About the work
Der Schauspieldirektor is a one-act Singspiel that Mozart composed in 1786, commissioned by Emperor Joseph II for a celebration at the Orangery of Schönbrunn Palace. The libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger pokes fun at the theatre business itself.
Plot
Theatre director Frank is assembling singers for his new company. A banker offers financial help but demands that his mistress be hired in return. Amid the performers' squabbles over fees and prestige, everyone finally agrees to let the audience be the judge.
Cultural significance
The same evening also saw the premiere of Antonio Salieri's companion piece "Prima la musica e poi le parole", also commissioned by Joseph II – a direct contest between two answers to the question of how music and text relate. In Mozart's work, the actual music takes up only about twenty minutes, with spoken dialogue filling the rest.