Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operas comprise 23 musical dramas in a variety of genres. They range from the small-scale, derivative works of his youth to the full-fledged operas of his maturity. Three of the works were abandoned before completion and were not performed until many years after the composer's death. His mature works are all considered classics and have never been out of the repertory of the world's opera houses.
From a very young age, Mozart had, according to opera analyst David Cairns, "an extraordinary capacity ... for seizing on and assimilating whatever in a newly encountered style (was) most useful to him". In a letter to his father, dated 7 February 1778, Mozart wrote, "As you know, I can more or less adopt or imitate any kind and style of composition". He used this gift to break new ground, becoming simultaneously "assimilator, perfector and innovator". Thus, his early works follow the traditional forms of the Italian opera seria and opera buffa as well as the German Singspiel. In his maturity, according to music writer Nicholas Kenyon, he "enhanced all of these forms with the richness of his innovation", and, in Don Giovanni, he achieved a synthesis of the two Italian styles, including a seria character in Donna Anna, buffa characters in Leporello and Zerlina, and a mixed seria-buffa character in Donna Elvira. Unique among composers, Mozart ended all his mature operas, starting with Idomeneo, in the key of the overture.
Ideas and characterisations introduced in the early works were subsequently developed and refined. For example, Mozart's later operas feature a series of memorable, strongly drawn female characters, in particular the so-called "Viennese soubrettes" who, in opera writer Charles Osborne's phrase, "contrive to combine charm with managerial instinct". Music writer and analyst Gottfried Kraus has remarked that all these women were present, as prototypes, in the earlier operas; Bastienne (1768), and Sandrina (La finta giardiniera, 1775) are precedents for the later Constanze and Pamina, while Sandrina's foil Serpetta is the forerunner of Blonde, Susanna, Zerlina and Despina.
Mozart's texts came from a variety of sources, and the early operas were often adaptations of existing works. The first librettist chosen by Mozart himself appears to have been Giambattista Varesco, for Idomeneo in 1781. Five years later, he began his most enduring collaboration, with Lorenzo Da Ponte, his "true phoenix".Letter to his father, c. 1774, in The once widely held theory that Da Ponte was the librettist for the discarded Lo sposo deluso of 1783/84 has now been generally rejected. Mozart felt that, as the composer, he should have considerable input into the content of the libretto, so that it would best serve the music. Musicologist Charles Rosen writes, "it is possible that Da Ponte understood the dramatic necessities of Mozart's style without prompting; but before his association with da Ponte, Mozart had already bullied several librettists into giving him the dramatically shaped ensembles he loved."
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 accordance 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. However, as Osborne makes clear, the libretto contains stage directions which suggest that the work was acted, not merely sung, and it is formally described as a "geistliches Singspiel" (sacred play with music), not as an oratorio. The Singspiel Der Stein der Weisen was written in collaboration with four other composers, so it is only partially credited to Mozart who only contributed one duet.
Sequence In general, the list follows the sequence in which the operas were written. There is uncertainty about whether La finta semplice was written before or after Bastien und Bastienne, and in some listings the former is given priority. Thamos was written in two segments, the earlier in 1774, but is listed in accordance with its completion in 1779–80. Die Zauberflöte and La clemenza di Tito were written concurrently. Die Zauberflote was started earlier and put aside for the Tito commission, which was completed and performed first and is usually listed as the earlier work despite having a higher Köchel catalogue number.
