List of operas by Mozart

tional forms of the Italian opera seria and opera bua as

well as the German Singspiel. In his maturity, according to music writer Nicholas Kenyon, he enhanced all of
these forms with the richness of his innovation,[1] and, in
Don Giovanni, he achieved a synthesis of the two Italian
styles, including a seria character in Donna Anna, bua
characters in Leporello and Zerlina, and a mixed seriabua character in Donna Elvira.[1]
Ideas and characterisations introduced in the early works
were subsequently developed and rened. For example, Mozarts later operas feature a series of memorable, strongly drawn female characters, in particular
the so-called Viennese soubrettes who, in opera writer
Charles Osborne's phrase, contrive to combine not true
instinct.[4] Music writer and analyst Gottfried Kraus has
remarked that all these women were present, as prototypes, in the earlier operas; Bastienne (1768), and Sandrina (La nta giardiniera, 1774) are precedents for the
later Constanze and Pamina, while Sandrinas foil Serpetta is the forerunner of Blonde, Susanna, Zerlina and
Despina.[5]
Mozarts texts came from a variety of sources, and the
early operas were often adaptations of existing works.[6]
The rst librettist chosen by Mozart himself appears to
have been Giambattista Varesco, for Idomeneo in 1781.[7]
Five years later, he began his most enduring collaboration, with Lorenzo Da Ponte, his true phoenix.[8] The
once widely held theory that Da Ponte was the librettist
for the discarded Lo sposo deluso of 1783 has now been
generally rejected.[9] Mozart felt that, as the composer,
he should have considerable input into the content of the
libretto, so that it would best serve the music. Musicologist Charles Rosen writes, it is possible that Da Ponte understood the dramatic necessities of Mozarts style without prompting; but before his association with da Ponte,
Mozart had already bullied several librettists into giving
him the dramatically shaped ensembles he loved.[10][11]

Playbill for the opening performance of Die Zauberte, 30

September 1791

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operas comprise 22 musical

dramas in a variety of genres. They range from the smallscale, derivative works of his youth to the full-edged
operas of his maturity. Three of the works were abandoned before completion and were not performed until
many years after the composers death. His mature works
are all considered classics and have never been out of the
repertory of the worlds opera houses.[1]

1 Compiling the list

From a very young age Mozart had, according to opera

analyst David Cairns, an extraordinary capacity [...] for
seizing on and assimilating whatever in a newly encountered style (was) most useful to him.[2] In a letter to his
father, dated 7 February 1778, Mozart wrote, As you
know, I can more or less adopt or imitate any kind and
style of composition.[3] He used this gift to break new
ground, becoming simultaneously assimilator, perfector
and innovator.[2] Thus, his early works follow the tradi-

1.1 Basis for inclusion

The list includes all the theatrical works generally accepted as composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In
this context theatrical means performed on a stage, by
vocalists singing in character, in accordance with stage
directions. Some sources have adopted more specic criteria, leading them to exclude the early Sacred Singspiel
1

REFERENCES

3 References
Notes
[1] Kenyon, pp. 28385
[2] Cairns, p. 11
[3] Cairns, p. 17
[4] Osborne, pp. 19192
[5] Kenyon, p. 302
[6] For example, Metastasio's text for Il re pastore had been
written in 1751 and had been set to music before. Kenyon,
p. 303
[7] Kenyon, p. 308
[8] From a letter to his father, circa 1774, quoted in Holden,
p. xv

Mozart circa 1780, by Johann Nepomuk della Croce

[9] According to some recent scholarship, the unknown Italian poet responsible for the text is more likely to have
been Giuseppe Petrosellini, who initially prepared it
for Domenico Cimarosas opera Le donne rivali, 1780.
Dell'Antonio, pp. 404405 and 415
[10] Rosen 1997, p. 155
[11] For two instances in which Mozart coaxed his libret-

Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots,[12] which they classify

tists into reshaping their work, see Die Entfhrung aus
as an oratorio.[13] However, as Osborne makes clear, the
dem Serail (which quotes Mozarts correspondence on this
libretto contains stage directions which suggest that the
point) and Giambattista Varesco.
work was acted, not merely sung, and it is formally described as a geistliches Singspiel (sacred play with mu- [12] Gebotes or Gebottes are archaic spelling variants of
the modern Gebots which is regularly used in he title.
sic), not as an oratorio.[14]

1.2

Sequence

In general, the list follows the sequence in which the operas were written. There is uncertainty about whether
La nta semplice was written before or after Bastien
und Bastienne, and in some listings the former is given
priority.[15] Thamos was written in two segments, the earlier in 1774, but is listed in accordance with its completion in 177980. Die Zauberte and La clemenza di Tito
were written concurrently. Die Zauberote was started
earlier and put aside for the Tito commission,[16] which
was completed and performed rst and is usually listed
as the earlier work despite having a higher Kchel catalogue number.

