Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

 is not primarily remembered as a composer of opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, 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

Nikolaus Esterházy

Nikolaus Esterházy was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. His building of palaces, extravagant clothing, and taste for opera and other grand musical productions led to his being given the title "the Magnificent"...

, 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
  Der krumme Teufel
  Der krumme Teufel , Hob. 29/1a, was Joseph Haydn's first opera. This German-language comic opera in the genre of Singspiel was commissioned by its librettist, leading comic actor Johann Joseph Felix Kurz...
  
  , Hob. 29/1a, Singspiel
  Singspiel
  A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
  
   (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. Hoboken-Verzeichnis The Hoboken-Verzeichnis is the catalogue of over 750 works by Joseph Haydn as compiled by Anthony van Hoboken.Unlike Ludwig von Köchel's catalogue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's works, or Otto Erich Deutsch's catalogue of Franz Schubert's works, which are both arranged chronologically by date of...	Genre	Sub­divisions	Libretto
1762 revised 1773/1774	Acide e Galatea	28/1	festa teatrale Festa teatrale The term festa teatrale refers to a genre of drama, and of opera in particular. The genre cannot be rigidly defined, and in any case feste teatrali tend to be split into two different sets: feste teatrali divided by acts are operas, while works in this genre performed without division, or merely...	1 act	G A Migliavacca
1766	La canterina La canterina La canterina , Hob. 28/2, is a short, two act opera buffa by Joseph Haydn, the first one he wrote for Prince Esterhazy. Based on the intermezzo from the third act of Niccolò Piccinni's opera L'Origille , it lasts about 50 minutes... (The Songstress)	28/2	intermezzo in musica Intermezzo In music, an intermezzo , in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work...	2 acts
1763?	La marchesa nespola	30/1	comedia
1768	Lo speziale Lo speziale Lo speziale , Hob. 28/3, is a three act opera buffa by Joseph Haydn, with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni.A love triangle between the poor apprentice Mengone, the rich and assured dandy Volpino, and the local apothecary's ward, Grilletta, Lo speziale is a sidesplitting comedy of great warmth and... (The Apothecary)	28/3	dramma giocoso Dramma giocoso Dramma giocoso is the name of a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of "dramma giocoso per musica" and is essentially a description of the text rather than the opera as a whole...	3 acts	Carlo Goldoni Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty... , revised by Carl Friberth?
1769	Le pescatrici Le pescatrici Le pescatrici Hob. 28/4, is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn set to a libretto by Carlo Goldoni... (The Fishwives)	28/4	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carlo Goldoni, revised by Carl Friberth?
1773	L'infedeltà delusa L'infedeltà delusa L'infedeltà delusa , Hob. 28/5, is an operatic burletta per musica by Joseph Haydn. The Italian libretto was by Marco Coltellini, perhaps reworked by Carl Friberth who also took part in the first performance.-Performance history:... (Deceit Outwitted)	28/5	burletta per musica	2 acts	Marco Coltellini Marco Coltellini Marco Coltellini was an Italian opera librettist and printer.He was probably born in Livorno and embarked on a career in the Church, but had to leave after fathering four daughters. He set up a printing shop in Livorno to publish the works of Enlightenment figures such as Francesco Algarotti and... , revised by Carl Friberth?
1773	Philemon und Baucis	29b/2	Singspiel Singspiel A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...	1 act	Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel was a French-German writer and translator, whose texts were put to music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. He is sometimes also known as Amédée or Théophile Conrad Pfeffel, which is the French translation of Gottlieb .-Biography:Gottlieb Konrad...
1775	L'incontro improvviso L'incontro improvviso L’incontro improvviso is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn first performed at Eszterháza on 29 August 1775 to mark the four-day visit of Archduke Ferdinand, Habsburg governor of Milan and his consort Maria Beatrice d'Este... (The Unexpected Encounter)	28/6	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carl Friberth, after L H Dancourt's La rencontre imprévue
1777	Il mondo della luna Il mondo della luna Il mondo della luna , Hob. 28/7, is an opera buffa by Joseph Haydn with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, first performed at Eszterháza, Hungary on 3 August 1777. Goldoni's libretto had previously been set by four other composers, first by the composer Baldassare Galuppi and performed in Venice in the... (The World on the Moon)	28/7	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Carlo Goldoni
1779	La vera costanza La vera costanza La vera costanza , Hob. 28/8, is an operatic dramma giocoso by Joseph Haydn. The Italian libretto was a shortened version of the one by Francesco Puttini set by Pasquale Anfossi for the opera of the same name given in Rome in 1776... (True Constancy), revised 1785	28/8	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Francesco Puttini
1779	L'isola disabitata L'isola disabitata L'isola disabitata , Hob. 28/9, is an opera by Joseph Haydn, his tenth opera, written for the Eszterházy court and premiered December 6, 1779. The libretto by Pietro Metastasio was previously set by Giuseppe Bonno and subsequently used by Manuel García... (The Deserted Island)	28/9	azione teatrale Azione teatrale Azione teatrale is a genre of opera, popular in Italy in the late 17th and 18th centuries...	2 parts	Metastasio Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
1780	La fedeltà premiata La fedeltà premiata La fedeltà premiata is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn first performed at Eszterháza on 25 February 1781 to celebrate the reopening of the court theatre after a fire... (Fidelity Rewarded)	28/10	dramma giocoso	3 acts	after Giambattista's Lorenzi's L'infedeltà fedele
1782	Orlando paladino Orlando paladino Orlando paladino , Hob. 28/11, is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn which was first performed at Eszterháza on 6 December 1782. The libretto by Nunziano Porta is based on another libretto, Le pazzie d'Orlando, by Carlo Francesco Badini , itself inspired by Ariosto's epic poem Orlando furioso... (The Paladin Orlando)	28/11	dramma eroicomico	3 acts	Nunziano Porta, based on Carlo Francesco Badini's Le pazzie d'Orlando, after Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens with diversions... 's Orlando furioso Orlando Furioso Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...
1783	Armida Armida (Haydn) Armida, Hob. 28/12, is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn, set to a libretto based upon Torquato Tasso's poem Gerusalemme liberata . The first performance was 26 February 1784 and it went on to receive 54 performances from 1784 to 1788 at the Esterháza Court Theatre...	28/12	dramma eroico	3 acts	after Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem... 's Gerusalemme liberata

Composed for the first London journey

• 1791: L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice
  L'anima del filosofo
  L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice , Hob. 28/13, is an opera in Italian in four acts by Joseph Haydn, the last he ever wrote. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based on the myth of Orpheus and Euridice as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses...
  
  , Hob. 28/13, dramma per musica
  Dramma per musica
  Dramma per musica is a term which was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the late-17th and mid-19th centuries...
  
   in 4 acts (libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini). Haydn's own version of the Orpheus
  Orpheus
  Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
  
   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.