This item in the Venetian newspaper Notizie del mondo appears at first glance to be a shorter version of a report from Prague that was published in the Wiener Zeitung on 20 Oct 1787 (see Dokumente, 264):

[translation:]

Bohemia. Written from Prague under
the date 15 Oct: “In the afternoon of the
day before yesterday, Her Royal Highness
the Archduchess Maria Theresia arrived
in the Royal Castle here accompanied by
her illustrious brother the Archduke Franz.
The following day they attended High Mass
in the Metropolitan Church. At midday they
dined alone in the company of their Chief
Steward. At 5 was Circle, at which appeared
the entire local nobility, along with the body
of generals, the staff officers, and other
officers. The introduction was made by the
wife of the Chief Land Steward, Count von
Wieschnick. In the evening Their Royal
Highnesses went to the National Theater
of Count Nostitz, which was very delicately
illuminated for this occasion.On entry Their
Royal Highnesses were received with open
demonstrations of joy by the public. The
well-known opera Die Hochzeit des Figaro
was given. After the first act, a poem written
for this festivity was distributed. Early today
Her Royal Highness departed with beneficent
wishes for Dresden.”

This report from the Wiener Zeitung was reprinted verbatim in the Preßburger Zeitung on 24 Oct 1787. It contains several details missing from the report in Notizie del Mondo: the attendance of the visitors at mass, the presence of generals and military officers at “circle,” the illumination of the Nostitz Theater, and the distribution of the poem. On the other hand, the report in Notizie del Mondo mentions two details not in the Wiener Zeitung: the presence of nobility of “both sexes” at circle; and Leutmeritz (today Litoměřice) in northern Bohemia as the Archduchess’s immediate destination after leaving Prague, a logical layover on her journey to Dresden. Because of this difference in detail, it seems likely that the report in the Notizie del Mondo is not simply a shortened adaptation and translation of the one in the Wiener Zeitung.

Yet another version of this report was published in Gazzetta universale in Florence on 3  Nov 1787. Like the one in Notizie del Mondo, the dateline is “Vienna,” it mentions the attendance of both sexes at “circle,” and it gives Leutmeritz as the Archduchess’s immediate destination upon leaving Prague. But Gazzetta universale also contains details found in the Wiener Zeitung, but not in Notizie del Mondo:

[translation:]

Having left this capital as mentioned,
the Royal Archduchess Maria Theresia
arrived in Prague on the evening of
the 13th in the company of her brother,
the Archduke, and her noble retinue,
and they were quartered in the Castle of
the old Royal Residence. The morning
of the 14th the Royal Archduke and his
sister attended the sacred service in that
city and dined with the Knights and
Ladies of their retinue. At 5 o’clock,
after the meal, assisted by the wife of the
Count of Wieschnick, Chief Land Steward
of the Bohemian Crown, the Royal Spouse
was visited and honored by all the
Bohemian nobility of both sexes; after this,
accompanied by a large party, Their Royal
Highnesses went to the theater to enjoy
the opera buffa. The following morning,
the 15th of the current month, they left
for Leutmeritz […]

Yet this report varies in some details from the one in the Wiener Zeitung, suggesting that it was not modeled directly on the latter, but that the two may instead derive from a common source. The version in Gazzetta universale does not mention the title of the opera.

Archduchess Maria Theresia was the eldest child of Grand Duke Leopold (later Emperor Leopold II), and a niece of Joseph II. Her brother, Archduke Franz, was Leopold’s eldest son, who himself later became emperor after the premature death of his father. On 8 Sep 1787 Archduchess Maria Theresia had been married by proxy in Florence to Prince Anton of Saxony, and she stopped in Prague on 13 and 14 Oct 1787 on her journey to Dresden, where she was to have a second ceremony with Anton in person on 18 Oct. Although it is sometimes stated or implied in the secondary literature that Anton was with Maria Theresia in Prague, it seems certain that he was not (see the discussion in the Notes below).

The original intention had been to give the premier of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on 14 Oct in honor of the Archduchess’s visit. This intention is made clear on the title page of the incomplete libretto of Don Giovanni printed in Vienna in 1787, probably for the censor (see the facsimile in Warburton 1992, 345):

In the event, the production of Don Giovanni was not ready in time, and Mozart’s Figaro was given on 14 Oct instead.

Mozart and his wife had left Vienna on 1 Oct, arriving in Prague on 4 Oct; this is the journey famously fictionalized in Eduard Mörike’s Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag (1855–56). Mozart explains, in a letter to his friend Gottfried von Jacquin begun on 15 Oct (the day after the performance of Figaro) why Don Giovanni had not been given and how, in spite of a campaign to block its performance, Figaro had been performed instead at the express order of the emperor:

Sie werden vermuthlich glauben daß nun meine Oper schon vorbey ist — doch — da irren sie sich ein bischen; Erstens ist das hiesige theatralische Personale nicht so geschickt wie das zu Wienn um eine solche oper in so kurzer Zeit einzustudiren.

