Antonio Salieri Upon his return at imperial behest to Vienna in 1780, Salieri wrote one German singspiel, "Der Rauchfangkehrer" ("The Chimney Sweep"), which premiered in 1781. Salieri's "Chimney Sweep" and Mozart's work for the same company in 1782, "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), were the only two major successes to emerge from the German singspiel experiment, and only Mozart's opera survived on the stage beyond the close of the 18th century. In 1783 the Italian opera company was revived with singers partly chosen and vetted by Salieri during his Italian tour; the new season opened with a
Il corsaro Il corsaro Il corsaro ("The Corsair") is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron's poem "The Corsair". The first performance was given at the Teatro Grande in Trieste on 25 October 1848. The composer expressed interest in Byron's poem "The Corsair" (along with "The Two Foscari" and others) as early as 1844 when he was planning an opera for Venice, but a suitable baritone was not available. In 1845, (before it was determined that "I masnadieri" was to be the opera presented in London), the composer had contracted