Editing Opera in German (section)

===Mozart's ''Singspiele''===
[[File:Mozart magic flute.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Stage set for ''The Magic Flute'', 1815]]
At the end of the 18th century, a composer who would permanently change the German operatic tradition would emerge: [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]].{{sfn|Zaslaw|1989|pp=242–247, 258–260}}{{sfn|Parker|1994|pp=58–63, 98–103}}{{sfn|Holden|1993|loc=Articles on Hasse, Graun and Hiller}} The great figure of the early Classical period was [[Christoph Willibald Gluck]] but his pioneering reforms were directed at Italian and French opera, not the German repertoire. In 1778, [[Emperor Joseph II]] attempted to change this state of affairs by establishing a German-language opera troupe, the National Singspiel, at the [[Burgtheater]] in Vienna. The experiment was short-lived and the troupe was dissolved in 1783, yet the previous year it had produced one undoubted success with ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'' by the young [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]. [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] immediately recognised the quality of the piece, declaring "it knocked us all sideways". In the following years commercial theatres sprang up in Vienna offering German-language opera. The impresario [[Emanuel Schikaneder]] had particular success with his [[Theater auf der Wieden]] on the outskirts of the city. In 1791, Mozart set one of his libretti, ''[[The Magic Flute]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-the-magic-flute/FF05E0177C1483A26D649F70D5E038BA |title=The Cambridge Companion to The Magic Flute |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-42689-3 |editor-last=Waldoff |editor-first=Jessica |series=Cambridge Companions to Music |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/9781108551328}}</ref> Although it appeared in the context of other popular Viennese magic operas (''Zauberopern''), like [[Wenzel Müller]]'s ''{{ill|Der Fagottist|de}}'', Mozart's proved to be no ordinary ''Singspiel''. Though the traditional farcical elements remained, Mozart added a new seriousness, particularly in the music for Sarastro and his priests. Even more than ''Die Entführung'', the ''Magic Flute'' pointed the way forward for future German opera, especially according to later commentators.{{sfn|Parker|1994|pp=118–121}}{{sfn|Zaslaw|1989|pp=134–140}}{{sfn|Holden|1993|loc=Article on Mozart}}