About the work
Il mondo della luna is a dramma giocoso in three acts by Joseph Haydn, set to a libretto by Carlo Goldoni that had already been composed for Baldassare Galuppi in 1750. Haydn wrote the music in 1777 for the wedding of his patron Nikolaus Esterházy's son and premiered the opera on 3 August 1777 at the opera house of Eszterháza.
Plot
The wealthy merchant Buonafede is duped by a supposed astrologer and his own servant: a potion appears to transport him to the moon, where, freed from earthly rules, he agrees to marriages for his daughters that he had always refused on Earth. When the deception is revealed at the end, he must reluctantly accept the unions.
Cultural significance
Although the score survives only in fragments, the opera is prized for its wit and sharply drawn characters and remains one of the few Eszterháza operas still given occasional stagings today.