The Midsummer Marriage the work in 1968 conducted by Colin Davis with the Ritual Dances choreographed by Gillian Lynne and in 1970, where the production formed the basis of the first commercial recording. Tippett extracted the "Four Ritual Dances" from the opera as a separate concert work. The story of "The Midsummer Marriage" was consciously modeled after Mozart's "The Magic Flute". Both trace the path to marriage of one "royal" and one "common" couple: Jenifer and Mark correspond to Pamina and Tamino, the earthy Jack and Bella to Papageno and Papagena. King Fisher stands in for the Queen of the Night, the Ancients
Mozart and smallpox both children's illness to contend with, the Mozarts spent a total of four months away from Vienna. They eventually returned there and were received in the Imperial court on 19 January, 1768. The Empress, who had by now lost three children to smallpox, conversed with Frau Mozart about the disease. The remainder of the trip was not especially successful. Leopold apparently misinterpreted a chance remark of the Emperor as a firm invitation for Wolfgang to compose an opera; this resulted in Wolfgang writing "La finta semplice". However, the opera went unperformed in Vienna; the singers and musicians did not like