Mozart and the city
Mozart in Prague: the four dates
Four dates explain why Prague feels Mozart belongs to it: Figaro, the Prague Symphony, the premiere of Don Giovanni in 1787 and La clemenza di Tito.
Reserve your Mozart evening ↗Quick answer
Prague claims Mozart because its audiences took him up before Vienna did. The Marriage of Figaro was a hit here in the winter of 1786 to 1787, he visited in January 1787, and the city staged the first performance of Don Giovanni on 29 October 1787 at what is now the Estates Theatre. La clemenza di Tito followed for the coronation of 1791.
Figaro and the invitation
The Marriage of Figaro had only a mixed success at its Vienna premiere in 1786, but it was produced in Prague from late 1786 by the Pasquale Bondini company and caused a sensation, with the local press calling it a masterpiece. The orchestra and music lovers raised the money to bring Mozart to Prague to hear it. He listened to a performance on 17 January 1787 and conducted one himself on the 22nd.
The Prague Symphony
Mozart first arrived in Prague on 11 January 1787 and stayed until the second week of February. On 19 January a benefit concert was organised for him, at which his Symphony No. 38 in D major was first performed. Because of that first performance the work is called the Prague Symphony. He also improvised on the piano, including variations on Non più andrai from Figaro, and said afterwards that he counted the day among the happiest of his life.
Don Giovanni
The success of that visit brought a commission from the impresario Pasquale Bondini for a new opera with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Mozart returned on 4 October 1787. The premiere was meant for 15 October, but the singers and players needed more time, and it took place on 29 October 1787, with Mozart conducting from the keyboard. The Prague press wrote that connoisseurs and musicians said the city had never heard the like.
La clemenza di Tito
Mozart's fifth visit, in late summer 1791, was for a commission for the festivities around Leopold II's coronation as king of Bohemia. La clemenza di Tito was first performed on 6 September 1791. Unlike on his earlier visits, Mozart was not the centre of attention; the court ceremonies overshadowed him. He died in Vienna on 5 December 1791, and a memorial service in Prague on 14 December was attended by thousands.
Why Prague listened so closely
One historian cited by Wikipedia argues that Bohemia's citizens were among the most musically literate in Europe, because music education for boys and girls was part of elementary schooling there. Bohemian wind players were also famous across Europe, and the Prague press credited the wind writing for the success of both Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Figaro. A line often attributed to Mozart, Meine Prager verstehen mich, is hard to confirm, but it sums up the feeling. Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist of Don Giovanni, wrote that the Bohemians appreciated the beauty of Mozart's music perfectly on the very first evening.
The theatre today
The Estates Theatre was built for Count Nostitz and opened in 1783 in a neoclassical style, and Prague's tourism site describes it as preserved in nearly original condition. It is part of the National Theatre and still stages opera, ballet and drama, with a focus on Mozart. Many of the opera scenes in the film Amadeus were shot there. The statue of the Commendatore, a figure from Don Giovanni, was installed in front of it in 2000.
Where the dinner concert fits
The dinner concert on this site is not at the Estates Theatre. It takes place in the Boccaccio ballroom of the Grand Hotel Bohemia, a dance hall opened in 1927, and it offers highlights of three Mozart operas between the courses of a dinner. It is a way of hearing the music Prague loved, in a room built for an evening out. If you want a full staged production, check the National Theatre's own season.
Frequently asked questions
Where did Don Giovanni premiere?
In Prague, on 29 October 1787, at the theatre now called the Estates Theatre, with Mozart conducting.
Did Mozart live in Prague?
No. He visited five times, but he lived and worked in Vienna, and after Don Giovanni he lived nowhere else.
What is the Prague Symphony?
Symphony No. 38 in D major, first performed in Prague on 19 January 1787.
Sources