The theme of this post is something close to my heart: the mandolin and its use in opera. I’ve been going to operas for years, and besides many live events, have also enjoyed the genre via streaming, video or audio media. I’ve of course also enjoyed it greatly when invited to play the mandolin part in opera productions in Brussels, Ghent or Antwerp.
This second take-out from my presentation paper for the conservatory in Milan, the focus is the mandolin in the Viennese public venues in the 1780s and 1790s. This of course involves a lot of operas, but also other genres.
The mandolin has been used in cantatas and operas at least since the late 17th century. The use of the mandolin sometimes is just an exotic flavour (often for biblical or eastern atmospheres). At some point, the mandolin also started to be used for “serenades”, most often in comic operas, where mostly a male lead tries to seduce a female character in the opera. Such vocal pieces in which the mandolin plays a role are not often a major role in mandolin reference works or recordings. At least the ensemble Artemandolino has shed some light on the mandolin and vocal combinations with the excellent collaboration with Nuria Rial.
In sharp contrast, many mandolin scholars have often turned their attention to Austria and Vienna. Clearly, the Viennese school’s paragons like Beethoven and Mozart’s use of the mandolin triggered a lot of interest. This is sometimes followed by information about the manuscripts and prints of (instrumental) mandolin music in the libraries of Vienna and Prague. A lot of that repertoire was not meant for the public stage but was used in Hausmusik.
Hence, I have always wondered why no one noticed the huge amount of mandolin arias in operas played in public venues in Vienna in the 1780s and 1790s. This major omission is something I have tried to rectify more than once. In fact, in the early days of my blog, I already posted a small contribution about the mandolin aria by Paisiello, but there is much more to tell, even about that particular serenade and the opera it belongs to. Of course, the focus here is only on mandolin parts in music played in public venues in Vienna and only during a very limited timeframe (1780s & 1790s). The sheer amount of works and number of performances of some of them tell a tale of an instrument stepping into the limelight during some decades and places highlighted in music history.
Location, location, location
Let’s, first of all, take some time to review some of the locations where the works described below were played. Most, and especially those listed as “the big guns” were mostly played in the imperial theatres: the k.k. [kaiserlich und königlich] Theater am Kärntnertor, and the k.k. Theater an der Burg. We should also mark these locations as places of interest for slightly more recent mandolin activity, with traces of employment of Bartholomeo Bortolazzi at the Burgtheater around 1800. A few decades later, Pietro Vimercati would play many concerts at both locations, and Ernst Krähmer would be employed as an oboe player at the Burgtheater. There are traces of mandolin activity at many other locations in Vienna. But these two locations are all the more important since these two are closely linked to very famous performances of music by the Viennese school, but also to the Viennese court. This already sets the scene of the importance and popularity of some of these pieces.


The big guns: Mozart, Paisiello, Martín y Soler and Koželuch
Vienna obviously took to the mandolin sometime around 1780 (see my previous article about the imported mandolin prints). It is hence not a huge surprise that the mandolin also turned up in the opera venues in Vienna. Most mandolin scholars are well aware of the mandolin accompaniment in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Prague, 1787, Vienna, 1788) of the canzonetta «Deh, vieni alla finestra» . The opera is one of the most played operas today, and the comic scene of the Don disguised as his servant Leporello singing a serenade to try and seduce a chambermaid is a classic. However, Mozart’s opera was not the first in Prague or Vienna to include the mandolin. Though popular in Prague from the premiere onwards, the opera initially didn’t do too well in Vienna. However, due to its current status, we have to include it as one of the important mandolin arias. In the next paragraphs, we will look at some of the very popular other works performed in Vienna with mandolin arias.
A first and quite important other work is Giovanni Paisiello’s (1740-1816) opera Il barbiere di Siviglio (St. Petersburg, 1782), and its mandolin aria «Saper bramate». Though it was a triumph all over Europe, its Viennese ascendancy was extraordinary. The opera was performed almost every season in Vienna from 1783 until 1804 (at least 62 times between 1783-1792).1 At this time, most operas were only played for one season, and only a limited amount of times during the season. Though repeats of successful operas were usual, performing an opera almost every season for 20 years is extremely unusual and testimony to how Vienna was besotted by the work. The mandolin aria «Saper bramate» might well have been a factor in popularizing the mandolin in Austria and Vienna. It is sung as a serenade by count Almaviva to his love Rosina while pretending to be a pauper called Lindoro. However, some secondary sources that predate the opera seem to indicate the instrument was already on the rise before the Viennese premiere of Paisiello’s work.
