Emanuel Schikaneder elements and traditional fairy-tale themes (see "Libretto of The Magic Flute"). Schikaneder took the role of Papageno—a character reflecting the Hanswurst tradition, and thus suited to his skills—at the premiere. According to the dramatist Ignaz Franz Castelli, Schikaneder also may have given advice to Mozart concerning the musical setting of his libretto: The late bass singer Sebastian Mayer told me that Mozart had originally written the duet where Papageno and Papagena first see each other quite differently from the way in which we now hear it. Both originally cried out "Papageno!", "Papagena!" a few times in amazement. But when Schikaneder
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Prague it was only a mixed success at its premiere in Vienna in May 1786. Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro", which premiered in Vienna, was produced in late 1786 in Prague with tremendous success. The reviewer for the Prague newspaper "Oberpostamtzeitung" wrote "No piece (so everyone here asserts) has ever caused such a sensation as the Italian opera "Die Hochzeit des Figaro", which has already been given several times here with unlimited applause." The orchestra and some affiliated music lovers funded a personal visit by Mozart so he could hear the production. Mozart first came to Prague on 11 January