Cabals and Satires

Abstract

This is a study of the political context in which Mozart wrote his three Italian comedies, Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. Joseph II’s decision to place his opera buffa troupe in competition with the re-formed Singspiel provoked a struggle between supporters of the rival national genres. Cabals soon became active, organizing claques to cheer or hiss as required, and encouraging press correspondents to circulate slanted notices. In the spring of 1786, Mozart was caught up in the infighting. Figaro, the flagship work for the Italian troupe, received a mixed reception, whereas Dittersdorf’s Der Apotheker for the German party scored a triumph. In this fraught atmosphere, satire flourished. A rival setting of Die Hochzeit des Figaro by Dittersdorf, the music for which is lost, lampooned Mozart in the guise of Cherubino, focusing on his obsession with dancing. The intertroupe contest came to an abrupt end at the start of 1788, when the deteriorating international situation for the Austrian Monarchy necessitated cutbacks in expenditure, including the closure of the Singspiel. During the ensuing years of the Austro-Turkish War, Mozart successfully negotiated the unpredictable twists and turns of theater politics. The revival of Figaro in 1789, now as a Habsburg festive work following its gala performance in Prague, sealed his reputation. He was ideally placed to accept a commission from the commercial stage, the revitalization of which was the most lasting musical consequence of the war years.

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