List of operas by 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
- 1751: 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 Eszterházy">House of Esterházy">Eszterházy family
| Date | Title | Hob. | Genre | Subdivisions | Libretto |
| 1762 revised 1773/1774 | Acide e Galatea | 28/1 | festa teatrale | 1 act | Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca |
| 1763? | La marchesa nespola | 30/1 | comedia | ||
| 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 | Philemon und Baucis | 29b/2 | Singspiel | 1 act | Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel |
| 1775 | L'incontro improvviso | 28/6 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Carl Friberth, after L H Dancourt's La rencontre imprévue |
| 1776 | Die Feuersbrunst, oder Das abgebrannte Haus | 29b/A | Singspiel for marionettes | 2 acts | |
| 1777 | Il mondo della luna | 28/7 | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Carlo Goldoni |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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.