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{{Short description|Unfinished opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}}
{{For|the opera by Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer|Zaïde, reine de Grenade}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = Zaide
| type = [[Singspiel]]
| composer = [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|W. A. Mozart]]
| image = Mozart Portrait Croce.jpg
| caption = Detail of Wolfgang from the 1780–81 [[Portrait of the Mozart Family]]
| image_upright = 
| librettist = [[Johann Andreas Schachtner]]
| language = German
| premiere_date = 
| premiere_location = 
}}
'''''Zaide''''' (originally, ''Das Serail'') is an unfinished [[Opera in German|German-language opera]], [[Köchel catalogue|K.]]&nbsp;344, written by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] in 1780. [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Joseph II]], in 1778, was in the process of setting up an opera company for the purpose of performing [[Opera in German|German opera]]. One condition required of the composer to join this company was that he should write a comic opera. At [[Salzburg]] in 1779 Mozart began work on a new opera (now known as ''Zaide'' although Mozart did not give it such a title). It contains spoken dialogue, which also classifies it as a ''[[Singspiel]]'' (literally, "singing play"). Only the arias and ensembles from the first two acts were composed. Missing are an overture and third act.

It was popular at the time for operas to depict the rescue of enslaved Westerners from Muslim courts, since Muslim pirates were preying on Mediterranean shipping, particularly to obtain slaves for various purposes. This story portrays Zaide's effort to save her beloved, Gomatz.

Mozart was composing for a German [[libretto]] by [[Johann Andreas Schachtner]], set in [[Turkey]], which was the scene of his next, completed rescue Singspiel (''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]''). He  soon abandoned ''Zaide'', to work on ''[[Idomeneo]]'', and never returned to the project. The work was lost until after his death, when [[Constanze Mozart]], his wife, found it in his scattered manuscripts in 1799. The fragments would not be published until 1838, and its first performance was held in [[Frankfurt]] on January 27, 1866, the 110th anniversary of Mozart's birth. ''Zaide'' has since been said to be the foundations of a masterpiece, and received critical acclaim. The tender soprano air, "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben" is the only number that might be called moderately familiar.

The title ''Zaide'' was supplied by the Mozart researcher [[Johann Anton André]], who first published the score, including his own completion of it, in the 1830s.<ref>[http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/MOZART-Three-Arias-from-Zaide,-K-344-336b.aspx San Francisco Symphony]. Retrieved 2 November 2014</ref>  André's father [[Johann André]] had set the same text to music, before Mozart commenced his singspiel.<ref>Luke Howard. [http://utahopera.org/backstage/2014/04/the-singspiel-and-mozart/ "The Singspiel and Mozart"]. Retrieved 2 November 2014</ref>

Modern companion pieces to'' Zaide'' have been written by both [[Luciano Berio]] and [[Chaya Czernowin]].

In modern performances, Mozart's Symphonies [[Symphony No. 26 (Mozart)|No. 26]], K.&nbsp;184, or [[Symphony No. 32 (Mozart)|No. 32]], K.&nbsp;318 – which was composed around the same time as ''Zaide'' and later used as an overture to [[Francesco Bianchi (composer)|Francesco Bianchi]]'s ''[[La villanella rapita]]'' (1784) – are often given as an overture to ''Zaide''. Completions of the opera may use a pastiche of Mozart's concert arias or, more popularly, music from ''[[Thamos, King of Egypt]]'', also from the same period of Mozart's career.

==Style==
''Zaide'' can neither be described as [[opera buffa]] or [[opera seria]]; it contained elements of both forms, and parallels may be drawn to both genre in Mozart's work. ''Zaide'' is also notable as being one of only two dramatic pieces by Mozart to contain [[melodrama]] (the other being ''[[Thamos, King of Egypt]]''). Most of the spoken dialogue to ''Zaide'' has been lost, though there have been various attempts in modern times to write new dialogue to substitute for Schachtner's lost words.

