ARMIDA ABBANDONATA DA RINALDO -- Jommelli -- RINALDIANA

Speranza

L'Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo is an opera in three acts by 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", even if perhaps "too serious and old-fashioned".

Nevertheless, despite a lukewarm reception at its premiere, "Armida abbandonata" was widely performed throughout Italy in the following years.

Role Voice type Premiere Cast Conductor: Nicola Fabio

Armida soprano (Maria Anna Lucia De Amicis-Buonsollazzi)
Rinaldo, tenore (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

The enchantress Armida has bewitched the Crusader knight Rinaldo. Tancredi fails to break the spell. (Atto I) Act Two Ubaldo and Dano manage to free Rinaldo from Armida's power. She is furious and destroys her own palace in her anger (Atto II). 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. Rinaldo fights the illusions Armida has conjured up and cuts the myrtle at the heart of the forest which is the source of the magic. (Atto III).

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) [edit] Sources The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993) Del Teatro (in Italian) Amadeus Online Categories: Italian-language operas Opera seria 1770 operas Operas by Niccolò Jommelli Operas Teatro San Carlo world premieres