Sir Neville Marriner, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin - Mozart: Der Schauspieldirektor (2007)

Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor is a comic Singspiel written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, an Austrian Schauspieldirektor. It is with great pleasure for Phoenix Edition to have Austrian Otto Schenk as theatre director, an all round genius who is not only a talented theatre director but actor and production designer, previously producing works at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Der Schauspieldirektor is an opera in one act. The musical content is surrounded by spoken dialogue, a style which was very typical at the time. It is consequently almost never performed in its original form, but rather in various adaptations designed to present Mozart's excellent music in a more appropriate setting. It has been said the character and scale of the overture are similar to those of the overture to Le nozze di Figaro, which was written at the same time and premiered later the same year.