While Paisiello’s contribution to mandolin literature is encountered in most reference works, the next opera is less mentioned, if at all. Antonio Salieri originally composed Tarara as a French opera (Paris, 1787) but quite soon created a Viennese (Italian) version as Axur, Re d’Ormus (Vienna, 1788, Italian lyrics by Lorenzo Da Ponte). This particular opera also scored quite high in its day, with 51 performances in Vienna.2 Its mandolin aria «Nato io son nello stato Romano» is less convincing than Paisiello’s contribution but nonetheless an important milestone in mandolin history. The aria is sung by Biscroma, and it is the first in this row which is not a love serenade. At one end it is a moment of reminiscence of Biscroma’s own fate and how he ended up as a slave to Axur. However, he interjects a reminiscence of Atars saving his life. This notice enrages Axur, who declares to want to kill Atar. This was what Biscroma had planned all along, as Axur had plans to seduce Aspasia (the wife of Atar, whom Axur had abducted and taken to his harem.
Salieri was quite an important figure in his time. He was the director of the imperial opera house in Vienna and often conducted premieres of many important pieces of music history. The opera Axur, Re d’Ormus rose to international success. As an interesting aside, von Call’s mandolin and guitar variations op. 25 are based on a theme from Axur.
There is another opera that is mentioned even less in mandolin histories and which was probably more important than the previously mentioned works by Mozart, Paisiello and Salieri. The composer was Vicente Martín y Soler (1754-1806), who had moved to Vienna in the mid-1780s. His opera buffa Una cosa rara (Vienna, 1786) was performed 55 times from 1786 until 1791.3 The work contains a cavatina with mandolin accompaniment («Non farmi più languire») as well as an aria where the mandolin joins the orchestral accompaniment («Viva viva la Regina»). The cavatina is another example of the serenade-style mandolin aria. This one is sung by the Principe (Don Giovanni, the son of the Spanish Queen), in a shameful act to try and seduce Lilla, who is about to marry Lubino. The latter is enraged and storms off together with Tita, who is also suspicious of the Principe (or others) trying to seduce his own wife-to-be Ghita. A theatrical cloak-and-dagger scene follows, where both the husbands-to-be fight the Principe, while another seducer, the Gran Scudiere (Corrado) tries to kidnap Lilla who manages to escape. One of the following duets of Ghita and Lilla, where they calm down their future husbands, was clearly much enjoyed by Emperor Joseph II as he asked for a repeat. The aria where the mandolin joins the orchestra is a scene celebrating the Queen’s judgement after she berates the Gran Scudiere (who takes all the blame so the Principe gets off scot-free).
Though obscure today, it was a very well-known opera during its time. For example, it was so popular that a repeat of Mozart’s Figaro was abandoned. The opera is also credited with popularizing the waltz. That such a claim is made seems odd, but it seems there might be some truth to it. For example, only one year afterwards, Mozart jumped on the same wagon by including a waltz in Don Giovanni. Mozart’s biggest compliment to this opera by Martín y Soler however is quoting a melody in the finale of Don Giovanni («O quanto un is bel giubilo»).
Una cosa rara is one of several operas where Martín y Soler and Lorenzo Da Ponte collaborated. Though Da Ponte also collaborated with Mozart and Salieri, it seems that the works with Martín y Soler advanced his career the most.
The popularity of Una cosa rara was so high it even triggered a sequel. This was not in the form of its original, but as a Singspiel, and by another composer: Benedikt Schack’s Der Fall ist noch weit seltner. Obviously, this work also has its own mandolin aria. (See the chapter below where we dive into the German operas and Singspiele.)
