About the work
Musical comedy (Musikalisches Lustspiel) in three acts by Antonio Salieri to a libretto by the Viennese physician Leopold von Auenbrugger, first performed on 30 April 1781 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. According to tradition, Emperor Joseph II encouraged the Italian-born composer to set a German text as a language exercise; two of the librettist's daughters were among Salieri's pupils.
Plot
In the household of a wealthy Viennese widow, the charming Italian chimney sweep Volpino and the cook Lisel scheme to raise a dowry for their own wedding. Volpino bewitches both the lady of the house, Frau von Habicht, and her stepdaughter Nannette with his singing, then has their jealous suitors pay him to lift the supposed spell.
Cultural significance
Salieri wrote the roles of Nannette and Herr von Bär for Caterina Cavalieri and Ludwig Fischer, who only a year later created Konstanze and Osmin in Mozart's 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail'. Leopold Mozart dismissed the piece as a poorly disguised Italian opera buffa, yet Viennese audiences kept it in the repertoire for thirteen performances through 1782, and it remained popular in northern Germany into the early twentieth century.