Franz Mesmer summers he lived on a splendid estate and became a patron of the arts. In 1768, when court intrigue prevented the performance of "La finta semplice" (K. 51), for which the twelve-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had composed 500 pages of music, Mesmer is said to have arranged a performance in his garden of Mozart's "Bastien und Bastienne" (K. 50), a one-act opera, though Mozart's biographer Nissen found no proof that this performance actually took place. Mozart later immortalized his former patron by including a comedic reference to Mesmer in his opera "Così fan tutte". In 1774, Mesmer produced an "artificial
Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera is a comic opera in one act by David T. Little to a libretto by Royce Vavrek. Commissioned for the Bard College Conservatory of Music Orchestra, the world premiere of "Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera" was presented at the Richard B. Fisher Center on February 26, 2010 performed by students in Bard's graduate vocal performance program with James Bagwell conducting. Dan Rigazzi provided stage direction. A new chamber version of the opera was commissioned by Opera Saratoga in 2017, to be premiered at their summer 2018 festival. The opera is