WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART began writing operas at the age of 10 and created 22 works in the various traditional genres of the time – the Italian Opera buffa, Opera seria and the German Singspiel, leaving unrivalled perfect examples of classical opera. In 1768, after composing the one-act zingspiel Bastien und Bastienne, the 12-year-old composer wrote his first opera buffa, The Fake Innocent, a comic opera in three acts, on a libretto by the Vienna court poet Marco Coltellini, which was based on an early work by Carlo Goldoni. At the request of Leopold’s father’s patron, the Archbishop of Salzburg, Prince Sigismund von Schrattenbach, it was premiered at his palace in Salzburg the following year, 1769. Rosina’s aria, Senti l’eco, ove t’aggiri (Hear the echo wherever you wander) from Act I is one of Mozart’s most popular operatic arias.