Powered By Blogger

Welcome to Villa Speranza.

Welcome to Villa Speranza.

Search This Blog

Translate

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Rinaldiana operistica: una cronologia

Speranza

Il racconto di Armida e Rinaldo dalla Gerusalemme liberata (1581) di Tasso



è stato usato per varie opere liriche e composizioni musicali.


Zugno, "Rinaldo".



1099. Gerusalemme fell to a besieging Christian army --







under Goffredo di Bouillon.

 (Manta Castle, Cuneo, Italy)
AutoreMaestro del Castello della Manta

All'inizio del 1099 Goffredo era una figura secondaria nella crociata, con Tancredi d'Altavilla che determinava il corso degli eventi.

Presente anche in Gerusalemme liberata, l'opera più famosa di Torquato Tasso e a lui si riferisce nel proemio

Canto l'armi pietose e il capitano/che il gran sepolcro liberò di Cristo/molto operò con il senno e con la mano/molto soffrì nel glorioso acquisto.

File:Tancred, Tarsus.jpg
Tancredi di Galiliea (o d'Altavilla) al suo arrivo a Tarso viene accolto da Costantino I d'Armenia (miniatura medievale). Nel 1096, ventiquattrenne, Tancredi si unì allo zio Boemondo I (d'Altavilla, di Taranto)  e partì alla volta di Costantinopoli insieme agli eserciti della Prima Crociata.
La Gesta Tancredi è una biografia di Tancredi scritta in latino da Radulfo di Caen, un normanno che prese parte alla Prima crociata e fu al servizio di Tancredi e Boemondo.
Tancredi appare inoltre fra i personaggi della Gerusalemme Liberata, il poema cinquecentesco di Torquato Tasso. È ritratto come un eroe epico, reso protagonista di un amore cavalleresco con la guerriera pagana Clorinda. Egli è inoltre amato dalla principessa Erminia di Antiochia. Alcuni estratti dei versi del Tasso furono inseriti da Claudio Monteverdi nella sua opera drammatica Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, del 1624.

Rinaldo, born in Este (fiume Edige), Veneto.









Il toponimo "Este" (in epoca romana Ateste) pare derivare dal nome in latino del fiume Adige (Athesis); sembra infatti che un ramo del fiume (Bisatto) attraversasse l'abitato fino alla cosiddetta rotta della Cucca (tradizionalmente posta nel 589) quando questo ramo si estinse. Gli abitanti si chiamano Atestini o Estensi.

1581. Torquato Tasso, La Gierusalemme liberata overo il Goffredo: poema eroico, con gli argomenti del sig. Oratio Ariosti. Ferrara e Parma: E. Viotto. Gerusaleme liberata: poema eroico del Sig. Torquato Tasso, aggiunti à ciascun canto sono gli argomenti del Sig. Oratio Ariosti. In Lione : appresso A. Marsilli.




Gierusalemme liberata: poema eroico. In Ferrara: appr. gli heredi di F. de Rossi. Gerusalemme liberata, poema heroico, con aggiunta di quanto manca dell' altre edittioni, & con l'Aggiunta dello stesso autore per Febo Bonna, Ferrara: per Vittorio Baldini.



Il Goffredo del S. Torquato Tasso novamente corretto, et ristampato con gli argomenti d'Orazio Ariosti e allegorie a ciascun canto d'incerti auttori, in Venetia: appresso G. Perchacino.

1581. Wert, Giunto alla tomba, Libro (VII) di madrigali, Mantova. Wert received selections of Gerusalemme liberata from Tasso before the work was published. Hence the appearance of the aria, "Giunto alla tomba" in the year that Tasso’s poem was published.

1583. Annibale Carraci, Rinaldo, Galleria di Capodimonti, Napoli. The appeal of RINALDO for painters is to depict the languorous voluptuousness of Armida's enchanted garden. Carracci, the first to paint this scene, captures Rinaldo’s inaction and sublimation in Armida’s arms. 

sfig3

Carracci hints at the larger epic in the background. Rinaldo languishes in the lap of Armida, with Carlo and Ubaldo spying in the background. Carlo and Ubaldo are about to pull Rinaldo out of his sensual enchantment and restore him to the Christian army.

1585. Torquato Tasso, La Gerusalemme liberata, scipii Gentilis Solymeidos, libri duo priores de Torquati Tassi italicis expressi, Venetiis: apud Altobellum Salicatium.


1586. Giacobo Wert, Libro di madrigali. A setting of "Rinaldo ed Armida", tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Wert, like the painters, sets stanzas from the romance narratives, while alluding to the overarching epic narrative. Wert’s settings of stanzas from Canto XVI a description of Armida’s enchanted island and her later abandonment, demonstrates this paradigm. "Vezzosi augelli" is a descriptive ottava rima about the singing birds in Armida’s pleasure garden
Vezzosi augelli

example 1

 Wert mimics the song of birds with a continuously moving sixteenth-note motive that is passed around to all the voices. The light homophonic texture of the madrigal pulls the listener away from the larger epic and into a sensual dream world. When this madrigal is placed in the context of Wert’s other settings from Canto 16, what emerges is similar narrative to that of the Poussin illustrations—the movement from the mythical realm back into the larger epic. Carol MacClintock observes, “Taken together the three compositions form a perfect dramatic cantata: the opening lyrical and graceful, the middle portion anguished, impassioned and the third the summing up and resolution, the catharsis, of the emotional situation [sic, her italics].” Wert chose stanzas that move from third person description of place and setting to first person narration of emotions and actions. Wert highlights the shift from third person to first person with a change in musical texture. Beginning with the lyrical introduction, which creates space for the character to speak, the piece then shifts to a more declamatory/syllabic setting and the poem moves into first person narration.[26] This textual shift mimics the dialectical relationship between epic and romance. The romance narrative bears a subversive relationship to the epic plot line from which it diverges, for it indicates the possibility of the other perspectives, however, incoherent they may ultimately be, upon the epic victors’ single-minded story of history. Taking Quint’s examination of Gerusalemme liberata and applying it to Wert’s madrigals, the composer’s lyrical introduction parallels the relationship of romance to epic: as romance allows the “impeding other” to speak, so Wert’s introduction creates an aural surrounding that allows these same characters to sing. And where the “impeding other” can garner sympathy from the Christian soldiers, Wert fashions an introduction that can both entice the listener, and illustrate their “otherness” and subversive relationship to the entire epic. Additionally, it is during the third person narration that Wert alludes to the larger epic on a whole. That is, during these moments of lyrical expression, the text gives him a certain degree of freedom for musical exaggerations so that he might paint both emotional and physical scenario of the situation.This effect is telescoped in his setting of the stanza Forsennata gridava. In the introductory first three measures, the music introduces Armida’s speech with the repeated leap of a major tenth. Even though the text is simply the narrator stating “forsennata gridava” (Madly she cried), Wert immediately pulls the listener into a completely foreign world. Additionally, coming after Vezzosi augelli, the leap breaks the listener away from the mythical realm and points back to the larger narrative.
Forsennata gridava

