The Philosopher's Stone (Der Stein der Weisen, 1790)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer, 1756-1791) established a European reputation as a child prodigy, both as pianist and composer. His works covered nearly all the available genres of the time, and in most he extended the range of expressive possibilities well beyond the established conventions of the current classical style. His 22 operas range from the juvenile Der Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots to Die Zauberflöte in his final year, as well as numerous interpolations composed for operas by his contemporaries. He worked in the genres of opera seria, opera buffa and singspiel.
Franz Xaver Gerl (1764-1827), Austrian composer and bass, was probably a pupil of Leopold Mozart at Salzburg. By 1787 he was a member of Schikaneder's company in Regensburg, transferring to the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna in 1789: his reputation was as a comic bass, but Schikaneder also employed him as a composer on a number of occasions between 1789 and 1793, most notably for Der dumme Anton. He performed widely in Mozart's operas in Vienna, including the parts of Don Giovanni and Figaro, but is especially famed for creating the part of Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte in 1791. His later career was based at Brno and Mannheim until his retirement in 1826. His work as a composer appears hardly to have extended beyond collaborations (often with Schack), but in these he had a successful reputation.
Johann Baptist Henneberg (1768-1822) established a reputation as an organist and composer, working in Schikaneder's company as Kapellmeister certainly by 1790. He supervised rehearsals of Die Zauberflöte while Mozart was absent in Prague, and took over as conductor from the third performance. He composed a small number of skilful theatrical works to libretti by Schikaneder, especially his immensely successful Die Waldmänner of 1793. His later career took in an important position at Eisenstadt before his ultimate return to Vienna.
Benedikt Emanuel Schack (1758-1826), Austrian composer and tenor, studied medicine and singing, joining Schikaneder's company in 1786, in which year his voice was highly praised by Leopold Mozart. Based in Vienna between 1789 and 1793, he composed several operas for the Theater auf der Wieden as well as singing principal tenor. Mozart composed the part of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for him, and he may also have played the flute parts himself. He later moved to Graz and Munich, retiring from singing around 1813. His operas were mostly lively and well-crafted Singspiels, written in collaboration with Gerl.
Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was a figure of extraordinary versatility: dancer, singer, actor, director, librettist and impresario. After a decade of extensive travel and work, he settled in Vienna from 1784, taking over the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in 1788 which he used as the base for his theatrical company specialising in Singspiel and opera. A sequence of his own libretti followed, often based on fairytales or other arcane themes, with scores commissioned variously from Mozart, Süssmayer, Henneberg and Winter, amongst others. He created the role of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and is depicted as such in a famous engraving by Ignaz Alberti (1791). After the closure of the theatre in 1801, Schikaneder opened the Theater an der Wien, one of the largest and most extensively equipped theatres of its time, still in use today. He died, insane, in poverty.
Press
It's out of this world (preview) Roderic Dunnett in conversation with Alexander Briger and Jeremy Gray, The Independent 27 July 2001
If you thought the Magic Flute had a weird plot, you should see its daddy... The Times 31 July 2001
Tweeting swallows, passing ducks... The Independent 1 August 2001
Joy, nimbleness and irony in Bampton's Mozart rarity
The Oxford Times 3 August 2001
...a vivacious performance Opera magazine November 2001
