''Die verwandelten Weiber, oder Der Teufel ist los, erster Teil'' (''The Metamorphosed Wives, or The Devil to Pay, Part 1'') is a three-act german: comische Oper by the German composer

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...

, incorporating 14 musical numbers from the popular farce ''Der Teufel ist los'' by . The

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

was by

Christian Felix Weiße Christian Felix Weiße (1726–1804) was a German writer and pedagogue. Weiße was among the leading representatives of the Enlightenment in Germany and is regarded as the founder of German children's literature. Life Weiße was born as twin on ...

(1726–1804) based on the

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Singspiel'', its dist ...

'' The Devil to Pay, or The Wives Metamorphos'd'' by

Charles Coffey Charles Coffey (late 17th century – 13 May 1745) was an Irish playwright, opera librettist and arranger of music from Westmeath. Following the initial failure of his ballad opera '' The Beggar’s Wedding'' (Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre, 24 Ma ...

(1731), and an

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

text by

Michel-Jean Sedaine Michel-Jean Sedaine (2 June 1719 – 17 May 1797) was a French dramatist and librettist, especially noted for his librettos for '' opéras comiques'', in which he took an important and influential role in the advancement of the genre from th ...

using the same material.

Performance history

The opera was first performed at the theatre in Quandt's Court,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

on 28 May 1766, conducted by the composer.

Performance history

Roles

References

Further reading