An extremely prolific artist, FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN left an immense body of work in all genres, laying the foundations for the classical form of the symphony, string quartet, trio, and sonata. Among his hundreds of instrumental and vocal, secular and sacred opuses, his more than 20 operas are the least known. They were composed mainly between the 1770s and 1780s, when he directed an opera troupe at the estate of Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy that gave up to 150 performances a year. One of his last operas was the three-act ARMIDA, to an Italian libretto by Nunziato Porta, adapted from Antonio Tozzi’s earlier opera Rinaldo. After its premiere on 26 February 1784, it had 54 performances in the following four years at the Esterhazy Palace Theatre, and was also performed in Bratislava, Budapest, Turin and Vienna.