Der krumme Teufel

Der krumme Teufel
Singspiel by Joseph Haydn
Portrait of Haydn by Thomas Hardy, in 1791
TranslationThe Lame Devil
LibrettistJoseph Felix von Kurz [de]
LanguageGerman
Based onLe Diable boiteux by Alain-René Lesage
Premiere
29 May 1753 (1753-05-29)
Kärntnertortheater, Vienna

Der krumme Teufel (The Lame Devil[1][2][3] or "The Limping Devil",[4] 1751 or 1752), Hob. 29/1a, was Joseph Haydn's first opera. This German-language comic opera in the genre of Singspiel was commissioned by its librettist, leading comic actor Joseph Felix von Kurz [de], from the French novel Le Diable boiteux by Alain-René Lesage. It was forbidden after two acclaimed performances in Vienna due to "offensive remarks in the text",[5] but later revived and probably revised as Der neue krumme Teufel ("The New Lame Devil",[6] 1757 or 1758), Hob. 29/1b. The music is lost, though a libretto survives for each version.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Butterworth1978-23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jurkowski1996-131 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beghin2007-93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barber1990-54 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dies1810-97-98 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beghin2007-94 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).