Opera in German outskirts of the city. In 1791, he persuaded Mozart to set one of his libretti, "The Magic Flute". This proved to be no ordinary "Singspiel". Though the traditional farcical elements remained, Mozart added a new seriousness, particularly in the music for Sarastro and his priests. Even more than "Die Entführung", the "Magic Flute" pointed the way forward for future German opera. The greatest German composer of the next generation, Beethoven, seized on "The Magic Flute"'s blend of domestic comedy and high seriousness for his only opera, "Fidelio", the story of a devoted wife who saves her husband from political imprisonment.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Prague had allegedly rejected it. Mozart arrived on 28 August 1791 and left in the third week of September. The opera received its first performance on 6 September 1791. Unlike the first two visits, Mozart was not the center of attention on his last visit. Rather, his activities were much overshadowed by the ceremonies of the Imperial court. The grief exhibited for Mozart in Prague after his death on 5 December 1791 far exceeded that witnessed in any other European city. Daniel E. Freeman has pointed out that whereas Mozart (one of history's greatest musicians) was laid to rest in Vienna