Herbert Lachmayer, Reinhard Eisendle Lorenzo Da Ponte Opera and enlightenment in late 18th century Vienna Preface by David Freedberg (Columbia University New York) 254 pages with c. 280 illustrations, mostly in color; in English with slipcase ISBN 3-7618-1874-2 · EUR 59.00

New Issue Title for Mozart Year The subject of this pictorial and textual monograph is the relationship between opera and the enlightenment in Josephine Vienna of the 1780s. At that time Lorenzo Da Ponte was a poet at the imperial theater and wrote many librettos for the opera stage, including the three great operas for Mozart that form the heart of this volume: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosė fan tutte. The book emerged from three exhibitions mounted by the Da Ponte Institute in the Mahler Room of the Vienna State Opera. A rare amalgam of pictures, quotations, and explanatory notes that sheds new light on this exciting decade.