question: Which opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail or Thaïs was originally performed first ?
answer: Die Entführung aus dem Serail
context: Title: Belmont und Constanze
  Passage: Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail (English: "Belmonte and Konstanze, The Abduction from the Seraglio") by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner is a libretto, published in 1781, telling the story of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, attempting to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of the Pasha Selim.  First set to music by Johann André and performed as a singspiel in Berlin in 1781, it became famous as the story on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart based his opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio)".
  Title: Topi Lehtipuu
  Passage: Topi Lehtipuu (born 24 March 1971 in Brisbane, Australia) is a Finnish operatic tenor.  He has sung a variety of roles from different periods, including the title role in Benjamin Britten's "Albert Herring" at the Finnish National Opera, several roles in Mozart operas, including Belmonte in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" and Tamino in "Die Zauberflöte", both at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and Ferrando in "Così fan tutte" at the 2006 Glyndebourne Festival.  He has also appeared in Handel's "Ariodante" (Paris Opera) and as Hylas in Berlioz' "Les Troyens" (conducted by John Eliot Gardiner).  He has worked with other well-known conductors, such as William Christie, Michel Corboz, René Jacobs, Simon Rattle, and Christophe Rousset.  Since 2010 Lehtipuu has been the artistic director of Turku Music Festival.
  Title: Inga Nielsen
  Passage: Inga Nielsen (2 June 1946 – 10 February 2008) was a Danish soprano who had an active international opera career from 1971 to 2006.  A child prodigy, Nielsen performed on American radio during the 1950s, beginning at the age of six, and also released some commercial recordings of Danish folk songs and Christmas carols as a child.  She began her opera career performing parts in the lyric soprano repertory and then became an admired singer of dramatic soprano roles, beginning in the late 1980s.  She was a particularly renowned interpreter of the roles of Konstanze in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" and the title role in Richard Strauss's "Salome".  She excelled in portraying some of the more rarely heard and demanding dramatic soprano roles such as the woman in Arnold Schoenberg's "Erwartung", Ursula in "Mathis der Maler" and Jenny in "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny".
  Title: Christoph Friedrich Bretzner
  Passage: Christoph Friedrich Bretzner (10 December 1748 – 31 August 1807) was a Leipzig merchant famous for writing the libretto to a singspiel "Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail", produced in Berlin and adapted in 1782 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gottlieb Stephanie as "Die Entführung aus dem Serail".
  Title: Nico van der Meel
  Passage: Nico van der Meel is a Dutch tenor.  He made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra during the 1987/1988 season and made a recording of Bach's "St John Passion", conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken.  Between 1989 and 1996, he made several tours and recordings of Bach's "Mass in B minor" and "St Matthew Passion".  He has since performed with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, John Eliot Gardiner, Gustav Leonhardt, Peter Schreier, Jan Willem de Vriend, Helmuth Rilling, Michel Corboz and Sir Colin Davis.  He has also performed in a number of operatic roles, including Alfred in "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss, Sellem in Igor Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress", Pedrillo in Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" under Christopher Hogwood, among others.  He is a member of the group Camerata Trajectina and conducts the William Byrd Vocal Ensemble, which specializes in a cappella music from the 16th to the 20th century.
  Title: O, wie will ich triumphieren
  Passage: "O, wie will ich triumphieren" (or, "Ha, wie will ich triumphieren"), is an aria for low bass from Mozart's "singspiel" "Die Entführung aus dem Serail".  It is well known for the extraordinary technical demands it makes on the singer, and is sometimes performed in recitals and featured in anthologies by basses who are able to sing it.  It features rapid precision-coloratura, abrupt octave-leaps between the upper and lower registers, and extended low notes, including a drawn-out low D (D, one of the lowest notes demanded of any voice in opera).  Mozart wrote it with one particular bass in mind: the very famous Ludwig Fischer.
  Title: Bernhard Bötel
  Passage: Bernhard Bötel (1883–1953) was a German operatic tenor and actor who had an active career in Germany and Austria during the first half of the 20th century.  He made recordings for several record labels during the early years of the recording industry, including His Master's Voice, Odeon Records, Polydor Records, Tri-Ergon, and Vox Records.  On the stage he sang a variety of roles in operas and operettas from leading parts to comprimario roles.  His stage repertoire included Belmonte in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail", Chapelou in Adolphe Adam's "Le postillon de Lonjumeau", Count Almaviva in Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Daniel in Franz Lehár's "The Merry Widow", the Duke of Mantua in Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto", Gabriel von Eisenstein in Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus", Indigo in Strauss' "Indigo und die vierzig Räuber", Jeník in Bedřich Smetana's "The Bartered Bride", Paolino in Domenico Cimarosa's "Il matrimonio segreto", Pâris in Jacques Offenbach's "La belle Hélène", Pietro in Franz von Suppé's "Boccaccio", and Wilhelm Meister in Ambroise Thomas' "Mignon".
  Title: Paul Appleby (tenor)
  Passage: Paul Appleby (born June 29, 1983) is an American operatic tenor.  In 2009 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  In November 2015 he made his debut at the San Francisco Opera as Tamino in Mozart's "The Magic Flute".  In December 2015 he was the tenor soloist in Mozart's "Coronation Mass" with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and in January 2016 he performed Belmonte in Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.  He sang Belmonte again at the Metropolitan Opera in May 2016.
  Title: Die Entführung aus dem Serail
  Passage: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384; The Abduction from the Seraglio; also known as Il Seraglio ) is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie.  The plot concerns the attempt of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of Pasha Selim.  The work premiered on 16 July 1782 at the Vienna Burgtheater, with the composer conducting.
  Title: Thaïs (opera)
  Passage: Thaïs (] ) is an opera, a "comédie lyrique" in three acts and seven tableaux, by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, based on the novel "Thaïs" by Anatole France.  It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sibyl Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role.  The original production was directed by Alexandre Lapissida, with costumes designed by Charles Bianchini and sets by Marcel Jambon (act 1, scene 1; act 3) and Eugène Carpezat (act 1, scene 2; act 2).  The opera was later revised by the composer and was premiered at the same opera house on 13 April 1898.
citations: Die Entführung aus dem Serail Thaïs (opera)