Opera in German outskirts of the city. In 1791, he persuaded Mozart to set one of his libretti, "The Magic Flute". This proved to be no ordinary "Singspiel". Though the traditional farcical elements remained, Mozart added a new seriousness, particularly in the music for Sarastro and his priests. Even more than "Die Entführung", the "Magic Flute" pointed the way forward for future German opera. The greatest German composer of the next generation, Beethoven, seized on "The Magic Flute"'s blend of domestic comedy and high seriousness for his only opera, "Fidelio", the story of a devoted wife who saves her husband from political imprisonment.
Orlando (opera) operas’ (Handel and the Opera Seria, p. 91), comparable on several counts with "The Magic Flute". The opera is scored for two recorders, two oboes, bassoon, two horns, strings and continuo (cello, lute, harpsichord). Orlando (opera) Orlando (HWV 31) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel written for the King's Theatre in London in 1733. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's "L'Orlando" after Ludovico Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso", which was also the source of Handel's operas "Alcina" and "Ariodante". More an artistic than a popular success at its first performances, "Orlando" is today recognised