Armida abbandonata
| Niccolò Jommelli |
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Operas
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Armida Abbandonata (Armida Abandoned) is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Niccolò Jommelli. The libretto, by Francesco Saverio De Rogatis, is based on the epic poem Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso. The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 30 May 1770. The young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was in the audience. He described the work as "beautiful but too serious and old-fashioned for the theatre". Nevertheless, despite a lukewarm reception at its premiere, Armida abbandonata was widely performed throughout Italy in the following years.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast Conductor: Nicola Fabio |
|---|---|---|
| Armida | soprano | Maria Anna Lucia De Amicis-Buonsollazzi |
| Rinaldo | castrato (soprano) | Giuseppe Aprile (Sciroletto) |
| Tancredi | tenor | Arcangelo Cortoni |
| Erminia | soprano | Apollonia Marchetti |
| Rambaldo | castrato (contralto) | Pietro Santi |
| Dano | castrato (soprano) | Gerlando Speciali |
| Ubaldo | tenor | Tommaso Galeazzi |
Synopsis
Act One
The enchantress Armida has bewitched the Crusader knight Rinaldo. Tancredi fails to break the spell.
Act Two
Ubaldo and Dano manage to free Rinaldo from Armida's power. She is furious and destroys her own palace in her anger.
Act Three
Rinaldo manages to free the forest the Crusaders need to build siege engines to take Jerusalem from the magic spell that has been placed on it. He fights the illusions Armida has conjured up and cuts the myrtle at the heart of the forest which is the source of the magic.
Recordings
- Armida abbandonata Ewa Malas-Godlewska, Claire Brua Rinaldo, Gilles Ragon, Véronique Gens, Patricia Petibon. Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset (FNAC, 1995; reissued by Sound Arts / Ambroisie, 2005 / 2006)
Sources
- The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
- Del Teatro (in Italian)
- Amadeus Online