About the work
Haydn wrote the music for this Singspiel around 1751–52 for the Viennese actor-manager Joseph Felix von Kurz, known as Bernardon; based on Alain-René Lesage's novel about a lame devil, it is considered Haydn's first opera.
Plot
The devil Asmodeus sets out to open the eyes of the elderly Doctor Arnoldus, who is infatuated with his young ward Fiametta. Through demonstrations such as a shipwreck pantomime and an Italian intermezzo, he shows Arnoldus the folly of his marriage plans.
Cultural significance
According to Haydn's contemporary biographer Albert Christoph Dies, the piece was banned after a few successful performances because of offensive passages in the text; the score is lost and only the libretto survives. A revised version, 'Der neue krumme Teufel', reached the stage again in 1757/58.