- Armida abbandonata
"Armida abbandonata" ("Armida Abandoned") is an
opera in three acts by the Italian composerNiccolò Jommelli . Thelibretto , by Francesco Saverio De Rogatis, is based on the epic poem "Gerusalemme liberata " byTorquato Tasso . The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo,Naples on30 May 1770 . The youngWolfgang 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
ynopsis
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 themyrtle 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 , Les Talens Lyriques, conducted byChristophe Rousset (FNAC, 1995; reissued by Ambroisie, 2006)ources
*"The Viking Opera Guide" ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
* [http://www.delteatro.it/dizionario_dell_opera/a/armida_abbandonata.php Del Teatro (in Italian)]
* [http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=30&Mese=05&Anno=1770&Giornata=&Testo=&Parola=Stringa Amadeus Online]
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