Libretto of The Magic Flute [i.e. libretti] in which absurdity is regarded as matter of course." With occasional exceptions, critics voice harsh views on the quality of Schikaneder's German versification as well. Such critics generally do not defend it on its own terms (as if it could stand independently as a work of theater), but rather as a vehicle that served as a great inspiration for Mozart for composition, particularly in its assertion of high ideals and the portrayal of selfless love in the characters of Pamina and Tamino. The harsh assessment is not universal; see for instance the quotation with which this article begins.
Mozart and Salieri (opera) Mozart and Salieri (opera) Mozart and Salieri (, "Motsart i Salyeri") is a one-act opera in two scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, written in 1897 to a Russian libretto taken almost verbatim from Alexander Pushkin's 1830 verse drama of the same name. The story follows the apocryphal legend that Antonio Salieri poisoned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart out of jealousy over the latter's music. Rimsky-Korsakov incorporated quotations from Mozart's "Requiem" and "Don Giovanni" into the score. Richard Taruskin has placed this opera in the historical context of the development of the realistic tradition in Russian opera. The first performance took place at the