==Performance history==
In 1995, [[La Monnaie|le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie]] in Brussels presented ''Zaide'' in a production helmed by modern choreographer [[Lucinda Childs]] in her directing debut. In honor of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, a production of ''Zaide'' directed by [[Peter Sellars]] debuted at the [[Vienna Festival|Wiener Festwochen]] in 2006; it was later presented at the [[Mostly Mozart Festival]] in New York and the [[Barbican Centre]] in London. Sellars took the remaining fragments of ''Zaide'' and added excerpts from the composer's incidental music to the play ''Thamos, King of Egypt'', which, like ''Zaide'', was written when Mozart was 23. Taking off from the opera's theme of slavery, he set it in a contemporary sweatshop and cast it with African-American and Asian singers. The production featured the [[Concerto Köln]] under the direction of [[Louis Langrée]], sets by [[George Tsypin]], lighting by [[James F. Ingalls]], and costumes by Gabriel Berry. A revival, with the [[Camerata Salzburg]] in the pit, was presented at the [[Aix-en-Provence Festival]] in 2008.<ref>Dermoncourt, Bertrand (30 June 2008). [http://www.lexpress.fr/culture/scene/le-ratage-zaide-la-reussite-siegfried_519658.html "Le ratage Zaïde, la réussite Siegfried"]. ''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]''</ref>

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, January 27, 1866<br />([[Conducting|Conductor]]: –)
|-
|Zaide||[[soprano]]||Deiner 
|-
|Gomatz||[[tenor]]||Georg Müller-Gormann 
|-
|Allazim||[[bass (voice type)|bass]]||Carl Pichler 
|-
|Sultan Soliman||tenor||Carl Baumann 
|-
|Osmin||bass||
|-
|Zaram, ''captain of the Guard''||speaking role||
|-
|Four slaves||tenor||
|}

==Synopsis==
Zaide falls in love with Gomatz, a slave, which strikes up jealousy and rage in the [[Sultan]], who happens to also admire her. After capture she chooses a free life with Gomatz rather than a good life with the Sultan. Allazim encourages the sultan to consider Gomatz as a man, not as a slave. The final surviving quartet suggests Zaide and Gomatz are sentenced to punishment or execution. This is where Mozart's manuscript breaks off.

There are similarities with [[Voltaire]]'s play ''[[Zaïre (play)|Zaïre]]'' (''Zara'') in which Zaïre, a Christian slave who had been captured as a baby falls in love with Osman, the Sultan of [[Jerusalem]]. Osman wrongly believes Zaïre and another Christian slave Nerestan (Gomatz in Mozart's opera) are lovers and kills Zaïre in a jealous rage and then kills himself. The elderly Lusignan, a prisoner of the Sultan (paralleled in the character Allazim) recognizes Zara and Nerestan as his children as she escorts him to safety. From the surviving arias we can deduce a few differences between Voltaire's play and Mozart's opera. By Act II of the opera Zaide, Gomatz, and possibly Allazim actually escape, only to be captured once more. In the opera there is no evidence that Mozart intended to cast Zaide, Gomatz and Allazim as a reunited family. Indeed, the original ending of Voltaire's play may have been too serious for contemporary tastes and may have been a reason for Mozart's leaving the project incomplete.

==Noted arias==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
''Act 1''
* "Herr und Freund, wie dank ich dir!" – Gomatz 
* "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben" – Zaide
* "Nur mutig, mein Herze" – Allazim 
* "O selige Wonne!" – Terzetto (Trio) Zaide, Gomatz, Allazim
* "Rase, Schicksal" – Gomatz{{col-break}}
''Act 2''
* "Der stolze Löw' lässt sich zwar zähmen" – Sultan Soliman 
* "Ich bin so bös als gut" – Sultan Soliman 
* "Ihr Mächtigen seht ungerührt" – Allazim 
* "Tiger! Wetze nur die Klauen" – Zaide 
* "Trostlos schluchzet Philomele" – Zaide
* "Wer hungrig bei der Tafel sitzt" – Osmin
{{col-end}}

