Christoph Friedrich Bretzner (10 December 1748 – 31 August 1807) was a Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 merchant famous for writing the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 to a singspiel

Singspiel

A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...

 Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Belmont und Constanze

Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner is a libretto, published in 1781, telling the story of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, attempting to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of the Pasha Selim...

, produced in Berlin and adapted in 1782 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

 and Gottlieb Stephanie

Gottlieb Stephanie

Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger was an Austrian playwright, director and librettist, most famously to Mozart. He came to Vienna during the Seven Years' War as a Prussian prisoner of war...

 as Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...

. Bretzner protested against the adaptations on the grounds that original text was stolen by Gottlieb Stephanie who then modified it for Mozart's performances.

He died on 31 August 1807 after arriving for a theatrical performance in Leipzig.