List of operas by Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn is not primarily remembered as a composer of opera, yet the genre occupied a great deal of his time. During the 1770s and 1780s, Haydn ran an opera troupe on behalf of his employer, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, which put on up to 150 performances per year. A number of the operas were Haydn's own work. Haydn's operas are only occasionally performed today.

The list is arranged chronologically and divided by career stage.

Composed as a freelance musician

1752: Der krumme Teufel, Hob. 29/1a, Singspiel (libretto by Joseph von Kurz), composed during Haydn's time as a freelance musician. Now lost.

Composed during Haydn's service for the Eszterházy family

Date	Title	Hob.	Genre	Subdivisions	Libretto
1762 revised 1773/1774	Acide e Galatea	28/1	festa teatrale	1 act	Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca
1766	La canterina (The Songstress)	28/2	intermezzo in musica	2 acts
1763?	La marchesa nespola	30/1	comedia
1768	Lo speziale (The Apothecary)	28/3	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carlo Goldoni, revised by Carl Friberth?
1769	Le pescatrici (The Fishwives)	28/4	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carlo Goldoni, revised by Carl Friberth?
1773	L'infedeltà delusa (Deceit Outwitted)	28/5	burletta per musica	2 acts	Marco Coltellini, revised by Carl Friberth?
1773	Philemon und Baucis	29b/2	Singspiel	1 act	Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel
1775	L'incontro improvviso (The Unexpected Encounter)	28/6	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carl Friberth, after L H Dancourt's La rencontre imprévue
1777	Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon)	28/7	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carlo Goldoni
1779	La vera costanza (True Constancy), revised 1785	28/8	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Francesco Puttini
1779	L'isola disabitata (The Deserted Island)	28/9	azione teatrale	2 parts	Metastasio
1780	La fedeltà premiata (Fidelity Rewarded)	28/10	dramma giocoso	3 acts	after Giambattista's Lorenzi's L'infedeltà fedele
1782	Orlando paladino (The Paladin Orlando)	28/11	dramma eroicomico	3 acts	Nunziato Porta, based on Carlo Francesco Badini's Le pazzie d'Orlando, after Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso
1783	Armida	28/12	dramma eroico	3 acts	after Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata

Composed for the first London journey

1791: L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice, Hob. 28/13, dramma per musica in 4 acts (libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini). Haydn's own version of the Orpheus tale, the plot of a great many operas. Haydn's only post-Esterházy opera, composed for his 1791 trip to London but never performed there, due to intrigues.

References

Sources

The dates given above are from the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, as compiled by Georg Feder.
Branscombe, Peter (1992), 'Haydn, Joseph' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7