Il Sogno di Scipione

Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126, is a dramatic serenade in one act (azione teatrale) composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, which is based on the book Somnium Scipionis by Cicero. Mozart had originally composed the work at the age of 15 for his patron, Prince-Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach. After the bishop's death before it could be performed, Mozart dedicated it to Schrattenbach's successor, Count Colloredo. It was given a private performance in the Archbishop's Palace in Salzburg on 1 May 1772, although not in its entirety. Only one aria, the final chorus and the recitative dedicating it to the new Prince-Archbishop were performed. It is highly unlikely that it was ever performed in its entirety in Mozart's lifetime.
In 1979, Il sogno di Scipione was exhumed for Mozart Week in Salzburg, and given a complete performance. The participants in this performance - Peter Schreier (Scipio), Lucia Popp (Costanza), Edita Gruberova (Fortuna), Claes H. Ahnsjo (Publio), Thomas Moser (Emilio) and Edith Mathis (Licenza) with the Salzburger Kammerchor and Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg under Leopold Hager - on 16th-19th January of that year, then made the work's first recording, issued originally on LP as Deutche Grammophon 2740 218/2709 098 and reissued on CD in 1991 in the Philips Complete Mozart Edition as 422 531-2 PME2.