example 2

This grotesque leap highlights Armida’s “otherness.” When the poem moves to her first person narration, the texture changes to a declamatory setting. Again using this introductory section to allude to Armida’s place in the larger epic, he creates for the listener the character’s “otherness” and antithetical nature toward the Christian epic. By mainly focusing on sections in which the “other” speaks, Wert makes musical exaggerations that can both distance the listener, as in Forsennata gridava or entice and seduce the listener like Vezzosi augelli.  Where Forsennata gridava immediately betrayed Armida’s “otherness,” in the introductory stanza Qual musico gentil (Example 3), she tries to regain control of herself:  As cunning singers, just before they free/Their voices into high and brilliant song,/Prepare the listener’s soul for harmony/With sweet notes sotto voce, low and long/So in the bitterness of sorrow she/Did not forget the tricks and arts of wrong,/But gave a little prelude of a sigh/That his soul might be more deeply graven by. The text shifts away from the first person narration to third person description in which Armida is compared to a musician preparing to sing. Falling back on her magical arts, she attempts to seduce Rinaldo from leaving with her alluring and enchanting voice. The introductory phrase languishes between the harmonies A and D, as if Rinaldo hesitates and his thoughts still lingering on Armida’s blissful paradise. Because of the third person narration within Qual musico gentil, Wert allows himself a certain freedom with word and phrase repetition. The continual web of motives enraptures the attentive listener like Armida’s magical spells and portrays Rinaldo unable to leave the sorceress. Before Armida begins her magical speech, she first lets out a “sigh”, sospir, so that she can move Rinaldo’s pity and hold his attention. Similarly, Wert breaks up the motive on the word sospir with a rest, which disrupts the continuous flow of music, and, like Armida, forces the listener’s pity—her grief has left her gasping for air. This small sigh, however, is overshadowed by the following long melisma on the words voci im prima that holds her enchantment over both Rinaldo and the listener.
Qual musico gentil

example 3a
“sospir” from Qual musico gentil  

example 3b

Moving away from the third person description in Qual musico gentil, Wert sets Armida’s first person narrative in a much more syllabic and declamatory manner. He allows for small madrigalisms here and there, but the expressiveness of the text is carried more in the harmonic language or in staggered vocal entrances. For example, in the third stanza, Se m’odii e’n cio diletto alcun, Wert has all the voices declaiming together Armida’s hatred of the Christian state, “Anch’ io le genti Christiane odiarnego” (I too have detested the Christian nation): all the voices move in lockstep with each other, highlighting the unified Christian army (Example 3c).
Se m’odii e’n cio diletto alcun

example 3c
Starting on a C harmony, the voices move via a hard hexachord to F to show her recovery and growing hatred. As Armida’s hatred grows, the voices lose their unity and enter in fragmentary response to each other.  With Wert’s straightforward declamatory setting of the first person narrative, he still highlights important words to add a higher degree of emotional intensity to the work. This is especially apparent in the last stanza, Sia questa pur tra le mie frodi, e vaglia (Example 3d). It is at this point in the narrative structure that the listener perceives Armida’s resolve to follow after Rinaldo. This resolution is created, not so much through melodic invention, but through a rhythmically driven text setting. The voices move in close unison with each other, while also eliding cadences to keep the music moving forward. The tenor first suggests the final action “Vattene” at the end of m. 10 into m. 11; the other voices then affirm this action on the next beat: The music moves into a quickly declaimed passage in which Armida remarks “Go sweat and toil and fight across the seas, / destroy our faith—I’ll even help you flee.”[30] With its forceful declamation, Wert pushes the listener back into the historical epic of Gerusalemme liberata. This external push is then followed by an internal reflection on the part of Armida, as she asks herself “Our faith? Not mine, not now.”[31] To represent this turn, Wert changes the harmony, moving it away from C at the end of m. 14 towards the softer hexachord of F. Her internal question is then transformed into action, realizing “my cruel one, you [Rinaldo] are my faith, my idol—you alone.”[32] Whereas word repetition was used sparingly before, here Armida’s constant repetition of “Fedel/ sono a te solo, idolo mio crudele” (my cruel one, you are my faith…) represents her inability to give up Rinaldo. The staggered entrances of all the voices demonstrate her frantic state of mind. Ending on E, instead of A where the first stanza started, the change of mode symbolizes Armida’s desire to move forward and rejoin the overarching narrative of Gerusalemme liberata.
“Vattene” from Sia questa pur tra le mie fordi, e vaglia

