Mozart, who describes it as "comedy with music" wrote it as his entry in a musical competition which was given a private performance hosted on 7 February 1786 by Joseph II at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. This competition pitted a German "singspiel", presented at one end of the room, against a competing Italian opera, the Italian entry being Antonio Salieri's opera buffa, "Prima la musica e poi le parole" ("First the Music, then the Words"), which was then given at the other end of the room. The premiere was followed by the first of three public performances given four days later at the Kärntnertor Theater, Vienna, on 11 February.