13 February 1791

The Habsburg court and guests attend Der Stein der Weisen

Wiener Zeitung, no. 14, Wed, 16 Feb 1791

[385]
                      Wien.

Samstags Abends war wegen des
Geburtstages Sr. K. H. des Erz=
herzogs Franz, bey Hofe Kammerfest.
       Sonntags Abends besuchten II. KK.
HH. das Wiedner Theater, wo die be=
liebte Oper, der Stein der Weisen, von
Hrn. Schikaneder, gegeben wurde, welche
auch schon am 4. d. M. Se. Majestät
der Kaiser, samt II. Sizil. MM. und
KK. HH. gesehen, und mit Allerhöchst=
dero Beyfall beehret hatten. Auch fan=
den sich II. MM. und KK. HH. auf
der Redoute ein.

Wiener Zeitung, 1791-02-13 (rev) (Resized)

[translation:]

⁣                    Vienna.

Saturday night saw a chamber festival at
court on account of the birthday of His
Royal Highness the Archduke Franz.
     On Sunday night, Their Royal Highnesses
visited the Wiednertheater, where Der Stein
der Weisen, the popular opera by Herr
Schikaneder, was given. It had already been
seen and was received with utmost acclaim
on the 4th of this month by His Majesty the
Emperor together with Their Sicilian Majesties
and Royal Highnesses. Their Majesties and
Royal Highnesses also visited the Redoute.

Commentary

The singspiel Der Stein der Weisen (The Philosopher’s Stone) had its premiere on 11 Sep 1790 in Emanuel Schikaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden, the same theater in which Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte was first performed just slightly over one year later, on 30 Sep 1791. In 1997, David Buch brought to light previously unknown Mozart attributions in a full score of Der Stein der Weisen in the collection of the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek in Hamburg (D-Hs, ND VII 174). The score had formerly belonged to the Hamburg Stadttheater, but had been appropriated by the Soviet army in 1945 at the end of the Second World War; it was returned to Hamburg only in 1991.

The score carries attributions to several composers connected with the Theater auf der Wieden, including Mozart. Mozart’s name appears over three items in the score: the duet “Nun liebes Weibchen,” K. 592a (625), and two sections of the second-act finale; these last two attributions were previously unknown. It has been shown that the Hamburg score originated in a copy shop affiliated with the Theater auf der Wieden, and the attributions were added by a hand that is almost certainly that of one of the principal copyists in that shop. That background and the high musical quality of the sections make the attributions seem reasonably secure. (On the background of Der Stein der Weisen, see Buch, 1997, 2002, and 2007; for additional background on the copy shop of Kaspar Weiß and the handwriting in the attributions, see Edge, 2001.)

This item from the Wiener Zeitung reports the attendance of Emperor Leopold II and his wife at a performance of Der Stein der Weisen in the Theater auf der Wieden on Sun, 13 Feb 1791, and notes that the emperor, along with the visiting Neapolitan court, had attended an earlier performance on Friday, 4 Feb 1791. (For more on the Viennese visit of the Neapolitan court, see our entry for 9 Feb 1791, when the emperor and his royal guests attended a performance of Le nozze di Figaro in the Burghteater.)

“II. KK. HH.” is the abbreviation for “Ihre königliche Hoheiten” (Their Royal Highnesses), and “II. Sizil. MM.” abbreviates “Ihre Sizilianische Majestäten” (Their Sicilian Majesties; at that time, the Kingdom of Sicily encompassed the island of Sicily and a large portion of the lower “boot” of Italy, including the city of Naples).

Bibliography

Buch, David J. 1997. "Mozart and the Theater auf der Wieden: New Attributions and Perspectives." Cambridge Opera Journal 9:196–232.

————. 2002. "Der Stein der Weisen, Mozart, and Collaborative Singspiels at Emanuel Schikaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden." Mozart-Jahrbuch 2000. Kassel etc.: Bärenreiter, 91–126.

————. ed. 2007. Der Stein der Weisen. Recent Researches in the Music of the Classical Era, 76. Middleton, WI: A-R Editions.

Edge, Dexter. 2001. "Mozart’s Viennese Copyists." Ph.D. diss., University of Southern California. Here esp. chpt. 11.

Credit: DE

Author: Dexter Edge

Link(s):

ÖNB (ANNO); DiFMOE (Pressburger Zeitung); Google Books (Münchner Zeitung);

Search Term: stein (ANNO and Google Books [Münchner Zeitung])

Source Library:

ÖNB (Wiener Zeitung); BSB (Münchner Zeitung)

Categories: Biography, Reception

First Published: Thu, 12 Jun 2014

Updated: Tue, 13 Sep 2022

Print Citation:

Edge, Dexter. 2014. “The Habsburg court and guests attend Der Stein der Weisen (13 February 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 12 June 2014; updated 13 September 2022. https://www.mozartdocuments.org/documents/13-february-1791/

Web Citation:

Edge, Dexter. 2014. “The Habsburg court and guests attend Der Stein der Weisen (13 February 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 12 June 2014; updated 13 September 2022. [direct link]