Of the presentation of the opera itself on the stage, in January, 1781, we have no detailed information. But the impression made by it must have been in keeping with that created by the rehearsals. That the _Idomeneo_ lives now only in the concert hall, is due to the Italian words, which interrupt the acting at almost every step. Mozart put an end to the absolute rule of the Italian opera by his _Idomeneo_. It henceforth had only a national character. Mozart compelled the composers of opera, from this time forward, to take another course, and to comply with Gluck’s demands, which have lifted the opera of our age to the height of the genuine drama. But the first and fully decisive steps in this direction, were the _Figaro_ and _Don Giovanni_. We now turn to them. The _Idomeneo_, as it was Mozart’s first masterpiece, monumental in its style, constituted, together with the operas which followed it, the transition to an entirely new epoch in his life, to the period of his complete independence, both as an artist and as a man. CHAPTER IV. 1781-1787. THE ELOPEMENT FROM THE SERAGLIO--FIGARO--DON GIOVANNI. Opinions on the Idomeneo--Tired of Salzburg--Goes to Vienna--The Archbishop Again--Mozart Treated by him with Indignity--Paternal Reproaches--Assailed by Slander--He Leaves Salzburg--Experiences in Vienna--Austrian Society--The German Stage--The Emperor Expresses a wish that Mozart might Write a New Opera--Mozart’s Love for Constance Weber--Description of Constance--Performance of the New Opera--Mozart’s Marriage--The Emperor’s Opinion of Mozart’s Music--Mozart’s Interest in the Figaro--Particulars Relating to its Composition--Its Success--Mozart’s Poverty--Mozart in Bohemia--His Popularity in Prague--Meaning of the Don Giovanni--Richard Wagner on Mozart. We are told that Mozart, even in his later years, prized the _Idomeneo_ very greatly, and it is certain that connoisseurs have always entertained a very high opinion of its music. It combines the freshness of youth, great force and vitality, with a great variety in invention, and has all the characteristics of art. It is easy to conceive that the consciousness of being the possessor of so much power, especially while he was engaged on the work itself, made Mozart’s bosom swell, and that in such moments the memory of the narrowness and “chicanery” of Salzburg must have been exceedingly mortifying to him. “Out! out into the wide world and into the air of freedom!”--he must have heard now ringing in his ears as he had four years before. And had not Vienna, at that time the capital of Germany, intellectually advanced, and had not the Emperor Joseph, established a national opera there?