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
- 1753: Der krumme Teufel, Hob. 29/1a, Singspiel, composed during Haydn's time as a freelance musician. Now lost.
Composed during Haydn's service for the [Esterházy] family
| Date | Title | Hob. | Genre | Subdivisions | Libretto | Notes |
| 1763 revised 1773/1774 | Acide e Galatea | 28/1 | festa teatrale | 1 act | Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca | |
| 1766 | La canterina | 28/2 | intermezzo in musica | 2 acts | ||
| 1768 | Lo speziale | 28/3 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Carlo Goldoni, revised by Carl Friberth? | |
| 1770 | Le pescatrici | 28/4 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Carlo Goldoni, revised by Carl Friberth? | |
| 1773 | L'infedeltà delusa | 28/5 | burletta per musica | 2 acts | Marco Coltellini, revised by Carl Friberth? | |
| 1773 | Der Hexenschabbas | 29a/2 | Singspiel for marionettes | Music lost | ||
| 1775 | L'incontro improvviso | 28/6 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Carl Friberth, after L H Dancourt's La rencontre imprévue | |
| 1775 | Die Feuersbrunst | 29b/A | Singspiel | 2 acts | Uncertain. Music lost | |
| 1776 | Didone Abbandonata | 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 | 28/7 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Carlo Goldoni | |
| 1777 | Genovevens vierter Theil | 29a/5 | Singspiel for marionettes | Joseph Karl von Pauersbach | Music lost | |
| 1778/1779 | Le Glorieux oder Der Grosssprecher | 29b/B | Singspiel | Uncertain. Music lost | ||
| 1779 revised 1785 | La vera costanza | 28/8 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Francesco Puttini | |
| 1779 | L'isola disabitata | 28/9 | azione teatrale | 2 parts | Metastasio | |
| 1779 | Die bestrafte Rachbegierde | 29b/3 | Singspiel | 3 acts | Philipp Georg Bader | Music lost |
| 1779 | Das abgebrannte Haus | 29a/4 | Singspiel for marionettes | Music lost | ||
| 1781 | La fedeltà premiata | 28/10 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | after Giambattista's Lorenzi's L'infedeltà fedele | |
| 1782 | Orlando paladino | 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 | 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. 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.