On this day (October 29th) in 1787, hours before the first performance of his opera “Don Giovanni” is to be given, Mozart is reminded that he is yet to write an Overture. He duly instructs his Wife to serve him punch and tell him fairy tales throughout the night, until the work is complete.

“The ink was hardly dry on some of the pages when they were placed on the desks of the orchestra” – Wenzel Swoboda (Double-bassist in the orchestra).

Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Salzburg Festival 1954)