Another very popular work performed in Viennese public venues that used the mandolin is part of a different genre – though also played in the same public venues. As the 1790s saw a revival of the genre of the ballet in Vienna, Leopold Koželuch (1747-1818) provided music for a scenario by the choreographer Antonio Muzzarelli (1744-1821) called La ritrovata figlia di Ottone II (P XXIV:1, 1794). This scenario was based on an idea by Muzzarelli that had already been used previously for ballet productions in Genoa, Florence, and Trieste.4 The production was one of the most successful of its day and received at least 40 performances between 1794 and 1796. One other factor that proves its success is the high amount of preserved manuscript copies (original score but also adaptations), while most ballet music of that time did not survive at all.5 To quote John A. Rice:
For its historical importance as well as its intrinsic beauties, Kozeluch’s score for La ritrovata figlia deserves to be ranked among the major compositions written for Vienna in the 1790s.6
Though the ballet discussed above clearly was very popular at its time, it’s currently quite obscure, up to the point that most mandolin histories don’t mention it at all. Koželuch returned to the mandolin in another work which is sometimes mentioned in mandolin histories. It’s the so-called “quadruple concerto” (Sinfonia Concertante, P II:1). Though this work seems to catch the eye of some mandolin scholars, it did not enjoy much attention or popularity when it was created in 1798.7 The unlikely soloist combination of trumpet, mandolin, double bass and piano has caused scholars to frown. The mandolin is indeed used as one of four soloists throughout the work. The unusual combination however works quite well and the work is a nice example of instrumental Viennese music from the late 18th century.
As Koželuch was appointed Kammer Kapellmeister and Hofmusik Compositor in 1792,8 it was assumed this work was created for a specific event at the imperial court or closely linked to it. A description in Gallerie menschenfreundlicher Handlungen und Gesinnungen (1800) confirms this with a description of a performance of the piece during a benefit concert in 1798:
Schöne Wirkungen der Tonkunft und ihrer Gönner!
Den 22. und 23. December 1798 wurde von der Wiener Tonkünstler – Gesellschaft, zum Bessten ihrer Wittwen und Waisen, die gewohtnlich grosse musikalische Akademie abgehalten. […] Nach derselben Endigung wurde eint neues grsses Concert auf vier nachstehende Instrumente von der Erfindung des Herrn Kozeluch, k.k. Kompositor- und Kammer-Kapellmeisters, aufgeführet, wobey Herr Anton Leyber, k.k. Kompositor, das Piano-Forte, Herr Zahradnuzek, k.k. Hoftrompeter, das Mandolin, beyde Mitglieder dieser Gesellschaft, Herr Weydinger, Mitglied des k.k. Hoftheater-Orchesters, die organisirte Trompete blies, und Herr Pischelberger den Kontrebass spielte. […] Die angeborne Milde, die landesmütterliche liebe gegen Wittwen und Waisen, auch die besondere Beschussung der Tonkunft veranlassten Ihre Majestät, die Caiserinn, die gesellschaft mit der Kantate allerhuldreichest zu begnadigen. Se. Maj. beehrten nicht allein mit allerhöchstdero Gegenwart diese Akademie, sondern beschenkten auch die Gesellschaft mit einer Gnadengabe. Auch Se. Königl. Hochheit der Herzog Albert, vermehrte gütigst die Einnahme; auch einige des hohen Adels als vorzügliche Beschützer der Tonkunst, und als Schätzer den Menschheit haben zur Vermehrung der Einnahme beygetragen, so wie der Herr ViceDirector der k.k. Hoftheater, Freyherr v. Braun, welcher die Gesellschaft nicht allein mit dem Benöthigten unterstüzte, sondern auch mit einem Geschenke sich freygebig bezeigte.9
Another reference work mentions a certain “Szaharadniczek” as a mandolin player in 1792,10 likely the person is meant as the court trumpeter “Zahradnuzek” mentioned above. Professional musicians at that time often were able to play several instruments at a high level, and there are some other mandolin players also proficient in wind instruments. We should however discount the idea that Szaharadniczek played both the mandolin and trumpet in the quadruple concerto. Both the score and the account above rule that out.
The lesser heroes: Cimarosa, Righini, Da Ponte/Anfossi, Guglielmi
There are several other works performed in public venues in Vienna in the 1780s and 1790s that include a mandolin part. These other Singspiel, opera and pasticcio works did not reach the same apex of popularity. But they all add up to a regular appearance of the mandolin in the public theatres in Vienna during the 1780s and 1790s.
