It is upon the entertainments connected with the latter house
that the French traveller just mentioned chiefly dwells. "The
prince," he says, "has a puppet theatre which is certainly unique
in character. Here the grandest operas are produced. One knows
not whether to be amazed or to laugh at seeing 'Alceste,'
'Alcides,' etc., put on the stage with all due solemnity, and
played by puppets. His orchestra is one of the best I ever heard,
and the great Haydn is his court and theatre composer. He employs
a poet for his singular theatre, whose humour and skill in
suiting the grandest subjects for the stage, and in parodying the
gravest effects, are often exceedingly happy. He often engages a
troupe of wandering players for a month at a time, and he himself
and his retinue form the entire audience. They are allowed to
come on the stage uncombed, drunk, their parts not half learned,
and half-dressed. The prince is not for the serious and tragic,
and he enjoys it when the players, like Sancho Panza, give loose
reins to their humour."

Prince Nicolaus became so much attached to this superb creation
of his own, that he seldom cared to leave it. A small portion of
the Capelle remained at Eisenstadt to carry on the church service
there, but the prince seldom went to Eisenstadt, and more seldom
still to Vienna. Most of the Hungarian grandees liked nothing
better than to display their wealth in the Imperial city during
the winter season; but to Haydn's employer there was literally
"no place like home." When he did go to Vienna, he would often
cut short his visits in the most abrupt manner, to the great
confusion of his musicians and other dependants. These
eccentricities must have given some annoyance to Haydn, who,
notwithstanding his love of quiet and seclusion, often longed for