Two Operas from the Series Die zween Anton

Among the forgotten but highly popular operas of the late eighteenth century, Der dumme Gärtner aus dem Gebürge oder Die zween Anton (The Dumb Gardener from the Mountains or The Two Antons, Vienna, 12 July 1789) seems particularly worthy of reexamination. Its stunning success at Vienna’s Theater auf der Wieden led quickly to a sequel in the same year, Die verdeckten Sachen (26 September). The music for both operas was the product of collaboration between Franz Xaver Gerl, Benedikt Schack, Johann Baptist Henneberg, and probably Schikaneder himself. Mozart had high praise for the “Antons,” and he composed his final set of piano variations on one of the most celebrated arias in Die verdeckten Sachen, “Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding auf der Welt.” The success of Die zween Anton inspired six sequels and secured the place of its author, Emanuel Schikaneder, in the popular imagination of the Viennese public. This success also made possible the series of fairy-tale operas that included Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (1791). With the recent recovery of manuscript performance materials, the first two operas in this series are now available in modern editions for research and performance.