Doctor Krautmann and Stössel, the pharmacist, are deadly enemies. That their children have fallen in love, doesn’t help matters at all ...

These fathers are German counterparts to Cimarosa and Rossini’s funny old men, who steal the show with wit and situation comedy. Even more so than Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Dittersdorf’s Doctor and Pharmacist marks an important turning point in the history in German opera-cum-plays. It resulted in three further commissions for von Dittersdorf, who’s all but forgotten today. This composer, violin virtuoso and contemporary of Mozart was internationally admired, not just in Viennese circles. He combined elements of north German Singspiel in his works with the tradition, wit and vocal virtuosity of Italian opera seria and buffa. He composed light-hearted music which, married to his hearty sense of humour, went down well with audiences. This, his best known work, was commissioned by the Emperor and the manager of the Burgtheater in Vienna, the librettist Johann Gottlieb Stephanie.

Ute M. Engelhardt

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Mar 8, 2025

Doctor & Pharmacist · Oper Frankfurt

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