#opera

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in 1791.

The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.

Still a staple of the opera repertory, its popularity was reflected by two immediate sequels, Peter Winter's Das Labyrinth oder Der Kampf mit den Elementen. Der Zauberflöte zweyter Theil (1798) and a fragmentary libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe titled The Magic Flute Part Two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute

Die Zauberflöte at IMSLP:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Die_Zauberfl%C3%B6te,_K.620_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)

The Magic Flute – play bill of the first performance on September 30, 1791 at Schikaneder's Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna.

"The work we are doing really will reclaim his name, I think, and hopefully let people hear one of the best of his operas.
He was the only one of JS Bach’s sons to write operas, and Mozart definitely respected his talent. In fact, his works sound a lot like Mozart’s early Italian operas.”

Paul Corneilson, The Packard Humanities Institute, California

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/15/jc-bach-was-the-darling-of-georgian-london-will-his-forgotten-opera-shake-off-the-shadow-of-his-celebrated-father

Italian opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest Lorenzo Da Ponte died in 1838.

He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790). He was the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University, and with Manuel Garcia, the first to introduce Italian opera to America.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte

Engraving of Lorenzo da Ponte by Michele Pekenino after Nathaniel Rogers (c. 1822). Da Ponte is depicted as an elderly man, his face showing the signs of age and experience. He is dressed in formal attire typical of the early 19th century, with a high-collared shirt, cravat, and a dark coat. His expression is thoughtful and composed, reflecting the intellect and creativity for which he was known.
Libretto Don Giovanni melodramma giocoso in two acts by Abbot L. Da Ponte music by W.A. Mozart. The libretto for Don Giovanni, titled Don Giovanni, melodramma giocoso in due atti (Don Giovanni, a playful drama in two acts), was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, with music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The cover of this libretto typically reflects the classical style of the late 18th century, with elegant and formal typography. The title is prominently displayed in a serif font, often centered on the page. Beneath the title, it mentions that the work is a "melodramma giocoso," indicating the blend of serious and comic elements in the opera. The author's name, "Abbot L. Da Ponte," is listed, acknowledging Da Ponte's contribution as the librettist, followed by a reference to the music by "W.A. Mozart," who is given due prominence.

"Nel puro ardor della più bella stella
Aurea facella di bel foco accende
E qui discendi su l’aurate piume
Giocondo nume e di celeste fiamme
L’anima mea."
Nel puro ardor (from 'Euridice')

Italian composer Jacopo Peri died in 1633.

He wrote what is considered the first opera, the mostly lost Dafne (c. 1597), and also the earliest extant opera, Euridice (1600). He is sometimes known by the byname lo Zazzerino (lit. 'the blond one').

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacopo_Peri

Title page of Jacopo Peri's opera L'Euridice, 1600. Set to a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini, who is also named on the title page, the opera includes some music by Giulio Caccini. The Newberry Library, Pio Resse Collection, 1889

Holy cow, that x Marina Viotti performance was laser targeted at my soul.

"Ah, ça ira," a famous song sung by French revolutionaries, followed by Viotti, the Paris Symphony Orchestra, and its choir, singing the famous aria from Georges Bizet’s Carmen: L’amour est un oiseau rebelle (also known as “La Habanera”).

Probably the biggest global exposure to opera metal ever, right?

Conciergerie in Paris lit by hundreds of red explosive pyrotechnics with a viking boat floating in front of it.
Marie Antoinette performer standing in a window alongside the lead singer of metal band Gojira on a balcony.

in 1782.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail premiered in Vienna with the composer conducting, after which Emperor Joseph II anecdotally remarked that it had "too many notes".

The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Entf%C3%BChrung_aus_dem_Serail

Books by Amadeus Mozart at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1368

Mozart (at center) attended a performance of his own opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail while visiting Berlin in 1789. Franz Frankenberg performed the role of Osmin, Friedrich Ernst Wilhelm Greibe played Pedrillo. Unknown author - The Atlantis Book of Music, 1934, p. 239

in 1925.

The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris.

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1639–1640 carnival season. The story is taken from the second half of Homer's Odyssey.

Claudio Monteverdi - Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria - title page of the libretto - Venice 1641

in 1904. Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly premiered
at La Scala in Milan to poor reviews, forcing him to revise the opera. This was due in part to a late completion by Puccini, which gave inadequate time for rehearsals. He revised the opera, splitting the 2nd act in two, with the Humming Chorus as a bridge to what became Act III, & making other changes. Success ensued, starting with the 1st performance on 28 May 1904 in Brescia.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=puccini&submit_search=Go%21

Poster for Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. Printed by 1914 per NCAG

Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy in 1843.

I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata (The Lombards on the First Crusade) is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was "very much a child of its age; a grand historical novel with a patriotic slant".

Title page of an 1843 libretto of Giuseppe Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata. Very early edition, possibly first edition, dating to the time of the opera's première.

in 1913. Claudio Monteverdi's last opera L'incoronazione di Poppea was performed theatrically for the first time in more than 250 years.

It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. via @wikipedia

More information about L'incoronazione di Poppea can be found here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62987

Title page of the 1656 libretto of L'incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Francesco Busenello. The large "1642" is the year the opera premièred, not the year of publication of the libretto. Published by Andrea Guiliani - Biblioteca Musica