st composer known to me either in person or by name.' The pieces are matched in excellence in Mozart'schamber music output only by his String Quintets, outstanding among which are those in C, K515, G minor, K516 and D,K593.Also in 178 Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte collaborated on the first of a series of operatic masterpieces. Le nozze di Figaro(The Marriage of Figaro) was begun that year and performed in 1786 to an enthusiastic audience in Vienna and even greateracclaim later in Prague. In 1787 Pragues National Theatre saw the premiere of Don Giovanni, a moralizing version of the DonJuan legend in which the licentious nobleman receives his comeuppance and descends into the fiery regions of hell. The thirdand last da Ponte opera was Cos fan tutte (Women are all the same), commissioned by Emperor Joseph II and produced atVienna's Burgtheater in 1790. Its cynical treatment of the theme of sexual infidelity may have been responsible for its relativelack of success with the Viennese, who responded with such enthusiasm to the comedy of Figaro.Mozart wrote two more operas: the opera seria La clemenza di Tito (The Mercy of Tito) and Die Zauberflte (The MagicFlute). The latter was commissioned by actor-manager Emanuel Schikaneder to his own libretto. Its plot, a fairy tale combinedwith strong Masonic elements (Mozart was a devoted Freemason), is bizarre, but drew from Mozart some of his greatestmusic. When produced in 1791, two months before Mozart's death, the opera survived an initially cool reception and graduallywon audiences over.The year 1788 saw the composition of Mozart's two finest symphonies. Symphony No.40, in the tragic key of G minor,contrasts strikingly with the affirmatory Symphony No.41 Jupiter. Neither helped alleviate his financial plight, however, whichafter 1789 became critical. An extensive concert tour of Europe failed to earn significant sums. A new emperor came to theAustrian throne but Mozart was unsuccessful in his bid t...