It might seem odd to rank Domenico Cimarosa as a “lesser” hero. He was quite successful as an opera composer in his day, and certainly, Il Matrimonio Segreto (Vienna, 1792), an opera created for and in Vienna, celebrated triumphs in the imperial capital. This opera has no links to the mandolin though – at least, not directly. There is one indirect link in the form of an early 19th-century manuscript in the Moravské zemské muzeum in Brno (A 24380). It contains a setting of «È vero che in casa io son la padrona», one of the arias of Fidalma confessing her love for Paolino, here set for the singer, mandolin and bass. However, this one arrangement could well be just an arrangement of a popular aria – there is no evidence that this was ever used as an insert in a performance of the opera. It seems more likely to have come from a private library rather than from a performance in a theatre.
Cimarosa did write several other operas with a mandolin aria, and at least two of these were performed in Vienna in the late 18th century. As they never reached the same extraordinary popularity as the operas mentioned above, we have to rank these and Cimarosa to a lesser status. First of all, the aria «Ah mon Frere Io vó marito» in Il pittore Parigino (1781, Rome) has an exquisite mandolin solo. It is sung by Cintia expressing her wish to get married. It hence does not fit the serenading sort of mandolin aria from above but comes close. At this point in the opera, Cintia tries to get her cousin Eurilla to give up her engagement to the Barone (who Cintia wants to marry). Her objective is to make Eurilla marry the painter Monsieur di Crotignac instead, who Eurilla actually loves. In the end, Eurilla decides to marry her lover, the painter – paving the way for a possible marriage of Cintia with the baron (and for Cintia to receive the inheritance from Eurilla’s father which was conditional to marrying the baron).
In I due Baroni di Rocca Azzurra (Rome, 1783), also by Cimarosa and also played in Vienna, the plot is constituted around the arrival of the future wife (Madama Laura) for the nephew (Totaro) of the baron of Rocca Azzurra (Don Demofonte). Franchetto, the manservant, tries to outwit the barons in attempting to introduce his sister Sandra as the would-be bride. In the finale of the first act, the mandolin has a solo introducing the ensemble of Madama Laura and Sandra «L’astuta volpe» in the finale of the first act, and continues to accompany this small ensemble in the finale. Again, the use of the mandolin is not in the form of a mandolin serenade, though quite an interesting contribution to the repertoire.
I have yet to retrieve a copy of Righini’s L’incontro inaspettato to confirm this opera really has a mandolin part. But from looking at the libretto, it seems self-evident the mandolin played a part. In the first act, Lindoro, who has an unrequited love for Irene, sings a canzonetta accompanied by the mandolin. This is referred to both in the lyrics as well as a theatre direction annotation in the libretto:
(Lindoro)
Spunta l’alba, e spunta il sole
Dopo l’ombre, e il Ciel turbato,
Ma per questo suentarato
Mai non spunta un di seren.(accompagnandosi la sudetta canzone col Mandolino.)
(Aurora Cardone Rosina Lindoro)
Com’è grato quel cantare
Cosi dolce sul mattino,
E quel suon di mandolin
Rallegrar fa questo sen.
Ma per questo suentarato
Mai non spunta un di seren.
Another famous name that might surprise in the second-raking works and composers, is Lorenzo Da Ponte. Famously working as a librettist with Mozart, Salieri and Martín y Soler, he also embarked to produce a pasticcio. This kind of work assembles popular arias into a new piece. Da Ponte’s incarnation is called L’Ape Musicale (first version: Vienna, 1789). Though he reworked it a number of times, the original version of 1789 for Vienna contains an interesting contribution with mandolin accompaniment.
L’Ape Musicale seems meant as a “meta-opera” with a lot of quotes from and about popular arias. The Austrian Emperor enjoyed such musical jokes immensely. The work premiered before the imperial court, so there is no doubt about the intended audience. Some of the operas mentioned above are featured in this work, like Axur, Re d’Ormus and Una cosa rara. The scenery of the opera is a group commenting on and singing favourite pieces. A desire to sing in French eventually triggers the inclusion of «Amour nous parle sans cesse» by Pasquale Anfossi (1727-1797), to be sung by “Donna Zuccherina”. There is a manuscript which contains this aria (and which suggests it was used at a carnival in Firenze, 1787). This manuscript lacks a mandolin part though. I certainly hope future research will unearth the origins and exact mandolin part. It seems this particular song might be a nice addition to the mandolin songs and arias. I’ll quote from the libretto of L’Ape Musicale:
Amour nous parle sans cesse
Des dames, & des beautes.
Il dit que leurs tendresse
Engendre la gajete;
Elles sont les etincelles
Du plaisir des nos coeurs
A quoi bon sans elles
Talent, richesses, honneurs?
