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
Haydn and Mozart symphony and a chorus, both probably from [the oratorio] "Il ritorno di Tobia"") and Mozart ("a new concert aria, probably 'Misero! o sogno!' [K. 431], and, on the first night, a piano concerto") At the time of this meeting, Haydn was the most celebrated composer in Europe. Mozart's own reputation was definitely on the rise. His opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio" had been premiered with great success in Vienna, and was being produced in several other cities. Haydn would have been about 52 at the time, Mozart about 28. Jens Peter Larsen suggests that "quartet playing was central to