Talk:Bastien und Bastienne

Latest comment: 8 years ago by Walrasiad in topic Mesmer?

Comment

edit

Fixed two spelling errors.

Mesmer?

edit

The article alleges Franz Mesmer commissioned the parody. Does the reference really say that or provide evidence? Because certainly the opera "Les Amours de Bastien and Bastiene" (of Favart and HanrY), as a parody of "Le Devin de Village", already existed a year after Rousseau's original. The copy at googlebooks was published in 1754 (Bastien & Bastiene) and says it was performed in Brussels in November 1753. Mesmer would have been only a teenager at the time and, by his biography, seems to be nowhere near Brussels (nor likely to have any linkage with a royal theater). If article merely means that to say Mesmer commissioned the later adaptation that Mozart used in 1768, then the article should make that clear. The way it is written makes it appear that Mesmer commissioned the whole thing from scratch. But the parody itself existed well before that. Walrasiad (talk) 04:48, 15 October 2015 (UTC)Reply