Mesdames je me decide
A vous cherir toujours
Et pour vous plaire mon guide
Sera le Dieu d’amour.
Before we jump into the world of the German opera and Austrian Singspiel, there is one Italian opera left to discuss. La Quakera spiritosa (alternative spellings common, Napels, 1783) is an opera by Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728-1804). The theme of American Quaker women turns up several times in late 18th-century European plays and operas. Apparently, Quaker women were thought to be very free – usually, the main recurring theme is that they were able to choose who to marry. This idea, combined with gun-wielding Americans, produces quite fantastical scenes which had no relation to reality. But it is also quite apparent how this might be used as a backdrop in a comedy, for example for gender role-switching. In this opera, Vertunna and Tognino indeed often behave as though they were man and woman instead of the other way around.
The mandolin turns up at a point where the libretto refers to a guitar, sung by Tognino towards Cardellina (his lover at that point, before the arrival of Vertunna, the Quakera spiritosa).
Al suon del Chitarrino
Dal bosco all Città
Il povero Tognino
Così cantando và
Cardella d’amore
Quel becco tiranno
Mi pizzica il core
Gran pene mi dà
Il dolce momento
Che dite ti sento
Mio sposo, mio cuore,
Deh quando verrà?
E sempre ci davo
Col nfirinchiti nfrà.
Interestingly enough, before reaching Vienna, the opera was also already played at the Esterházy court (with an aria insert composed by Haydn (HobXXIVb.12)). The Viennese version was redacted by none other than Lorenzo Da Ponte, changing quite a lot, almost turning it into another pasticcio.
The Mandolin in the German opera and Austrian Singspiel: Schack, Weigl and Süssmayr
Though Italian opera enjoyed huge success, dramatic performances in the German language are also common. First of all, Italian operas were also sometimes performed in German translations. A prime example is Una cosa rara (as “Der seltene Fall”) by Martín y Soler. (This particular piece was so popular in translated version that there was even some competition between different groups performing it, even in different versions.) Salieri’s Axur, re d’Ormus was also performed in a German version (as “Axur, König von Ormus”). Of course, also Mozart’s Don Giovanni (as “Don Juan”) was presented in a German version, but as its original Italian version, didn’t achieve much initial success in Vienna. I have not found references to a German version of Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Seviglia but the original play by Beaumarchais already circulated in several German translations, so it might well have been performed in German as any of the other popular Italian operas.
However, besides German translations of Italian operas, some Singspiele were originally written in the language and also employed the mandolin in their music. Alas, as most of these are even more obscure than most of the works mentioned above, it is not straightforward to study these sources. I have yet to request access to each of the scores of the items mentioned here. As gaining access to study these scores takes time (and usually also quite a bit of money), these are still on the to-do list. Nevertheless, I have acquired enough reliable evidence to state that the works mentioned below contain a mandolin part.
A first example can be seen as an extension of the Italian operas: Benedikt Schack’s Der Fall is noch weit seltner is effectively a sequel to Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara. Interestingly, the libretto was by Emanuel Schikaneder, who would collaborate with Mozart a year later on Die Zauberflöte. I have little doubt this opera will prove to contain yet another example of the serenading mandolin arias.
Weigl’s Das Petermännchen is the next item on the list. He was a chapel master of the imperial theatres and later of the court orchestra. Weigl composed music on a libretto by Schikaneder in another case (and had close relations with Beethoven). Without looking at the score, it’s quite hard to guess at the role of the mandolin in this opera.
Finally, there is also yet another, this time by a student of Mozart, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. His opera Soliman der Zweite is listed as using the mandolin. Again, I’m clueless as to the exact role, but it could both be to give an exotic air, or in a serenading scene.
