Magic FluteMozart conducted The Magic Flute's premiere, then died two months later.
  • La finta giardinieraIn Mozart's opera La finta giardiniera, a stabbing victim hides as a gardener. Her attacker turns up at the estate.
  • The Marriage of FigaroOn opening night in 1786, the Vienna audience demanded five numbers from The Marriage of Figaro be played again.
  • IdomeneoMozart's opera Idomeneo premiered in 1781 to a review that never mentioned him. Only the set designer won praise.
  • Don GiovanniMozart filed Don Giovanni as a comic opera, though it opens with a murder. Demons drag its hero to hell.
  • Così fan tutteTwo soldiers bet a cynical philosopher that their fiancées would stay faithful in Così fan tutte.
  • Lucio SillaIn the opera Lucio Silla, a Roman dictator ends by giving up power. Mozart wrote it at sixteen.
  • Lo sposo delusoMozart cast his Figaro singers for an opera he never finished. Lo sposo deluso survives only as a 20-minute fragment.
  • Der SchauspieldirektorMozart's Der Schauspieldirektor began as a contest entry for an emperor. It faced a Salieri opera in 1786.
  • Die Entführung aus dem SerailMozart was paid a flat fee of 100 Imperial ducats for his hit opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
  • Ascanio in AlbaMozart was fifteen when Empress Maria Theresa commissioned his opera Ascanio in Alba.
  • Mitridate, re di PontoMozart was fourteen when his opera Mitridate opened in Milan. It then went unstaged until the 20th century.

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