Bastien und Bastienne Bastien und Bastienne ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It was allegedly commissioned by Viennese physician and 'magnetist' Dr. Franz Mesmer (who himself would later be parodied in "Così fan tutte") as a satire of the 'pastoral' genre then prevalent, and specifically as a parody of the opera "Le devin du village" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The German libretto is by Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern, and Johann Andreas Schachtner, based on ' by Justine Favart and Harny de Guerville. After its supposed premiere in Mesmer's garden theater (that is only corroborated
Italian opera well as including self-referential ideas. Goldoni and Galuppi's most famous work together is probably "Il filosofo di campagna" (1754). The collaboration between Goldoni and another famous composer Niccolò Piccinni produced another new genre: opera semiseria. This had two "buffo" characters, two nobles and two "in between" characters. The one-act farsa had a significant influence on the development of comic opera. This was a type of musical drama initially considered as a condensed version of a longer comic opera, but over time it became a genre in its own right. It was characterised by: vocal virtuosity; a more refined use of