example 3d

 “Che dico nostra?” from Sia questa

example 3d2

“Fedel” from Sia questa

example 3d3

“Idolo mio crudele” from Sia questa

example 3d4


Armida’s movement from the romance interlude to the epic whole marks an important shift in the context for which Wert composed this large-scale madrigal. The Este family at Ferrara, to whom Wert dedicated his eighth book of madrigals, believed themselves to be the offspring of Rinaldo and Armida. Tasso specifically mentions this connection in Gerusalemme liberata through the mouth of Peter the Hermit to Rinaldo: “Their arts will be to put the arrogant down, and lift the poor, punish the workers of impiety and shield the innocent. Past the sun shall fly the eagle of the Este family.”[33] Additionally, Wert’s connections to the court of Ferrara meant he and Tasso knew each other very well. Wert even received selections of Gerusalemme liberata from the poet before the work was published-- hence, the appearance of “Giunto alla tomba” in his Book 7 of madrigals in 1581, when Tasso’s poem was published.[34] With the connection between the composer and poet, noted above, it should not be regarded that the composer’s setting was a misreading of Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata. James Haar notes, for example, “[Tasso] may not have been over-pleased to see isolated stanzas from his Gerusalemme set to music; in his discussion of literary genres Tasso say the epopeia or heroic verse has no need of music.”[35] Wert’s poetic selections and musical settings were influenced not only by the poet himself, but also by the performers at his disposal. With Wert’s strong connections to the Ferrara court, his style was greatly influenced by the concerto delle donne.[36] As the concerto delle donne grew in popularity (along with other professional female singers) at other Northern Italian courts, it made sense for women to be singing female characters or men acting in a “womanish” manner.[37] Wert’s lament of Armida became part of the long history, in both the madrigal and opera, of the female lament of abandonment or longing as characterized for instance by Dido and Arianna.[38] In the context of female abandonment scenarios, Armida (along with Dido and Arianna) retains her appeal, because the sorceress keeps her beauty after Rinaldo leaves her. Comparing the Armida abandonment story with earlier epics, Melinda Gough observes that though the veil is lifted on her deception of Rinaldo, she never transforms into a hideous witch, but is made even more beautiful by her grief.[39] Therefore, the singers would retain and enhance their beauty during the performance and even draw the listener’s sympathy for this character. A similar parallel could be said of the paintings and representations of Armida discussed earlier: her beauty is dangerously alluring, but never grossly “exotic” or “Eastern”. Therefore, when she submits to Western authority and Christian doctrine, this subjugation is easily accepted and even celebrated by the Western listener/viewer.

1590. Ludovico Cardi, "Gerusalemme liberata", National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. The romance narratives were both dangerous, causing knights to stray and halt the development of the plot, and essential, displaying the ability of Christianity and epic narrative to control and pacify the pagan “others”. Tasso codifies the hierarchy of epic to romance through the literal hierarchy of the older Godfrey (rational control) to Rinaldo (passion—later brought under the control of reason). This hierarchical structure is depicted Cardi's painting. The painting is based on the Christian siege of Jerusalem in Canto 18.

sfig1

Conforming with the poem’s epic nature, the painter suggests events that lead up to and, by implication, extend beyond their current activity. Godfrey looks back anticipating the arrival of the Egyptians, and at the same time he gestures forward towards the walls and Rinaldo, who is on the threshold of victory. To establish Godfrey’s authority over the situation, Cigoli places him on horseback in the foreground, holding a scepter with a dove on top to signify the divine purpose of the mission.[14] Rinaldo, released from Armida’s grip, can be found immersed in battle, firing his arrows at the enemy. The reclining female figure in the forefront represents Armida. Her out-stretched, open hand symbolizes her eventual release from sorcery at the end of the poem; additionally, the reclining position hints at her submission to Western authority.[15] Carman states that, “Cigoli, like Tasso, conceives the subject within the historical terms of the Counter Reformation.”Whereas Cigoli reinforces Tasso’s narrative hierarchy by focusing on the battle, other painters focused more on the amorous subplots. The art historian Rensselaer Lee points out that painters, resolutely eschewed the serious main action of the poem that had to do with siege and capture of Jerusalem under the crusader Godfrey of Boulogne, and chose for the most part only those amorous and idyllic episodes wherein the lyric element is strong, and Tasso’s idiosyncratic vein of tender melancholy finds unfettered expression." For example, Julian Brooks discusses Andrea Boscoli’s illustrations the “Loves of Gerusalemme Liberata” (approximately 1590s), which depict Rinaldo and Armida, and Erminia amongst the shepherds. The illustrations, though not the first to deal specifically with the amorous subplots and pastoral interludes of the main narrative, represent, an important step in the history of the illustration of Gerusalemme Liberata…. Over the course of the next century these sub-plots became increasingly dislocated from the main text, and were precisely the episodes used by later baroque artist such as Guercin, Domenichino, and Poussin."What made these divergent narratives popular for artists was the lyrical and sensual qualities they imbued, as Lee observes: These subjects were immediately popular not only for their intrinsic beauty and human interest, but also because they had behind them a long tradition of pastoral art and literature extending back into antiquity.

 1590. Bernardo Castello, a Mannerist artist from Genova, produced the first illustrated edition of the epic. In his Rinaldo in the Arms of Armida, Castello places Ubaldo and Carlo in hiding as they watch the lovers in Armida’s garden.

1590. Annibale Carracci, an artist from Bologna is the first artist to paint the poem’s famous love episodes. His Rinaldo and Armida depicts a bewitched Rinaldo reclining in Armida’s lap while the sorceress looks intensely into her mirror. This scene is described in Gerusalemme Liberata as the moment when Armida enchants Rinaldo. From the lover’s side hung down (strange armor) a crystal mirror shining and clear. He rose, and held it up for her between his hands, the chosen vessel for the mysteries of Love. He with enkindled, she with laughing eyes, In varying objects gaze on one object only: she makes herself a mirror out Of glass, and he makes himself mirrors oh her limpid eyes. Caracci also places the soldiers in hiding as they watch the lovers, exuding his understanding of the text and what will succeed this scene.

1592. Claudio Monteverdi, "Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo", Mantova --


-- per il Duca di Mantova, Vincenzo Gonzaga. In selecting Armida’s abandonment by Rinaldo Monteverdi can reflect a Golden Age when the West attempted to control or reject the “otherness” of the East.  Monteverdi has Armida state her own otherness in the aria, "Vattene pur crudel"

4a
4b

Monteverdi does this by a simple leap of a minor sixth in the opening motive that instantly distances the listener from Armida. Monteverdi’s leap of a minor sixth, by allowing the physical qualities of the word to be imitated, serves as a ‘naturalistic’ rather than ‘symbolic’ expression of meaning. This repetitive figure in the opening represents the “incessant quality” of a woman who “will not give up.
Through the three stanzas chosen, Monteverdi is given ample opportunity for extensive shifts in melody, rhythm, and harmony that contribute to the overall depiction of Armida’s “otherness”.  The opening motive returns in the second part on “per nom’Armida” as her “otherness” proliferates the entire work. However, Armida cannot sustain her anger; it ultimately leads to defeat and physical collapse, which the narrator describes and embodies in a slow chromatic descent that begins at the second half of the ottava. The musical texture here completely changes from the more kinetic first part to a sustained contemplative second section.  It is here, especially, that the overarching narrative of the epic wrests control away from Armida and subdues the “exotic other” (Example 4b).  When Armida comes to, illustrated through a thickening of the texture, her power has been removed.
Armida is left to question the outcome of her life and her lingering love for Rinaldo. Near the cadence, Monteverdi inverts the minor sixth as if to demonstrate her loss of power.