==Recordings==
* 1975 – [[Edith Mathis]] (Zaide), [[Peter Schreier]] (Gomatz), [[Ingvar Wixell]] (Allazim), [[Werner Hollweg]] (Sultan Soliman), [[Reiner Süß]] (Osmin) – [[Staatskapelle Berlin]], [[Bernhard Klee]] – 2 CDs [[Philips Classics Records|Philips Classics]]
* 1983 – [[Judith Blegen]] (Zaide), [[Werner Hollweg]] (Gomatz), [[Wolfgang Schöne]] (Allazim), [[Thomas Moser]] (Sultan Soliman), [[Robert Holl]] (Osmin) – [[Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg]], [[Leopold Hager]] – 2 CDs [[Orfeo (record label)|Orfeo]]
* 1998 – [[Lynne Dawson]] (Zaide), [[Hans Peter Blochwitz]] (Gomatz), [[Olaf Bär]] (Allazim), [[Herbert Lippert]] (Sultan Soliman), [[Christopher Purves]] (Osmin) – [[Academy of Ancient Music]], [[Paul Goodwin (conductor)|Paul Goodwin]] – CD [[Harmonia Mundi]]
* 2006 – Isabel Monar (Zaide), [[Markus Schäfer]] (Gomatz), Christian Hilz (Allazim), [[Markus Brutscher]] (Sultan Soliman) – [[Orchester Wiener Akademie|Wiener Akademie]], [[Martin Haselböck]] – 2 CDs [[Classic Produktion Osnabrück|CPO]]
* 2006 – [[Diana Damrau]] (Zaide), [[Michael Schade]] (Gomatz), [[Florian Boesch]] (Allazim), Rudolf Schasching (Sultan Soliman), [[Anton Scharinger]] (Osmin) – [[Concentus Musicus Wien]], [[Nikolaus Harnoncourt]] – 2 CDs [[Deutsche Harmonia Mundi]]
* 2016 – [[Sophie Bevan]] (Zaide), [[Allan Clayton]] (Gomatz), [[Jacques Imbrailo]] (Allazim), Stuart Jackson (Sultan Soliman), [[Darren Jeffery]] (Osmin), [[Jonathan McGovern (singer)|Jonathan McGovern]] – Classical Opera, [[Ian Page (conductor)|Ian Page]] – CD [[Signum Records|Signum Classics]]

==See also==
*[[List of operas by Mozart]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{NMA|51|-99|52|-99}}
*{{IMSLP2|work=Zaide, K.344 (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)|cname=''Zaide''}}
*[http://operetta.stanford.edu/Mozart/Zaide/libretto.html Libretto]
*[http://www.classicalopera.co.uk/Zaide.html Article on the background behind ''Zaide''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050903075704/http://www.classicalopera.co.uk/Zaide.html |date=2005-09-03 }} by Ian Page
*[http://sfr.ee.teiath.gr/htmSELIDES/Mozart/Zaide.htm Articles on ''Zaide''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050301032926/http://sfr.ee.teiath.gr/htmSELIDES/Mozart/Zaide.htm |date=2005-03-01 }}
*{{cite web
|url = http://arts.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4958900-110430,00.html
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121023022016/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/jun/29/classicalmusicandopera/print
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = October 23, 2012
|title = ''Zaïde'' &ndash; 3 stars Aldeburgh
|access-date = 12 March 2008
|last = Evans
|first = Rian
|date = 29 June 2004
|work = [[The Guardian]]
}}
*[http://www.impresario.ch/libretto/libmozzai.htm Fragments of the libretto]
*"Zaide": [http://web.me.com/adalberht/Mozart/libretti-delle-opere-di-wol/zaide.pdf Libretto]

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[[Category:Operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]
[[Category:German-language operas]]
[[Category:Singspiele]]
[[Category:Unfinished operas]]
[[Category:1780 operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Works about slavery]]