Le diable boiteux

This chamber opera is based on Alain-René Lesage’s novel of the same name. The book was published in 1707 and became an immediate success with its saucy depiction of society and its frivolity and eroticism. The limping devil stands at the heart of the plot who offers the easy-going hero Zambullo a whole series of covert views into the private apartments of Parisian society. In the opera, a narrator leads us through the nocturnal alleys of Madrid. He comments on the scene in the prison (a ballet master has taught his pupils more than just dance), in the boudoir (where a coquette is taking a bath) and in the front parlour (a girl is writing an essay on the ‘honest man’ in which she ironically portrays her libertine father as a role model). The opera concludes with a boisterous witches’ Sabbath during which the devil disappears. The next morning, the sun rises peacefully. Was it all just a dream?