1595. Morte di Torquato Tasso




-- a Roma.


1612. Torquato Tasso, Il Goffredo, overo Gierusalemme liberata: poema eroico --

-- con gli argomenti del signor Horatio Ariosti, aggiuntovi i cinque canti di Camillo Camilli, Venetia: Fioravante Prato.

1616. Torquato Tasso, Il Goffredo, overo la gierusalemme liberata: poema eroico --




-- col commento di Beni, dove non solamente si dichiara questo nobil poema, e si risolvano ari dubbi e molte oppositioni, ma ancora si paragona con Homero e Virgilio. Padova: J. Bolzetta.

1617. Torquato Tasso, La Gerusalemme liberata,

-- on le annotationi di Scipion Gentili e di Giulio Guastavini, et li argomenti di Oratio Ariosti. Genova: per G. Pavoni ad inst. di B. Castello.

1623. Francesca Caccini, Rinaldo innamorato, Firenze



-- su libretto tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. (Also based on Ariosto).

1625. Torquato Tasso, La Gerusalemme liberata

-- con la vita di lui e con gli argomenti dell'opera del cav. Guido Casoni, Venetia.

1627. Claudio Monteverdi, L'Armida. -- but cfr. his much earlier setting, "Il lamento d'Armida" -- alla Wert, back in the 1590s.
1628. Torquato Tasso, La Gerusalemme liberata

-- con le notitie historiche di L. Pignoria.

1628. Paintings of Rinaldo by both N. Poussin and A. v. Dyck.



From 1628 to 1630 Anthony Van Dyck and Nicolas Poussin painted Armida’s first encounter with Rinaldo. As Armida prepares to kill the sleeping Rinaldo she immediately falls in love with him. Van Dyck, influenced by Tiziano in his Rinaldo and Armida depicts an Armida who has already fallen in love with Rinaldo, with a soft expression she wraps flowers around his neck, preparing to take him away. In Poussin’s Rinaldo and Armida on the other hand, the artist captures in Armida the transformation from enemy to lover. Her left hand brushes back Rinaldo’s hair as her right hand holds a knife.



Unlike Van Dyck, Poussin’s Armida is torn between love and duty; she has not yet decided to capture Rinaldo. In "Il rapimento di Rinaldo d'Armida" by Poussin, Armida conducts her prize from the realm of history to the idyll of myth. In the “Armida abbandonata di Rinald", this traversal will be reversed, definitively, to signal the fulfillment of the peripeteia, and the final resolution of history. Though the two works are still confined to the divergent narratives, they are able to make connections outside their frames to the larger Christian epic.
sfig4

Poussin, "Rinaldo rapito d'Armida", Sttatliche Museen, Berlino.
sfig4
Poussin, "Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo", museo del Louvre, Parigi.


1639. Benedetto Ferrari, Rinaldo ed Armida,

--- Venezia



-- su libretto di Benedetto Ferrari, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1641. Marco Marazzoli, L'Armida, ossia l'amore trionfante dello sdegno --

-- dramma recitato in musica con macchine della città di Ferrara per la venuta dell’eccellentissimo principe signor Taddeo Barberini, prefetto di generalissimo dell’Armi di Santa Chiesa --

-- opera di Ascanio Pio di Savoia, Ferrara, su libretto tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1644. Torquato Tasso, Il Goffredo overo la Gierusalemme liberata, in Parigi

-- nella Stamperia Reale.

1686. Giovanni Battista Lulli,


Rinaldo ed Armida, Parigi,


-- su libretto di Filippo Quinault, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1687. Carlo Pallavicino, La Gerusalemme liberata da Rinaldo, Venezia

-- su libretto di Vincenzo Grimani e Girolamo Frisari, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1694. Teofilo Orgiani, Gli amori e incanti di Rinaldo con Armida, Rovigo

-- su libretto di Giralomo Colatelli, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1698. Dennis, Rinaldo ed Armida --

Londra.

1707. Giovanni Maria Ruggieri, Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo, Venezia

-- su libretto di Francesco Silvani, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1708. Giuseepe Boniventi,Armida al campo, Venezia, su libretto di Francesco Silvani, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1711. Giorgio Federico Handel, Rinaldo

-- Londra, 24 feb.-- Napoli -- su libretto di Giacomo Rossi tratti dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.



A new character introdued by Rossi, "Almirena". Rinaldo, eroe condottiero dei crociati



-- soprano --, Almirena, figlia di Goffredo -- soprano -- , Armida, maga regina di Damasco -- soprano --, Goffredo, generale dell'esercito cristiano -- mezzosoprano --, Eustazio, fratello di Goffredo -- contralto --, Mago cristiano -- contralto --, Argante, re di Gerusalemme -- basso --, Araldo -- tenore --, una donna -- soprano --, prima e seconda sirene -- soprani.


Goffredo: "Sovra balze scoscesi e pungenti", Almirena: "Combatti da forte" (1731: replaced with "Quel cor che mi donasti"), Rinaldo: "Ogni indugio d'un amante", Eustazio: "Sulla ruota di fortuna" (1717: cut; 1731: revived, amended and allocated to Argante), Argante: "Sibillar gli angui d'Aletto" (1717: replaced with "Sorte amor vuol che quest'alma", which was cut in 1731), "No, no, che quest'alma" (Goffredo) (1731: replaced with "D'instabile fortuna") "Vieni o cara, a consolarmi" (Argante) (1731: replaced with amended "Sulla ruota di fortuna") "Furie terribili!" (Armida) "Molto voglio, molto spero" (Armida) (1731: replaced with a modified version of "Combatti da forte") "Augelletti, che cantate" (Almirena) Duetto Rinaldo/Almirena: "Scherzano sul tuo volto"; Rinaldo: "Cara sposa, amante cara", "Cor ingrato, ti rammembri" (Rinaldo), "Col valor, colla virtù" (Eustazio) (1717: cut) Venti, turbini, prestate (Rinaldo), "Siam prossimi al porto" (Eustazio) (1717: cut; 1731: partly restored, sung by Goffredo), "Il vostro maggio" (Sirene) "Il tricerbero umiliato" (Rinaldo) "Mio cor, che mi sai dir?" (Goffredo), "Lascia ch'io pianga" (Almirena) "Basta che sol tu chieda" (Argante) (1717: replaced with "Ogni tua bella stilla" and in 1731 with "Per salvarti, idolo mio"), "Fermati!/No, crudel!" (Duet, Armida and Rinaldo) "Abbrugio, avampo e fremo" (Rinaldo), "Dunque i lacci d'un volto" (Accompanied recitative, Armida) "Ah! crudel, Il pianto mio" (Armida), "Vo' far guerra, e vincer voglio" (Armida) "Andate, o forti" (Mago) (1717: cut; 1731: altered and restored) "Sorge nel petto" (Goffredo) (1717: cut) "È un incendio fra due venti" (Rinaldo), Marcia\ (1731: cut) "Al trionfo del nostro furore" (Duetto, Armida ed Argante) (1731: repositioned, and sung by Goffredo and Almirena) "Bel piacere e godere" (Almirena), "Di Sion nell'alta sede" (Eustazio) (1717: sung by Goffredo; 1731: sung by Argante), Marcia (Christian march) (1731: cut) "Or la tromba in suon festante" (Rinaldo) (1731: cut), Battaglia (battle) (1731: cut) "Solo dal brando" (Goffredo) (1731; cut), Coro: "Vinto è sol della virtù".

