Editing Die Entführung aus dem Serail (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Entfuhrung aus dem Serail484.jpg|thumb|Mozart (at center) attended a performance of his own opera {{lang|de|Die Entführung aus dem Serail}} while [[Mozart's Berlin journey|visiting Berlin]] in 1789. Franz Frankenberg performed the role of Osmin, Friedrich Ernst Wilhelm Greibe played Pedrillo.<ref>{{cite book|title=Starší divadlo v českých zemích do konce 18. století|editor-last=Jakubcová|editor-first=Alena|year=2007|publisher=Divadelní ústav, Academia|location=Prague|isbn=978-80-200-1486-3|page=707|language=cs}}</ref>]] The opera was a huge success. The first two performances brought in the large sum of 1200 florins.{{sfn|Deutsch|1965|loc=201}} The work was repeatedly performed in Vienna during Mozart's lifetime,<ref>For a listing see {{harvnb|Deutsch|1965|loc=201}}.</ref> and throughout German-speaking Europe.<ref>See the index entry for the opera in {{harvnb|Deutsch|1965}}. The Stuttgart premiere had to wait until 19 September 1795, because the singspiel {{lang|de|Belmont und Constanze}}, set to the same story by Christian Ludwig Dieter (1757–1822), first performed there in 1784, was so popular as to preclude any performances of Mozart's version; ''[[Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', 5th ed, 1954, [[Eric Blom]], ed.</ref> In 1787, [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] wrote (concerning his own efforts as a librettist):
{{quote|text=All our endeavour ... to confine ourselves to what is simple and limited was lost when Mozart appeared. ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' conquered all, and our own carefully written piece has never been so much as mentioned in theater circles.<ref>Quoted from {{harvnb|Deutsch|1965|loc=305}}. The work of his own to which Goethe refers is his ''[[Scherz, List und Rache]]''.</ref>}}

Although the opera greatly raised Mozart's standing with the public as a composer, it did not make him rich: he was paid a flat fee of 100 Imperial [[ducat]]s (about 450 [[florin]]s) for his work, and made no profits from the many subsequent performances.{{sfn|Deutsch|1965|loc=202}}

The opera reached Paris in November 1801, when [[Frédéric Blasius]] conducted Ellmenreich's company in performances at the {{lang|fr|[[Théâtre de la Gaîté (boulevard du Temple)|Théâtre de la Gaîté]]}}.<ref>Noiray, Michel. "Blasius [Blassius], (Matthieu-)Frédéric" in [[Stanley Sadie]], ed., ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', 4 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1992), 1: 498</ref>

The American premiere in English was given by the [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]] Opera Company on November 1, 1926<ref>"Mozart's Seraglio Given Its American Premiere", ''[[Rochester Times-Union|Times-Union]]'' (Rochester), November 2, 1926.</ref> under the direction of [[Vladimir Rosing]]. A second production with a new English libretto by [[Robert A. Simon]] was debuted by the [[American Opera Company]] at the [[Gallo Opera House]] in New York on January 31, 1928.<ref>"Mozart's ''Abduction From the Seraglio'' by the American Opera Company", ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'', February 3, 1928.</ref> and was then performed on tour in Boston and Chicago.<ref>"Final Opera of Americans Gayest of All", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', April 17, 1928.</ref>

==="Too many notes"===
The complexity of Mozart's work noted by Goethe also plays a role in a well-known tale about the opera which appeared in the early (1798) biography of Mozart by [[Franz Xaver Niemetschek]]. In the version of the anecdote printed in ''[[John Bartlett (publisher)|Bartlett]]'s Book of Anecdotes'', a reference work, the story is told like this:

{{quote|text=The Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] commissioned the creation of ''The Abduction from the Seraglio'', but when he heard it, he complained to Mozart, "That is too fine for my ears – there are too many notes." Mozart replied, "There are just as many notes as there should be."{{sfn|Bernard|Fadiman|2000|loc=339}}}}

The authenticity of this story is not accepted by all scholars.<ref>See Schmidt-Hensel, and references cited there.</ref> Moreover, the version given by the Bartlett reference (and many other places) includes a translation of the original German that is dubious. The original reads: "{{lang|de|Zu schön für unsere Ohren, und gewaltig viel Noten, lieber Mozart!}}"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/nc/ueber-uns/presse/detail/article/2006-10-16-362.html|url-status=dead|title='... gewaltig viele Noten, lieber Mozart!'. Die Mozart-Autographe der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin|language=de|date=October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224154541/http://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/nc/ueber-uns/presse/detail/article/2006-10-16-362.html|archive-date=2010-12-24|type=exhibition notes by Roland Dieter Schmidt-Hensel|publisher=[[Berlin State Library]]}}</ref>

"Too many notes" is not a plausible translation of the German phrase "{{lang|de|gewaltig viel Noten}}". Mautner, translating Niemetschek, renders this as "an extraordinary number of notes",{{sfn|Niemetschek|1956|loc=33}} while [[Peter Branscombe|Branscombe]] translates it simply as "very many notes".{{sfn|Branscombe|2006|loc=165}} William Stafford translates the phrase as "Too beautiful for our ears, and an enormous number of notes, dear Mozart!"<ref>{{cite book|last=Stafford|first=William|year=1991|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0F06FBa3eQC&pg=PA14 14]|title=The Mozart Myths: A Critical Reassessment|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=9780804722223}}</ref> The anecdote, which is often repeated, is considered by some scholars to unfairly give the Emperor a bad reputation concerning both his musical abilities and his appreciation and support of Mozart.{{sfn|Beales|2006|loc=238–239}}