The director of the theater

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Work data
Title: The director of the theater
Original title: The director of the theater
Original language: German
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto : Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger
Premiere: February 7, 1786
Place of premiere: Vienna
Playing time: about an hour
people

The Drama Director ( 1786 , KV 486) is a Singspiel in one act by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . The libretto was written by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger. The premiere took place on February 7, 1786 in the orangery of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.

General

Mozart received the commission for this work from Emperor Joseph II on the occasion of a visit by the Dutch Governor General, who was married to Archduchess Marie Christine . The “spring festival on a winter day” took place in the Schönbrunn orangery. The idea for the plot, to write a comedy about the theater and its stars, allegedly came from the emperor himself in order to help the German Singspiel gain more renown. The piece premiered with Antonio Salieri's opera Prima la musica e poi le parole , which deals with a very similar theme and enjoyed the benefit of the audience.

The music part of the one-act play is relatively low at around twenty minutes. In addition to the overture, there are only four song numbers (an arietta, a rondo, a trio and the final song), otherwise spoken dialogues predominate. Mainly because of the many allusions to long-forgotten plays of the time, the dialogue text is usually completely redesigned in today's performances.

Parts of the work were incorporated into a two-act German adaptation of Domenico Cimarosa's Farsa L'impresario in angustie , which was shown for the first time in Weimar in 1797 and was subsequently successful throughout Germany.

action

Acting director Frank has to put together a new cast and deal with the peculiarities and rivalries of the actors and singers. In addition, he is confronted with economic difficulties, which can finally be resolved by the banker Eiler: However, on the condition that Eiler's lover Madame Pfeil also receives a commitment in return. The individual artists now appear one after the other and deliver samples of their skills to the impresario Frank. While the actors give samples of well-known pieces of the time, Madame Herz takes this as an opportunity to make a pathetic Arietta (“The farewell hour strikes”), while Mademoiselle Silberklang tries to bribe with a Rondo (“Best Young Man”). When the language comes to the salary afterwards, the open competition among the participants discharges in a trio (“I am the first singer”), because no one grants the other a higher salary (and the recognition expressed with it ). After all, Frank threatens to call off the entire company if the actors cannot agree. Thereupon Buff also renounces a special position within the troop after he was previously appointed first Buffo . In the final song everyone agrees that no artist should stand above the other and that the audience should be left to decide who is the best.

Premiere cast

role Cast for the first time on February 7, 1786
Frank Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger
Hurry Johann Franz Hieronymus Brockmann
Buff Joseph Weidmann
Monsieur Vogelsang Josef Valentin Adamberger
Madame Heart Aloisia Lange
Mademoiselle Silberklang Catarina Cavalieri
heart Joseph Lange
Madame Arrow Anna Maria Stephanie
Madame Krone Johanna Sacco
Madame Vogelsang Maria Anna Adamberger

swell

  1. ↑ http://www.operinwien.at/werkverz/mozart/aschau.htm
  2. ↑ http://opera.stanford.edu/Mozart/Schauspieldirektor/main.html
  3. ↑ Silke Leopold : L'impresario in angustie. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 590-592.
  4. ↑ http://www.mozartoper.de/oper/der-schauspieldirektor.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.andreas-herzau.de/MOZART-TAG_AN_DER_UNI_/Auffuhrung/auffuhrung.html

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