1711. Teofilo Orgiani, Armida regina di Damasco


--

Verona.

1711. Giacomo Rampini, Armida in Damasco, Venezia --

-- su libretto di Grazio Braccioli

1718. Antonio Vivaldi, Armida al campo d'Egitto, Venezia, su libretto di Giovanni Palazzi, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. No mention of Rinaldo. The action takes place before Rinaldo graces the scene.

1718. Leonardo Leo, Rinaldo.

-- a pastiche of Handel's Rinaldo, with additional numbers by Leo, presented at the Royal Court in Napoli, with Nicolini singing his original role.

1720. Giuseppe Maria Buini, L'Armida delusa: dramma per musica.

-- Teatro S. Angelo, Venezia.

1722. Giorgio Caspare Schurmann, La Gerusalemme liberata da Rinaldo; ossia, L'Armida abbandonata, Braunschweig --

-- su libretto di Johann Samuel Müller, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1722. Enrico Desmarest, Rinaldo, ossia, il seguito d'Armida

-- su libretto dell'abate Simone Giuseppe di Pellegrino.

1723. Giovanni Maria Buini, Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo: dramma per musica

--
su libretto di Franceso Silvani. Teatro San Moise, Venezia.

1724. Torquato Tasso, La Gierusalemme liberata, ed. par Nicolo Francesco Haym --

File:Prova di un'opera.jpg

(pittura: Marco Ricci, 1709 ca. Nicola Francesco Haym at harpsichord, the singer is assumed to be Nicolo Grimaldi, known as "Nicolini") -- in Londra: appr. G. Tonson and G. Watts.

1725. Antonio Bioni, Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo, Praga

-- su libretto di Francesco Silvani, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata".

1726. Antonio Bioni, Armida al campo, Breslau

-- su libretto di Francesco Silvani, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1726. Tomaso Albinoni, Armida trionfante.
File:Albinoni.jpg

-- Venezia, su libretto di Girolamo Colatelli, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1729. Antonio Pollarolo, Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo: trattenimento scenico da cantarsi nel famosissimo teatro Grimani.

-- Venezia, su libretto di Giovanni Boldini, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1742. Tiepolo, the earliest paintings on Rinaldo: Venezia, Palazzo Cornario.



The first painting, Rinaldo Enchanted by Armida, is taken from Canto XIV. Armida sees Rinaldo sleeping and becomes so amazed by his beauty she captures the soldier using flowers to tie his feet and arms. Armida then abducts him in her chariot. Tasso writes: "But when Armida fixed her gaze upon Rinaldo and saw how calm and countenance he breathes, and how charming a manner laughs about his lovely eyes, though they be closed (now what will it be if he opens them?), first she stands still in suspense, and then sits down beside him, and feels her every wrath becalmed while she gazes upon him; and now she bends so above his handsome face that she seems Narcissus at the spring." Here Tiepolo depicts Armida as the dominant figure. Armida is posed above the sleeping Rinaldo on top of her chariot surrounded by clouds and her flowing drapery. Rinaldo, on the other hand, is sleeping and completely powerless. Unlike Van Dyck’s Armida, Tiepolo’s is more aloof and appears as a super-power. Tiepolo does not capture the moment Armida falls in love with Rinaldo, like Van Dyck, nor does Tiepolo depict her struggle between love and duty, as Poussin did. Instead Tiepolo’s Armida has just laid eyes on Rinaldo, “First she stands still in suspense.” This allows Tiepolo to depict Armida as an indestructible force. In his first scene she is not yet vulnerable. The next painting, Rinaldo and Armida in Her Garden, is taken from Canto XVI in which Armida captivates Rinaldo as she gazes into a mirror. While Rinaldo and Armida share a private moment together in her garden the fellow soldiers, Carlo and Ubaldo are anticipating the moment to seize Rinaldo and bring him back to duty. Tasso writes: "The one of them glories in his servitude, the other in her power, she in her-self and he in her. “Turn, oh turn to me those eyes (the knight was saying) by which in your happiness you make others happy; for (if you are not aware of it) my flames are the true portrait of your beauties; their shape, their marvelous qualities my breast sets forth in full, more than your mirror." Both Tasso and Tiepolo’s heroine share an ambiguity of emotion. It is hard to determine if Armida has completely exposed herself to Rinaldo. In Tiepolo’s series Armida no longer appears as dominant. Armida is now reclining with Rinaldo. Only one of Armida's breasts is exposed in this painting, while both were in the first, alluding to her new modesty and vulnerability with her lover. However Armida's face exhibits the same proud aloofness from the past painting. Meanwhile Rinaldo is completely captivated by Armida. Tiepolo captures the true relationship behind Rinaldo and Armida as described by Tasso: “The one of them glories in his servitude, the other in her power, she in herself and he in her.” While Armida is clearly active in this love story, she possesses superiority in Tasso’s text and Tiepolo’s painting. While Rinaldo glories in his servitude, Armida glories in her power. This interpretation does not differ from Caracci’s Rinaldo and Armida, or Castello’s illustration. In each a bewitched Rinaldo reclines into Armida’s lap while Armida proudly gazes at herself in the mirror the lover holds for her. In the next scene, Armida abandoned by Rinaldo, Tiepolo captures the moment in Canto XVI when Rinaldo abandons Armida. Rinaldo is persuaded by his soldiers to leave Armida in order to pursue his Christian duty in the crusades. This scene simulates the Eneide when Enea, residing indefinitely in Cartago, is commanded by the gods to leave Cartago to found Rome. In doing this he abandons his lover, Didone, who kills herself upon his departure. Both scenes depict a hero making a personal sacrifice in order to follow his destiny and obtain glory. The difficulty of this act can be seen in Armida’s reaction: “Wretch! Do I yet presume? Do I yet make my boast of a rejected beauty That gets me nothing?”. She wanted to say more, but her tears interrupted, That welled up like a spring from the mountain rock. Then she seeks to Grasp his hand or cloak, suppliant in gesture; and he steps back; he Struggles and overcomes; love finds entrance closed, and tears the exit." Armida’s anguish is depicted very clearly by Tiepolo. While her face is turned away from the viewer, her grief is evident in her body language. Both of her arms are raised toward Rinaldo with her head turned upward. Her drapery, a light orange in the previous paintings is now a crimson red. Meanwhile Rinaldo’s garments are now a light orange where they used to be red. Tiepolo depicts the lovers’ role reversal through their drapery, positioning, and composure. Rinaldo stands above Armida as she gazes in a pleading gesture up to him. He holds his armor firmly and while Tiepolo might depict a sense of hesitancy as Rinaldo stares back at Armida, there is a boat in the background, alluding to his inevitable decision to leave the sorceress. This same message is conveyed in the text, “Kindness forbade, pity did that withstand; But hard constraint, alas! Did thence him lead.” It is perhaps the last scene that truly exemplifies Tiepolo and the patron’s knowledge and interpretation of the importance of Gerusalemme Liberata. Rinaldo and Armida the Magus of Ascalon, is taken from Canto XVII, when the Mago d'Ascalona reveals a shield to Rinaldo that displays the feats of his ancestors. This in turn inspires Rinaldo to serve his Christian duty by battling the pagan enemy. Tasso writes, "So he spoke; and the other, quiet and attentive to his speeches of deep Cousel, treasured up his words, and held his gaze on the ground, chastened and shamed. The ancient wiseman saw clearly his secret thought, and added: ‘Hold up your head, my son, and fix your eyes now upon this shield, for there you will see the deeds of your ancestors." Armida is not present in this scene. Rinaldo stands tall and erect with his hair pulled back. His drapery is once again a darker red, perhaps symbolizing the passion to fulfill his destiny in war. He listens intently to the Mago d'Ascalano and appears to be the warrior he was meant to be. This painting changes the message of the cycle. No longer are the paintings about an amorous story between a sorceress and a soldier, they serve a bigger picture, that being to amplify the glory and honour of one knight. Thus, the interaction between Rinaldo and Armida changes throughout the series until it seems that the two form a role reversal, and when one was strong the other is now weak. Rinaldo simulates the life of a soldier in this series. PRIMA:



