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
Christine Weidinger among others. In 1988 she performed the role of Eupaforice in Carl Heinrich Graun's "Montezuma" at the Spoleto Festival USA. After a 16-year absence, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1992 to sing the title role in Rossini's "Semiramide". Some of the many other roles Weidinger has sung on stage are Arminda in "La finta giardiniera", the Countess in "Le comte Ory", Gilda in "Rigoletto", Konstanze in "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Leonora in "Il trovatore", the title role in Rossini's "Armida", Armida in Handel's "Rinaldo" (with Marilyn Horne) and Amenaide in "Tancredi". She also performed the demanding Donizetti