author
Nicola Francesco Haym
1678–1729
An Italian musician and librettist at the heart of London’s early 18th-century opera scene, he is best remembered for shaping texts for some of Handel’s most famous works. His career also stretched far beyond the stage, from performance and theater management to literary editing and coin collecting.
1 Audiobook
Amadis of Gaul, an opera As it is perform'd at the King's Theatre in the Hay-market
by Nicola Francesco Haym
About the author
Born in Rome in 1678 and later active in London, Nicola Francesco Haym built a remarkably varied career as a cellist, composer, librettist, theater manager, literary editor, and numismatist. He became a key figure in the London opera world at a time when Italian opera was flourishing there.
Haym is most closely associated with adapting and writing libretti for the operas of George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Bononcini. He is especially remembered for his work on Handel’s London operas, which helped bring clarity, pace, and theatrical strength to stories that still anchor the Baroque repertory.
His interests reached well beyond music. Haym also edited literary works and was known for his expertise in coins and medals, showing the breadth of his learning as well as his artistic skill. He died in London in 1729, leaving behind a legacy tied both to the stage and to the wider intellectual life of his time.