Rinaldo is first seen sleeping peacefully like an infant, completely innocent of his surroundings and the dangers of Armida hovering over him. In the next scene (SECONDA)



he appears as a love-struck boy, captivated by a woman. In the third scene (TERZA)


 he is shown making an emotional decision between love and duty. In the last scene (QUARTA)




Rinaldo is standing tall and proud. He is an honorable soldier with the Magus by his side. Armida contrasts Rinaldo. In the first scene she hovers over the innocent soldier, appearing like a powerful sorceress. In the next she is more vulnerable, with one breast exposed and on equal level with Rinaldo. In the third scene she is reduced to a crouching begging position looking up at Rinaldo, as if he is now her superior. And finally in the last scene she is reduced to nothing, her importance has completely disappeared. The role reversal of Rinaldo and Armida is not inventive of Tiepolo. Tasso also emphasizes this exchange. At first Armida is superior, “The one of them glories in his servitude, the other in her power,” However shortly after Rinaldo becomes greater than Armida, “Then she seeks to grasp his hand or cloak, suppliant in gesture; and he steps back;” Additionally, both protagonists were conflicted between love and duty. Armida faced this obstacle when she was sent to kill Rinaldo and failed to fulfill her duty. Rinaldo, on the contrary, chose duty over love in leaving Armida, thus claiming his superiority. Tiepolo follows this theme by depicting a deteriorating Armida contrasted with a strengthening Rinaldo. This begs the question, what is Tiepolo’s focus? Is it the growth of Rinaldo or the fading of Armida? And why? Christianson states, “Thus, Rinaldo’s condition improves from canvas to canvas, at the same time that Armida’s physical state and moral standing deteriorate.” Tiepolo’s focus could easily have been on Rinaldo. The artist depicts Rinaldo as a growing character who evolves from a bewitched boy into a brave hero. He does this through personal sacrifice and duty to his Christian cause.





1750. Giovanni Battista Mele, L'Armida placata: opera seria --


--- componimento drammatico da rappresentarise nel Regio Teatro del buon Ritiro, per commando si Sua Maestà Cattolica il Re nostro Signore D. Ferdinando VI. per festeggiare i gloriosi sponsali della Reale Infanta D. Maria Antonio Fernanda con il Real Duca di Savoja -- su libretto di Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Composed for Carlo Broschi, detto il Farinello.
1751. Carlo Enrico Graun, Rinaldo ed Armida, Berlino

-- su libretto di Leopoldo di Villati, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.


1757. Tiepolo, "Rinaldo che abbandona Armida", affresco, Villa Valmarana, Vicenza



-- altezza: 220 cm. Larghezza: 310 cm. --

File:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Rinaldo Abandoning Armida - WGA22342.jpg


Nella sala della Gerusalemme Liberata il corpo di Rinaldo assume una forte componente "teatrale" e melodrammatica, attraverso la forte torsione del busto. L'albero al centro della scena è quasi una cesura tra il futuro che attende Rinaldo e il passato che lo ha legato ad Armida. Nello specchio Rinaldo osserva vergognoso la propria immagine soggiogata.

1759. Sarti, Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo: dramma per musica --



-- su libretto di Leopoldo di Villati, Copenhagen, teatro on Kongens Nytorv.
1761. Tommaso Traetta, Armida, Vienna --




--
su libretto di Giacomo Durazzo, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1770. Niccolò Jommeli, L'Armida abbandonata da Rinaldo, Napoli --






-- su libretto di Francesco Saverio De Rogatis, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Mozart was in the audience -- "beautiful, if perhaps too serious and old-fashioned". Armida, an enchantress, 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. Armida has bewitched the Crusader knight Rinaldo. Tancredi fails to break the spell (Atto I). Ubaldo and Dano manage to free Rinaldo from Armida's power. Armida 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 Armida's magic. (Atto III).

