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 as both a composer and a performer. The great success of this visit generated a commission from the impresario Pasquale Bondini for another opera, which like "The Marriage of Figaro" was to have a libretto by Mozart's great collaborator Lorenzo Da Ponte. Mozart came to Prague for the second time to help supervise the first performance of his opera "Don Giovanni". He arrived on 4 October 1787 and stayed until 12 or 13 November. The premiere of the opera was supposed to have taken place on 15 October, but could not be arranged until 29 October 1787. The work was