zweytens fand ich bey meiner Ankunft so wenige vorkehrungen und Anstalten, daß es eine blosse unmöglichkeit gewesen seyn würde, Sie am 14:ten als gestern zu geben; — Man gab also gestern bey ganz illuminirten theater meinen figaro, den ich selbst dirigirte. — bey dieser gelegenheit muß ich ihnen einen Spass erzehlen. — einige von den hiesigen ersten damen |: besonders eine gar hocherläuchte :| geruhten es sehr lächerlich, unschicklich, und was weis ich alles zu finden, daß man der Prinzessin den figaro, den tollen tag |: wie sie sich auszudrücken beliebten :| geben wollte; — Sie bedachten nicht daß keine oper in der Welt sich zu einer solchen gelegenheit schiken kann, wenn Sie nicht beflissentlich dazu geschrieben ist; daß es sehr gleichgültig seye, ob sie diese oder Jene oper geben, wenn es nur eine gute und der Prinzessin unbekannte oper ist; und das lezte wenigstens war figaro gewis. — kurz, die Radl=führerin brachte es durch ihre wohlredenheit so weit, daß dem impreßario von der Regierung aus dieses Stück auf Jenen tag untersagt wurde. — Nun triumphirte Sie! — — hò vinta schrie Sie eines abends aus der Loge; — Sie vermuthete wohl gewis nicht daß sich das hò in ein Sono verändern könne! — des tags darauf kamm aber le Noble — brachte den befehl S: Mayt: daß wenn die Neue oper nichtgegeben werden könne, figaro gegeben werden müsse! — wenn Sie, mein freund, die schöne, herrliche Nase dieser dame nun gesehen hätten! — O es würde ihnen so viel vergnügen verursacht haben wie mir! — [Briefe, iv:54–55]

[translation:]

You will probably think that my opera is now over — but — you will be a little bit wrong. First, the theatrical personnel here are not so skilled as those in Vienna to be able to prepare such an opera in so short a time.

Second, I found on my arrival so little provision and arrangement that it would have been simply impossible to give it on the 14th (that is, yesterday). Instead, my Figaro was given yesterday with a fully illuminated theater, and I directed myself. — I must take the opportunity to tell you a funny story. — Some of the first ladies here (especially one of the most highly illustrious) deemed it quite ridiculous, improper, and I don’t know what all that the plan was to give Figaro, The Crazy Day (as they like to call it), for the Princess. It didn’t occur to them that no opera in the world is proper to such an occasion unless it is intentionally written for it; that it is immaterial whether this or that opera is given, provided only that it is a good one and unknown to the Princess, and Figaro was certainly the latter, at least. — In short, the ring leader, through her smooth talking, brought things to the point that the impresario was forbidden by the government to give this piece on that day. Now she was triumphant! — — I have conquered! she cried one evening from her box. — She certainly didn’t imagine that her “have” could change to “am”! — The following day Le Noble came with the order from His Majesty, that if the new opera could not be given, the Figaro must be given! — If you, my friend, could only have seen the beautiful magnificent nose of this lady! — Oh, it would have given you just as much pleasure as it gave me.

The identity of the “ring leader” (“Radl=führerin”) seems not to have been investigated.

The most detailed report of the performance on 14 Oct was printed in the Prager Oberpostamtszeitung on 16 Oct:

... Um halb sieben Uhr verfügten Sie [die Hoheiten] Sich in das gräfl. Nostitische Nationaltheater, welches bey dieser Gelegenheit auf eine sehr auszeichnende Art enbellirt und beleuchtet. Der Schauplatz war durch den Schmuck der zahlreichen Gäste dergestalt verherrlicht, daß man noch nie eine so prachtvolle Scene gesehen zu haben, gestehen muß. Beym Eintritte der höchsten Herrschaften wurden Sie mit der öffentlichen Freudenbezeugung des ganzen Publikums empfangen, welches Höchstdieselben mit liebevollem Danke erwiederten. Auf Verlangen wurde die bekannte und dem allgemeinen Geständniß nach bei uns so gut exequirte Oper “Die Hochzeit des Figaro” gegeben. Der Eifer der Tonkünstler und die Gegenwart des Meisters Mozart erweckte bey den höchsten Herrschaften allgemeinen Beyfall und Zufriedenheit. Nach dem 1. Acte wurde eine Sonette, welche auf diese Feierlichkeit von einigen Patrioten Böhmens veranstaltet wurde, öffentlich vertheilt. Der frühzeitigen Abreise wegen erhoben sich Höchstdieselben noch vor Ende der Oper in die k. Burg zurück. [Dokumente, 264–65]

[translation:]

... At half past six, they [their Highnesses] betook themselves to Count Nostitz’s National Theater, which on this occasion was decorated and illuminated in a distinctive manner. The theater was glorified in such a way by the jewelry of the numerous guests that one must admit never having seen such a magnificent spectacle. Upon their entry, their Highnesses were received with open expressions of joy by the entire public, which they reciprocated with loving thanks. By request, the well-known opera Die Hochzeit des Figaro, which is generally acknowledged to be so well executed here, was given. The efforts of the musicians and the presence of the master Mozart inspired general approval and satisfaction in their Highnesses. After the first act, a sonnet prepared by some Bohemian patriots was publicly distributed. On account of their early-morning departure, their Highnesses returned to the royal palace before the end of the opera.

The report in the Prager Oberpostamtszeitung notes that Archduchess and Archduke left the performance before the end, because they were departing early the next morning, 15 Oct. The Archduchess needed to reach Dresden in good time to prepare for her wedding three days later.

This report in Notizie del mondo is of no special importance in itself, but it is representative of a wider point about the distribution of news in the eighteenth century. We now know of six reports about the same event in Prague, the performance of Mozart’s Figaro on 14 Oct 1787. Of these six, only two are literal reprintings of one of the others: the Preßburger Zeitung reprints the report in the Wiener Zeitung, and Provinzialnachrichten (see the Notes below) reprints the report in the Prager Oberpostamtszeitung. The report in the Prager Oberpostamtszeitung was evidently written by someone on the scene, with direct knowledge of the events. The others—in the Wiener Zeitung, Notizie del mondo, and Gazzetta universale—seem likely to have been based on common sources, probably including reports from one or more correspondents in the form of letters. These letters from correspondents served the function that stories from news agencies like Reuters fulfill today. The example also shows that no one version of a report can necessarily be relied upon to give all relevant details.