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But the comedian wanted more from Haydn than a tempest on the
keyboard. He had written the libretto of an opera, "Der Neue
Krumme Teufel," and desired that Haydn should set it to music.
The chance was too good to be thrown away, and Haydn proceeded to
execute the commission with alacrity, not a little stimulated,
doubtless, by the promise of 24 ducats for the work. There is a
playfulness and buoyancy about much of Haydn's music which seems
to suggest that he might have succeeded admirably in comic opera,
and it is really to be regretted that while the words of "Der
Neue Krumme Teufel" have been preserved, the music has been lost.
It would have been interesting to see what the young composer
had made of a subject which--from Le Sage's "Le Diable Boiteux"
onwards--has engaged the attention of so many playwrights and
musicians. The opera was produced at the Stadt Theatre in the
spring of 1752, and was frequently repeated not only in Vienna,
but in Berlin, Prague, Saxony and the Breisgau.
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