1771. Antonio Salieri, Rinaldo ed Armida, Vienna --




--  su libretto di Marco Coltellini, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Armida, soprano (Catharina Schindler), Ismene soprano
Rinaldo, tenore (Giuseppe Millico), Ubaldo tenore.

1772. Antonio Maria Sacchini, Rinaldo ed Armida: tragedia lirica in tre atti, Teatro alla Scala, Milano.


-- su libretto di Giovanni Giuseppe Leboeuf, tratto dall'Armida di Giovanni di Gamerra (1742-1803) --- e della Gerusalemme liberata di Tasso. Personnages: Rinaldo, prince croisé, amant d’Armide ; Armide, princesse de Damas, amante de Renaud ; Hidraot, roi de Damas et père d’Armide ; Adraste, roi Indien, amant d’Armide ; Tissapherne, souverain de Cilicie, amant d’Armide ; Chevaliers sarrasins ; Rois et chevaliers, ligués ou tributaires ; Mélisse, confidente d’Armide ; Doris, confidente d’Armide ; Iphise, confidente d’Armide ; Antiope, commandant des Amazones ; Arcas, capitaine des gardes d’Hidraot ; une Nymphe ; Euménides ; Démons qu’on ne voit point ; Troupes de guerriers Sarrasins et Croisés ; Pindore, héraut d’armes sarrasin ; Haridée, héraut d’armes français ; Soldats de diverses nations ; Amants et amantes de la suite d’Armide ; Bergers et pâtres des deux sexes, des environs d’Ascalon ; Troupes des Génies, de la suite d’Armide, sous forme des Ris, Jeux et Plaisirs.
La scène est proche des murs de la ville d’Ascalon. Représentée à l'Académie royale de musique, Parigi, le vendredi 28 février 1783. « Comme nous l'avons vu plus haut, le sujet de cet opéra avait été traité par Pellegrin en 1722, et il fait suite à celui de Filippo Quinault. Armida, l'héroïne de la Gerusalemme liberata, régnait sur la scène lyrique depuis un siècle, car la première représentation del "Rinaldo" de Lulli eut lieu en 1686. Gluck avait donné un nouvel éclat aux attraits de l'enchanteresse. Sacchini eut tort de s'attaquer à des souvenirs aussi récents. Ce n'est pas que sa partition de Rinaldo ne renferme de grandes beautés. Mais le ton uniforme de son style, la majestueuse régularité de ses périodes n'étaient pas de nature à éterniser l'intérêt d'un sujet que le succès même avait affaibli. Il était réservé au génie de Rossini d'évoquer trente ans plus tard cette grande ombre dramatique, et encore il n'a pu lui rendre qu'une courte existence. Nous signalerons néanmoins les principaux fragments de la partition de Renaud. La première scène nous offre deux chœurs assez beaux, le chœur des rois et un ensemble ; la quatrième, l'air de Renaud : Déjà la trompette guerrière ; nous ferons observer que ce rôle est écrit pour une voix de haute-contre et dans un registre plus élevé encore que celui d'Orphée, dans la partition transposée par Gluck à l'usage du chanteur Legros. La scène sixième est remplie par la marche des Amazones et des Circassiennes, entrecoupée par l'air d'Antiope, écrit également dans un diapason très élevé. L'orchestration de tout l'ouvrage est encore fort simple. Elle se compose des instruments suivants : deux parties de cors et trompettes, deux flûtes, deux hautbois, premiers violons, deuxièmes violons, une partie pour les violes, bassons et basses, timbales. Le chœur : Régnez, triomphez, belle Armide, est d'un bel effet et termine le premier acte. Le deuxième acte, qui est le plus beau, débute par un quatuor délicieux de soprani : Vous triomphez, belle Princesse ; toutes les parties sont écrites sur la clef d'ut première ligne, et, quoique la voix la plus grave ne descende pas au-dessous du , l'intérêt se soutient constamment. Après le duo entre Renaud et Armide, nous remarquons un des airs les plus touchants, les plus pathétiques qu'on puisse entendre : Barbare amour, tyran des cœurs ; l'accompagnement est d'une suavité exquise. La réduction au piano qu'on en a faite dans quelques recueils ne peut donner une idée de l'effet qu'un tel air produirait au théâtre avec l'orchestre. Nous passons rapidement sur les scènes d'évocations et sur les chants guerriers qui terminent le second acte, pour appeler l'attention des amateurs sur le finale de cet opéra. A partir de l'andante grazioso en , chanté par Armide : Et comment veux-tu que je vive ? jusqu'à la chute du rideau, la musique est ravissante. L'orchestre y tient la plus grande place à cause de la magnificence du spectacle qui représente un palais enchanté, et sans doute la pantomime des génies. Nous nous sommes étendu sur les mérites de cette partition, parce que les trois Armide de Lulli, de Gluck et de Rossini ont, dans l'Armide de Sacchini, non pas une rivale, mais une sœur trop longtemps oubliée. »

1773. Giovanni Naumann, "L'Armida", Padova --
File:JGNaumann Tafel.jpg

-- su libretto di G. Bertati, revised for Leipzig, 1780.

1777. Cristoforo Willibaldo Gluck, Rinaldo ed Armida: dramma eroico in cinque atti, Parigi --



-- su libretto di Filippo Quinault, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.



-- Armida, a sorceress, principessa di Damasco -- soprano -- (Rosalie Levasseur), Rinaldo, condottiero dei crociati, tenore (Joseph Legros), Fenice, Armida's confidant soprano (M.lle LeBourgeois), Sidonie, Armida's confidant soprano M.lle Châteauneuf, Hidraot, a magician, King of Damascus baritone Nicolas Gélin, Hate contralto Célestine Durancy, The Danish Knight, a Crusader tenor Étienne Lainez (also spelled Lainé), Ubalde, a Crusader baritone Henri Larrivée, a demon in the form of Lucinde, the Danish Knight's beloved soprano Anne-Marie-Jeanne Gavaudan "l'aînée", a demon in the form of Mélisse, Ubalde's beloved soprano Antoinette Cécile de Saint-Huberty Aronte, in charge of Armide's prisoners baritone Georges Durand, Artemidoro, a Crusader tenor Thirot, a naiad soprano, a shepherdess soprano (Anne-Marie-Jeanne Gavaudan "l'aînée"), a pleasure soprano Antoinette Cécile de Saint-Huberty, People of Damascus, nymphs, shepherds and shepherdesses, suite of Hate, demons, Pleasures, coryphaei.