List of works

Note: Eng refers to English translation of title

[13] Kenyon begins his guide to the operas with Apollo et Hyacinthus (p. 287); Cairns more or less dismisses Die
Schuldigkeit (p. 24), seemingly following the view of Edward J. Dent, quoted by Osborne, p. 27. Grove, also, does
not list Die Schuldigkeit as an opera.
[14] Osborne, p. 26
[15] Both were written in 1768. The rst performance of
La nta semplice was delayed until May 1779, whereas
Bastien und Bastienne may have been performed in October 1768. It is entirely possible, however, that La nta
semplice was written rst. See Osborne, pp. 3738 and
45
[16] Osborne, p. 300
[17] Kchel numbers refer to the Kchel Catalogue of Mozarts
work, prepared by Ludwig von Kchel and rst published
in 1862. The catalogue has been revised several times,
most recently in 1964.
[18] Unless indicated otherwise, these descriptions are taken
from the title pages of Neue Mozart-Ausgabe. In instances where the English meaning is unclear, an English
equivalent is given
[19] Unless noted otherwise, librettist details are as given by
Osborne: The Complete Operas of Mozart

[20] Voice part summaries are as given by Osborne. Additional

notes indicate roles originally sung by castrati

[42] 1964 revised to K. 336a. Kchels Catalog of Mozarts

Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.

[21] Unless noted otherwise, details of rst performances are

as given by Osborne.

[43] 1964 revised to K. 336b. Kchels Catalog of Mozarts

Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.

[22] Part II is by Michael Haydn, Part III by Anton Cajetan

Adlgasser. Osborne, p. 16

[44] The role of Idamante, originally written for castrato, was

rewritten by Mozart as a tenor role in 1786. (Osborne,
p. 155) Also, the role of Arbace is sometimes sung by a
tenor

[23] Weiser is the most likely of several possible authors of the

text. See Osborne, pp. 2425
[24] Kenyons description, p. 288, is Music for a Latin drama

[45] One speaking role, that of a sailor, is absent from most

modern productions

[25] Premiered with an all-male cast, the soprano and alto parts
being sung by boy choristers. Osborne, p. 32

[46] 1964 revised to K. 424a. Kchels Catalog of Mozarts

Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.

[26] 1964 revised to K. 46b. Kchels Catalog of Mozarts

Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.

[47] Osborne, pp. 20809

[48] Sadie, p. 415

[27] The text was derived from a French parody, Les amours
de Bastien et Bastienne, a work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau:
Le Devin du Village, 1752. Kenyon, p. 291
[28] Dr Franz Anton Mesmer was the founder of the form of
hypnotherapy known as "mesmerism". Batta, p. 343
[29] 1964 revised to K. 46a. Kchels Catalog of Mozarts
Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
[30] The contralto or mezzo role was created by Maria Anna
Braunhofer, who had sung a soprano role in the rst performance of Die Schuldigkeit. Osborne, pp. 13 & 35
[31] 1964 revised to K. 74a. Kchels Catalog of Mozarts
Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
[32] The soprano roles of Sifare and Arbate, and the alto role
of Farnace, were written for castrati. Osborne, p. 59
[33] In Italian this translates to festa teatrale (Kenyon, p. 294).
Osborne, p. 63, calls it a pastoral opera.
[34] The soprano roles of Ascanio and Fauno were written for
castrati. Osborne, p. 69

[49] According to Osborne, p. 207

[50] The soprano mezzo singers include the two servant-girls,
either two sopranos or one soprano and one mezzo, who
sing the duet Amanti, costanti in the Act III Finale. Osborne, p. 251
[51] The full name of the opera is Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il
Don Giovanni, but as Kenyon (p. 326) states: It is fruitless to argue against the habits of opera houses around the
world.
[52] For the Vienna premiere, six months later, certain changes
were introduced, mainly to accommodate the ranges of
a dierent group of singers. Modern performances generally conate the Prague and Vienna productions. Osborne, p. 268
[53] This is an approximate translation from the Italian. Cairns
(p. 177) gives: That is what all women do. The subtitle,
La scola degli amanti, is more easily translatable as The
School for lovers. Cairns, p. 176, Osborne, p. 281

[35] Details of rst performance are obscure. Osborne gives

dates 29 April or 1 May, Kenyon, p. 296 says: There
is no record it was actually performed in 1772

[54] One mezzo-soprano role, depicting the male character

Annio, was originally a castrato and is now done by mezzos. The role of Sesto (Sextus) was originally written by
Mozart for a tenor before he found out it had been assigned
to a mezzo castrato.