List of operas Key: Incomplete opera Collaborative work + Operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Period Title Genre and acts Libretto Voice parts Premiere Köchel Librettist Date Venue 1766–67 , Part 1(The obligation of the first and foremost commandment) Sacred Singspiel(collaboration) German 3 soprano, 2 tenor 12 March 1767 Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg K.35ScoreLibretto 1767 (Apollo and Hyacinth) Music for a Latin drama Latin Rufinus Widl, after Ovid's 2 treble, 2 boy alto, 1 tenor, 2 bass, chorus 13 May 1767 Great Hall, University of Salzburg K.38Score 1768 (Bastien and Bastienne) Singspiel1 act German F. W. Weiskern, J. H. Muller and J. A. Schachtner 1 soprano, 1 tenor, 1 bass 2 October 1890 Architektenhaus, Wilhelmstraße 92, Berlin K.50/46bScore 1768 (The feigned simpleton) Opera buffa3 acts Italian Marco Coltellini, after Carlo Goldoni 3 soprano, 2 tenor, 2 bass 1 May 1769 Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg K.51/46aScore 1770 (Mithridates, King of Pontus) Opera seria3 acts Italian , based on G. Parini's translation of Racine's 4 soprano, 1 alto, 2 tenor 26 December 1770 Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan K.87/74aScore 1771 (Ascanius in Alba) Festspiel2 acts Italian Giuseppe Parini 4 soprano, 1 tenor, chorus 17 October 1771 Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan K.111Score 1771 (Scipio's Dream) Azione teatrale or serenata drammatica1 act Italian Metastasio, based on Cicero's 3 soprano, 3 tenor,chorus 1 May 1772 (possibly) Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg K.126Score 1772 Dramma per musica3 acts Italian Giovanni de Gamerra, revised by Metastasio 4 soprano, 2 tenor, chorus 26 December 1772 Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan K.135Score 1774–75 (The pretend garden-maid) Dramma giocoso3 acts Italian Probably Giuseppe Petrosellini 4 soprano, 2 tenor, 1 bass, chorus 13 January 1775 , Munich K.196Score 1775 (The Shepherd King) Serenata2 acts Italian Metastasio, amended by Varesco, based on Tasso's 3 soprano, 2 tenor 23 April 1775 Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg K.208Score 1773, 1779 (Thamos, King of Egypt) Incidental music (choruses and entr'actes for a heroic drama) German Soprano, alto, tenor, bass(chorus and soloists) 4 April 1774(two choruses) Kärntnertor Theatre, Vienna K.345/336aScore 1779–80(complete) Salzburg 1779–80 Singspiel(incomplete) German Johann Andreas Schachtner 1 soprano, 2 tenor, 2 bass, mini-chorus of 4 tenors, 1 speaking role 27 January 1866 Frankfurt K.344/336bScore 1780–81 (Idomeneus, King of Crete) Dramma per musica3 acts Italian Varesco, after Antoine Danchet's 3 soprano, 1 mezzo-soprano, 4 tenor, 1 baritone, 2 bass, chorus 29 January 1781 Court Theatre (now Cuvilliés Theatre), Munich K.366Score 1781–82 (The Abduction from the Seraglio) Singspiel3 acts German Gottlieb Stephanie, based on C. Bretzner's 2 soprano, 2 tenor, 1 bass, 2 speaking roles 16 July 1782 Burgtheater, Vienna K.384ScoreLibretto 1783 (The goose of Cairo) Dramma giocoso(incomplete)3 acts Italian Varesco (Provisional) 4 soprano, 2 tenor, 2 bass, chorus 6 June 1867 Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes, Paris K.422Score 1783 (The Deluded Bridegroom) Opera buffa(incomplete)2 acts Italian Unknown. Once attributed to Da Ponte but may have been by Giuseppe Petrosellini. (Provisional) 3 soprano, 2 tenor, 2 bass 6 June 1867 Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes, Paris K.430/424aScore 1786 (The Impresario) Comic singspiel1 act German Gottlieb Stephanie 2 soprano, 1 tenor, 1 bass, 6 speaking roles 7 February 1786 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna K.486Score 1785–86 (The Marriage of Figaro) Opera buffa4 acts Italian Da Ponte, based on Beaumarchais's 5 soprano, 2 tenor, 1 baritone, 3 bass, chorus 1 May 1786 Burgtheater, Vienna K.492ScoreLibretto 1787 Dramma giocoso2 acts Italian Da Ponte, based on Giovanni Bertati's 3 soprano, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, 3 bass, chorus 29 October 1787 Estates Theatre, Prague K.527ScoreLibretto 1789–90 (Women are like that or All women do that) Dramma giocoso2 acts Italian Da Ponte 3 soprano, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, 1 bass, chorus 26 January 1790 Burgtheater, Vienna K.588ScoreLibretto 1790 (The Philosopher's Stone)(Pasticcio composed with J. B. Henneberg, F. Gerl, B. Schack and E. Schikaneder) Singspiel(collaboration)2 acts German Emanuel Schikaneder 3 soprano, 2 tenor, 2 baritone, 1 bass, 1 speaking role 11 September 1790 Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna 1791 (The clemency of Titus) Opera seria2 acts Italian Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio 2 soprano, 2 mezzo-soprano, 1 tenor, 1 bass, chorus 6 September 1791 Estates Theatre, Prague K.621ScoreLibretto 1791 (The Magic Flute) Singspiel2 acts German Emanuel Schikaneder 6 soprano, 2 mezzo-soprano, 1 alto, 4 tenor, 1 baritone, 4 bass, chorus 30 September 1791 Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna K.620ScoreLibretto
Notes and references Notes
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Sources
Further reading
External links
Opera libretti, critical editions, diplomatic editions, source evaluation (German only), links to online DME recordings; Digital Mozart Edition