MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus 1756-1791

[K384]. Die Entführung aus dem Serail ... [Piano-vocal score]

(Il Ratto dal Seraglio) Oper in 3 Aufzügen. ... Clavier-Auszug mit deutschem und italienischem Text bearbeitet von A. Conradi und Grünbaum. Ladenpreis 4 Thlr. 15 Sgr. Subscr.-Pr. 1 Thlr. 20 Sgr.

Berlin: Ed. Bote & G. Bock [PN B. & B. 2920], [ca. 1855].

Folio. Blue cloth-backed marbled boards. 1f. (recto title within decorative border incorporating musical instruments and names of composers, verso blank), [1] (cast and contents), 2-104 pp. Music engraved.

With publisher's small circular blindstamp to blank lower margin of title; signature of S.A.E. Hagen to upper outer corner of free front endpaper and title.

Some browning, heavier to some leaves; light to moderate foxing throughout.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail, a Singspiel in three acts to a libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger after Christoph Friedrich Bretzner, was first performed in Vienna at the Burgtheater on 16 July 1782.

"The most important composition of this period [1780-1783] ... was Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the libretto of which was given to Mozart at the end of July 1781. Originally planned for September, the première was postponed until the following summer (Mozart had completed the first act in August 1781). The opera was a great success: Gluck requested an extra performance, Schikaneder's troupe mounted an independent production in September 1784 (although the aria ‘Martern aller Arten’ was replaced because the orchestra was incapable of performing the obbligato solos), and productions were soon mounted in cities throughout German-speaking Europe. The earliest lengthy obituary of Mozart, in the Musikalische Korrespondenz der Teutschen Filarmonischen Gesellschaft of 4 January 1792, described the work as ‘the pedestal upon which his fame was erected’." Cliff Eisen et al. in Grove Music Online

"The composition of this opera coincided with Mozart's marriage to Constanze Weber and his permanent settling in Vienna as a freelance composer and performer. Despite the intrigues and complications which plagued the premiere, it proved to be Mozart's most popular opera in his lifetime, partly due to the fashion for plays and operas on oriental subjects. But it was of this piece that the Emperor, according to Niemetschek (1798), made his famous comment: 'Too beautiful for our ears, my dear Mozart, and vastly too many notes', to which Mozart replied 'Just as many as are necessary, your Majesty'." Robbins Landon: The Mozart Compendium, p. 249.

Item #36337

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