Commentary
The collaborative singspiel Der Stein der Weisen had its premiere on 11 Sep 1790 in Emanuel Schikaneder’s Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna (for more on Der Stein der Weisen, see the entry for 13 Feb 1791). This advertisement by copyist Lorenz Lausch includes two numbers from that singspiel: Lubano’s Act 2 aria “Den Mädchen trauet nicht zu viel,” by Johann Baptist Henneberg (1768–1822), and the Act 2 duet of Lubano and Lubanara, “Nun liebes Weibchen," also known as the “cat” duet: Lubanara, who is under a spell, can reply to Lubano only with a cat’s “miau.” (For modern editions of the aria and duet, see Buch 2007, 206–210 and 215–221.) “Nun liebes Weibchen,” K. 592a (K. 625) is one of three items attributed to Mozart in the principal source for Der Stein der Weisen, a full score in the collection of the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek in Hamburg (D-Hs, ND VII 174) from the copy shop of Kaspar Weiß, copyist for Schikaneder’s theater (on Weiß, see Edge 2001, chpt. 10). Lausch’s advertisement uses a variant form of the duet’s title, giving “Schätzchen” for “Weibchen”; this variant is also found in a manuscript libretto for the singspiel in SBB (D-B, TO 861; David Buch, personal communication).
The other works and composers mentioned in Lausch’s advertisement are:
- Das Sonnenfest der Braminen, a singspiel by Wenzel Müller (1767–1835), with a libretto by Karl Friedrich Hensler (on Hensler, see the entry for 5 Oct 1791). Das Sonnenfest der Braminen was premiered in the Theater in der Leopoldstadt in Vienna on 9 Sep 1790, two days before Der Stein der Weisen.
- Gli equivoci, an opera buffa by Stephen Storace (1762–1796), with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Gli equivoci had its world premiere on 27 Dec 1786 in the Burgtheater in Vienna. It was revived on 3 Oct 1790, and received a total of seven performances in that production, through 22 Jan 1791. The opera’s revival on 3 Oct 1790 accounts for its appearance in Lausch’s advertisement six days later.
- Gottfried von Jacquin (1767–1792), son of the noted botanist at the University of Vienna, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. Gottfried was a close friend of Mozart, and an amateur composer. Mozart wrote the concert aria “Mentre ti lascio, o figlia,” K. 513 for Jacquin, and was also the composer of two of six songs later published under Jacquin’s name, as 6 deutsche Lieder beym Klavier zu singen (the songs by Mozart are Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte, K. 520, and Das Traumbild, K. 530). Jacquin also figures in two cases of uncertain Mozart attribution: the six “Notturni” (K. 346, K. 436, K. 437, K. 438, K. 439, and K. 549), and the aria “Io ti lascio, o cara, addio,” K. 621a. (For a summary of these attribution questions and references to further literature, see Edge 2001, 699–708, for the “Notturni”; and 655–63, for K. 621a.)
- Lausch’s advertisement of 9 Oct 1790 refers to a set of six variations for keyboard by Jacquin on the song “Ich saß im dunkeln Buchenhayn” (“I sat in the dark beech grove”). A manuscript copy of this set, in F major, is listed in RISM as being in the Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek in Donaueschingen. A poem with this incipit is attributed to Swiss poet Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis (1762–1834).
- Lausch’s advertisement also lists six string trios and three duets for violin and viola by the Moravian violinist and composer Paul Wranitzky (1756–1808), who lived in Vienna from 1776 to the end of his life, for much of that time playing in and sometimes serving as director of one of the orchestras of the court theaters.
On Lausch, see Edge 2001, 2075–88.