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Singspiel is form of German-language musical drama, similar to opera, but with a lot of spoken dialog and simpler, folk-like, strophic songs. Although a very popular form of entertainment in late 18-century Austria, most Singspiel and their authors have gradually fallen into oblivion. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart touched the genre under an imperial commission for the New National Theatre in Vienna with "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" in 1782. His later work "The Magic Flute", although in some ways connected with the Singspiel, incorporates a significant amount of elements from various musico-drammatic genres, resulting in a work which defies clear-cut classification.
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