Bastien und Bastienne (Bastien and Bastienne), K. 50/46b is a one-act singspiel by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One of Mozart's earliest operas, it was written in 1768, when he was only twelve years old. It was allegedly commissioned by Viennese physician Dr. Franz Mesmer (who himself would later be parodied in Così fan tutte) as a satire of the 'pastoral' genre then prevalent. The German libretto is by F. Weiskern, J.H. Müller and J.A. Schachtner, based on Les Amours de Bastien et Bastienne by Favart and de Guerville (fr). After its supposed premiere in Mesmer's garden theater (that is only corroborated by an unverified account of Nissen), it was not revived again until 1890. Although he was very young, Mozart already had excellent vocal writing skills and a knack for parody and whimsy which would reach full flower in his later works. Bastien und Bastienne is possibly the easiest to perform of Mozart's juvenile works.