Contemporary publications of Viennese mandolin arias
A remarkable trace of these mandolin arias is kept in the form of adverts by “Lauschischen Musikalien”. This publishing firm was run by Laurenz Lausch (1737/1738-1794) and advertised regularly about available opera scores and adaptations. The list of items linked to mandolin arias also distributed by Lausch is impressive: Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia;11 Cimarosa’s Il pittore parigino;12 Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara;13 Mozart’s Don Giovanni;14 Lorenzo Da Ponte’s (1749-1838) L’Ape Musicale (containing Pasquale Anfossi’s (1727-1797) «Amour nous parle sans cesse», in German «Amor schenkt uns die Schönen»)15 and Joseph Weigl’s (1766-1846) Das Petermännchen.16 In a few cases, the opera arias are listed in detail, and in that instance, the mandolin arias usually contain the phrase «con/col mandolino».17 This infers not only that Lausch included the mandolin part, but also that there was a commercial basis for these to be sold. As can be expected, Mozart’s Don Giovanni was printed in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Härtel (1801) and this publication includes the mandolin part. It already was printed years before, as a separate piece, in Speyer’s Anthologie (1788).18
First performance in Vienna | Composer | Title (and original performance if not in Vienna) |
---|---|---|
1783 | Giovanni Paisiello | Il Barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile (St. Petersburg, 1782) |
1785 | Domenico Cimarosa | Il pittore parigino (Rome, 1781) |
1785 | Vincenzo Righini | L’incontro inaspettato |
1786 | Vicente Martín y Soler | Una cosa rara, ossia Bellezza ed onestà |
1788 | Antonio Salieri | Axur, re d’Ormus (Vienna, 1788) – based on a French version for Paris, 1787, Tarare) |
1788 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni (Prague, 1787, KV527) |
1789 | Lorenzo Da Ponte (ed.), Pasquale Anfossi | Il pasticcio, ovvero l’ape musicale |
1789 | Domenico Cimarosa | I due baroni di Rocca Azzurra (Rome, 1783) |
1790 | Benedikt Schack | Der Fall ist noch weit seltner, oder Die geplagten Ehemänner |
1790 | Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi | La Quakera spiritosa (Napels, 1783) |
1794 | Joseph Weigl | Das Petermännchen |
1794 | Leopold Koželuch | (ballet) La ritrovata figlia di Ottone II (P XXIV:1) |
1798 | Leopold Koželuch | Sinfonia Concertante (“Quadruple concerto”) (P II:1) |
1799 | Franz Xaver Süssmayr | Solimann der Zweite oder die Drei Sultaninnen |
Endnotes
1 John Platoff, Mozart and his Rivals. Opera in Vienna in Mozart’s Time, «Current Musicology», LI (1993), p. 108.
2 Ibidem.
3 Ibidem.
4 See John A. Rice, Muzzarelli, Kozeluch, and La ritrovata figlia di Ottone II (1794). Viennese Ballet Reborn in the Spirit of Noverre, online https://www.academia.edu/14498757/Muzzarelli_Kozeluch_and_La_ritrovata_figlia_di_Ottone_II_1794_Viennese_Ballet_Reborn_in_the_Spirit_of_Noverre (30/05/2022).
5 Ibidem, pp. 22-23 & 44.
6 Ibidem, p. 44.
7 A-Wgm, shelfmark VII 15407, Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (hereafter A-Wn), shelfmark Mus.Hs.11072.
8 Milan Poštolka, Kozeluch, Leopold, Oxford Music Online, online https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.15446 (01/06/2022)
9 Friedrich Anton Gaheis, Gallerie menschenfreundlicher Handlungen und Gesinnungen. Ein Denkmal für edle Familien, Vienna, Anton Doll, 1800, p. 46-47.
10 Joseph Marx von Liechtenstern, Statistisch-geographische Beschreibung des Erzherzogthums Oestreich unter der Ens, Klagenfurth und Laybach, Ignaz Edlen von Kleinmaier, 1792, p. 193.
11 WZ (Weiner Zeitung) 06/08/1785, 21/01/1786, 25/01/1786, 08/02/1786, 15/02/1786.
12 WZ 21/01/1786, 25/01/1786, 08/02/1786, 15/02/1786.
13 WZ 27/01/1787, 22/08/1787, 01/09/1787, 19/09/1787, 26/09/1787.
14 WZ 07/06/1788.
15 WZ 21/03/1789, 28/03/1789. L’Ape Musicale was a pasticcio by Lorenzo Da Ponte, first performed in the Burgtheater in 1789.
16 WZ 13/08/1794.
17 For example, WZ 27/01/1787, 01/09/1787, 19/09/1787, 26/09/1787, 07/06/1788, 21/03/1789.
18 Musikalische Anthologie für Kenner und Liebhaber. Der musikal. Realzeitung praktischen Theils, vol. 1, Vienna, Speyer, 1788, p. 25-30.