Gottfried van Swieten and income following the earlier completion of their Grand Tour of Europe. According to Mozart's father Leopold, Van Swieten was involved in the early planning of Wolfgang's ill-fated opera "La Finta Semplice" (the opera was later blocked by intrigues, and could be performed only in Salzburg). In 1781, shortly after Mozart had moved to Vienna, van Swieten met him again: at the salon of Countess Thun, Mozart played extracts from his recent opera Idomeneo, with van Swieten and other important officials in the audience; this event helped instigate Mozart's commission for the opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio", his first
Robert Lloyd (bass) period 1988-2008. He has sung leading roles at Glyndebourne and with other British opera companies, and has appeared in major opera houses throughout the world. He sings roles in British, German, Italian, French and Russian works (Claggart and Superintendent Budd in Benjamin Britten's "Billy Budd" and "Albert Herring", the Priest and Angel of Agony in Edward Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius"; Sarastro in "The Magic Flute", Osmin in "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Rocco in "Fidelio", Seneca in "The Coronation of Poppea", Gurnemanz in "Parsifal", Fasolt in "Das Rheingold"; Don Basilio in "The Barber of Seville", Fiesco in "Simon Boccanegra",