Bastien und Bastienne was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old.
Bastien und Bastienne, K. 50 is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Bastien und Bastienne was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It was allegedly commissioned by Viennese physician and 'magnetist' Dr. Franz Mesmer as a satire of the 'pastoral' genre then prevalent, and specifically as a parody of the opera Le devin du village by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The German libretto is by Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern, Johann Heinrich Friedrich Müller and Johann Andreas Schachtner, based on Les Amours de Bastien et Bastienne by Justine Favart and Harny de Guerville . After its supposed premiere in Mesmer's garden theater, it was not revived again until 1890. It is not clear whether this piece was performed in Mozart's lifetime. The first known performance was on 2 October 1890 at Architektenhaus in Berlin.
The opera is written in both French and German manners. Many of the melodies are French in manner, but Bastienne's first aria is true German lied. This melody is also used in Mozart's Trio in G for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 564. Another purely German lied is Bastienne's aria "I feel certain of his heart".