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
1753: Der krumme Teufel, Hob. 29/1a, Singspiel (libretto by Joseph Felix von Kurz), composed during Haydn's time as a freelance musician. Now lost.
Composed during Haydn's service for the Esterházy family
DateTitleHob.GenreSubdivisionsLibrettoNotes 1763revised 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 1768 Lo speziale (The Apothecary) 28/3 dramma giocoso 3 acts Carlo Goldoni, revised by Carl Friberth? 1770 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 Der Hexenschabbas (The Witches' Shabbas) 29a/2 Singspiel for marionettes Music lost 1775 L'incontro improvviso (The Unexpected Encounter) 28/6 dramma giocoso 3 acts Carl Friberth, after L H Dancourt's La rencontre imprévue 1775 Die Feuersbrunst (The Conflagration) 29b/A Singspiel 2 acts Uncertain. Music lost 1776 Didone Abbandonata (Dido) 29a/3 Singspiel for marionettes Philipp Georg Bader Music lost 1776 Philemon und Baucis 29b/2 Singspiel 1 act after a play by Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel 1777 Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon) 28/7 dramma giocoso 3 acts Carlo Goldoni 1777 Genovevens vierter Theil (Genovevens part four) 29a/5 Singspiel for marionettes Joseph Karl von Pauersbach Music lost 1778/1779 Le Glorieux oder Der Grosssprecher (Le Glorieux or The Great Speaker) 29b/B Singspiel Uncertain. Music lost 1779revised 1785 La vera costanza (True Constancy) 28/8 dramma giocoso 3 acts Francesco Puttini 1779 L'isola disabitata (The Deserted Island) 28/9 azione teatrale 2 parts Metastasio 1779 Die bestrafte Rachbegierde (The punished desire for revenge) 29b/3 Singspiel 3 acts Philipp Georg Bader Music lost 1779 Das abgebrannte Haus (The Burned House) 29a/4 Singspiel for marionettes Music lost 1781 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 1784 Armida 28/12 dramma eroico 3 acts after Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata 1786/1788 Grün und Rosenfarb (Green and rose color) 29b/E Singspiel 1 act Uncertain. Music lost
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.
Recordings
During the 1970s, after the release of his complete Haydn symphony cycle, Hungarian-American conductor Antal Doráti recorded eight of Haydn's operas for Philips Records, with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. The selected works were Armida, La fedeltà premiata, L'incontro improvviso, L'infedeltà delusa, L'isola disabitata, Il mondo della luna, Orlando paladino and La vera costanza. These were initially released on LP format, then subsequently on CD in 1993. Many of Doráti's Haydn operas are still reference recordings, and have had successful reviews from Gramophone and The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music.
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)