[36] The soprano role of Cecilio was written for a castrato. Osborne, p. 86

Cited sources

[37] Mozart prepared a Singspiel version, Die verstellte Grtnerin, produced in Augsburg on 1 May 1780. The German version, now known as Die Grtnerin aus Liebe, has
remained popular. Kenyon, pp. 30001, Osborne, p. 97
[38] The libretto was formerly credited to Raniero
de'Calzabigi, revised by Marco Coltellini, but is
now credited to Petrosellini. Kenyon, p. 300
[39] The soprano role of Ramiro was written for a castrato.
[40] Kenyon, p. 303
[41] The soprano role of Aminta was written for castrato. Osborne, p. 105

Batta, Andreas (editor) (2000). Opera: Composers,

Works, Performers (English edition ed.). Cologne:
Knemann. ISBN 3-8290-3571-3.
Cairns, David (2006). Mozart and his Operas. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-029674-3.
Dell' Antonio, Andrew (1996). Il Compositore
Deluso: The Fragments of Mozarts Comic Opera
Lo Sposo Deluso (K424a/430)". In Stanley Sadie
(ed.). Wolfgang Amad Mozart: Essays on His Life
and Work. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN
0-19-816443-2.

4 FURTHER READING
Glover, Jane (2005). Mozarts Women. London:
MacMillan. ISBN 1-4050-2121-7.
Holden, Anthony (2007). The Man Who Wrote
Mozart: The extraordinary life of Lorenzo Da Ponte.
London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-0-7538-2180-0.
Kenyon, Nicholas (2006). The Pegasus Pocket Guide
to Mozart. New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 1933648-23-6.
Osborne, Charles (1992). The Complete Operas of
Mozart. London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-57503823-3.
Rosen, Charles (1997). The Classical Style: Haydn,
Mozart, Beethoven. New York: Norton. ISBN 0393-00653-0.
Kchels Catalog of Mozarts Works. ClassicalNet. 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (New Mozart Edition)".
Brenreiter-Verlag. Retrieved 17 July 2008.

Other sources
Dent, Edward J. (1973). Mozarts Operas: A Critical
Study. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 0-19-284001-0.
Gutman, Robert W. (2000). Mozart: A Cultural Biography. London: Secker and Warburg. ISBN 0304-31135-9.
Heartz, Daniel (ed.) (1990). Mozarts Operas.
Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520-07872-1.
Mann, William (1986). The Operas of Mozart. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-31135-9.
Newman, Ernest (1954). More Opera Nights. London: Putnam.
Robbins, Landon, H. C. (1990). 1791: Mozarts
Last Year. London: Fontana. ISBN 0-00-654324-3.
Steptoe, Andrew (1988). The MozartDa Ponte Operas. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 0-19-816221-9.
Till, Nicholas (1993). Mozart and the Enlightenment. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-57117042-0.

Further reading
Whiteld, Sarah (2011). Cos fan tutte: Brilliance
or Buoonery?", Musical Oerings: Vol. 2: No.
2, Article 1. Available at http://digitalcommons.
cedarville.edu/musicalofferings/vol2/iss2/1.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

List of operas by Mozart Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operas_by_Mozart?oldid=623800664 Contributors: Rmhermen,

Opus33, Wadewitz, Alansohn, Noetica, G.W., Drbogdan, Rjwilmsi, The Rambling Man, Canuckguy, Fram, D Monack, Kleinzach, FordPrefect42, GuillaumeTell, Michael Bednarek, Voceditenore, Rurp, Jimknut, Reywas92, DavidRF, Ssilvers, GimmeBot, Nrswanson, Broadbot, MeegsC, Dabomb87, ClueBot, Safebreaker, Chrisfa678, Obelix83, Brianboulton, Indopug, Addbot, LaaknorBot, Tassedethe, Luckasbot, Maximilian Caldwell, Kingpin13, Omnipaedista, Beyond My Ken, NerdyScienceDude, John of Reading, Mentibot, ClueBot NG,
Tijd-jp, Helpful Pixie Bot, Toccata quarta, AlanPalgut, ChrisGualtieri, Khazar2, Lugia2453, Dcmo and Anonymous: 23

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