Introduction

Summary

Although Mozart spent only a few weeks altogether in Prague, the city has been generally considered one of the most prominent sites associated with the composer. Czech- and German-language commentators in Bohemia usually take the successful production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1783 as the starting point for the positive reception of Mozart’s music in Prague. The enthusiasm aroused by Die Entführung intensified with the success of Le nozze di Figaro in late 1786 and led to Mozart’s first visit to the Bohemian capital in early 1787. The most famous link between Mozart and Prague was created a few months later, when Mozart finished, rehearsed, and premiered his Don Giovanni at Prague’s Nostitz Theater (a theater initially created mainly for the production of German works, though later also featuring Italian operas and occasional Czech offerings) on October 29, 1787. One more famous premiere followed in September 1791 – that of La clemenza di Tito, commissioned for the coronation of Leopold II as the king of the Bohemian crownlands.