by Mozart
A Comedy with Music in One Act starring Giuseppedi Stefano as Luciano Bufforotti, Patricia Wise as Beverley Silvertone, Nan Christie as Elisabeth Herzkopf, Patrick Cargill as the Impresario in a version for television by Francis Coleman, Kenneth Corden.
First performed in 1786, Mozart's charming little comic opera concerned the rivalry of two warring sopranos (Silberklang and Herz) and the difficulties of the Impresario (Der Schauspieldirektor) in settling the prima donnas' differences while attempting to assemble a troupe.
The original spoken dialogue was intended as a satire on contemporary theatrical practices. This particular version starts afresh by placing the Impresario's interminable backstage wheeler-dealing in the present television age.