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Zaide (originally, Das Serail) is an unfinished German-language opera, K. 344, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. Emperor Joseph II, in 1778, was in the process of setting up an opera company for the purpose of performing German opera. One condition required of the composer to join this company was that he should write a comic opera. At Salzburg in 1779 Mozart began work on a new opera (now known as Zaide although Mozart did not give it such a title). It contains spoken dialogue, which also classifies it as a Singspiel (literally, "singing play"). Only the arias and ensembles fro

Key facts

Opera.name
Zaide
Opera.type
Singspiel
Opera.composer
W. A. Mozart
Opera.image
Mozart Portrait Croce.jpg
Opera.caption
Detail of Wolfgang from the 1780–81 Portrait of the Mozart Family
Opera.librettist
Johann Andreas Schachtner
Opera.language
German

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Show 6 more facts
Commons category
Zaide
date of first performance
1866-01-27
catalog code
336b
number of parts of this work
2
publication date
1800-00-00
title
Zaide
Sources (3)

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Article

9 sections
Contents
  • Style
  • Performance history
  • Roles
  • Synopsis
  • Noted arias
  • Recordings
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Zaide (originally, Das Serail) is an unfinished German-language opera, K. 344, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. Emperor Joseph II, in 1778, was in the process of setting up an opera company for the purpose of performing German opera. One condition required of the composer to join this company was that he should write a comic opera. At Salzburg in 1779 Mozart began work on a new opera (now known as Zaide although Mozart did not give it such a title). It contains spoken dialogue, which also classifies it as a Singspiel (literally, "singing play"). Only the arias and ensembles from the first two acts were composed. Missing are an overture and third act.

It was popular at the time for operas to depict the rescue of enslaved Westerners from Muslim courts, since Muslim pirates were preying on Mediterranean shipping, particularly to obtain slaves for various purposes. This story portrays Zaide's effort to save her beloved, Gomatz.

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