Andata in scena per la prima volta all’Académie Royale de Musique (Opéra) il 23 settembre 1777, vede crescere il suo successo di replica in replica. Viene ripresa di nuovo a Parigi nel 1825, poi a Berlino e quindi a Dresda nel 1843. Entra nel repertorio del Teatro alla Scala con Arturo Toscanini. La musica di Gluck, il suo stile, ed ogni elemento che concorre a costruire la drammaturgia del testo rappresentano lo snodo fra teatro del Settecento e teatro dell’Ottocento. Il "Rinaldo" di Gluck è l’opera più vicina al pensiero wagneriano; è la penultima scritta da Gluck, dopo un percorso lunghissimo, nella quale confluiscono gli elementi dell’antico e del moderno in una sintesi perfetta. Se da una parte Gluck mantiene la struttura della tragedia lirica (non dimentichiamo che prima di lui il soggetto di Rinaldo, proprio in quest’ultima forma venne musicato da Giovanni Battista Lulli), dall’altra parte impiega una scrittura modernissima dal punto di vista strumentale e vocale dove tutto scorre come un enorme flusso. Gluck soprattutto lavora sul rapporto parola-musica in termini assolutamente inediti. Fino ad allora nessun autore francese era riuscito a creare una dinamica fra parola e suono tale da sembrare che il suono “uscisse” dalla parola e non “accompagnasse” la parola. Di conseguenza, se la parola viene “parificata” al suono, può entrare con esso in dinamiche totalmente nuove. Gluck unisce il vecchio al nuovo anche nel trattare il soggetto, nel senso che sceglie una vicenda dove si contrastano sentimenti forti come la religione, l’amore, il senso del dovere, il tradimento e la magia. Armida è una maga che si mette sulla strada dei cavalieri che si recano al Santo Sepolcro. Li soggioga con il suo fascino affinchè i suoi soldati possano poi ucciderli. La maga Armida, sicura di non innamorarsi di nessuno dei cavalieri che deve soggiogare affinchè cadano prigionieri, cede invece al fascino di Rinaldo. Lo fa cadere in un sonno profondo e chiede aiuto al dio dell’odio, affinchè le dia la forza di ucciderlo. Nemmeno questo sortilegio la distoglierà però dal suo amore. Quando due compagni di Rinaldo arrivano alla reggia di Armida e lo richiamano ai suoi doveri, egli abbandona la maga e riprende il cammino per Gerusalemme. Armida invoca allora le potenze dell’inferno e, mentre la reggia si inabissa, scompare nel cielo su un carro alato. Rinaldo ritorna dunque padrone di sé, mentre Armida viene punita ma non muore. Il dio dell’odio, quasi fosse un “deus ex-machina”, entità soprannaturale chiamata a risolvere le situazioni, fallisce. Gluck scolpisce tutta l’opera con una forza immaginifica totalmente inedita, usando sostanzialmente pochi mezzi. La scrittura del "Rinaldo" di Gluck infatti è essenziale, quasi schematica, come nello stile del compositore tedesco; la novità, rispetto alle opere precedenti, sta nella maggiore intensità della forza drammatica, ottenuta attraverso una sempre più stretta interazione fra testo e musica. A ben guardare la storia della maga Armida ricorda quella del “Parsifal” di Wagner e in particolare la vicenda di un’altra maga: Kundry, colei che, al servizio del mago Klingsor, mai acettato nel ristretto gremio dei cavalieri del Sacro Graal, attirava i cavalieri di stanza al tempio del Monsalvat i quali, prima sotto gli ordini di Titurel e poi sotto quelli di Amfortas, celebravano tutti i pomeriggi all’ora del vespro il rito del Sacro Graal. Kundry l’ha vinta su tutti i cavalieri (in particolare su Amfortas), ma non su Parsifal il quale sa resistere al suo fascino, cosicchè lei e Klingsor crollano e il giardino magico di quest’ultimo si trasforma in un deserto.

1777. Gennaro Astarita, Rinaldo ed Armida, Venezia

-- su libretto di Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca e Giacomo Durazzo, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso.

1780. Josef Mysliveček, Rinaldo ed Armida, Teatro alla Scala, Milano --



--- su libretto di Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca after Filippo Quinault.

1780. Sacchini, Rinaldo, a new serious opera, as performed at the King's Theatre in the Hay-Market, Londra. -- a revival of the success at the Teatro alla Scala, Milano. The music entirely new, by the celebrated Signor Sacchini --


-- su libretto di Giovanni de Gamerra (with alterations by C. F. Badini who signs the dedication with A. Sacchini).

1783. Sacchini, Rinaldo ed Armida (terza). 28 febbraio


-- première alla presenza della regina Maria Antonietta, protettrice di Sacchini, nell'Académie Royale de Musique et de Danse (Opéra, Salle du Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, Parigi, con un cast composto dai maggiori artisti dell'Académie. Tra essi, il primo tenore Joseph Le Gros (la parte di Rinaldo, ruolo d'addio alle scene), Rinaldo, principe crociato, amante d'Armida , tenore (Joseph Le Gros), Armida, principessa di Damasco, amante di Rinaldo -- soprano -- (Rosalie Levasseur), Idraote, re di Damasco e padre d'Armide -- taille/baritono -- (François Lays), Adrasto, re indiano, amante d'Armida basso Augustin-Athanase Chéron, Tissaferne, sovrano di Cilicia, amante d'Armide basso-cantante Jean-Pierre Moreau, Melissa, confidente d'Armide soprano M.lle Joinville Doris, confidente d'Armide soprano Chateauvieux o Gavaudan cadette, Ifisa, confidente d'Armide soprano Chateauvieux o Gavaudan cadette, Antiope, comandante delle Amazzoni soprano Marie-Thérèse Maillard, Arcas, comandante delle guardie di Hidraot basso, una ninfa, corifea soprano M.lle Le Boeuf, Aletto (travesti) taille Dufrenaye (o Dufresnay) (?)[15] Mégère (Megera) (travesti) basso [15] Tisiphone (Tisifone) (travesti) haute-contre J. Rousseau[18] coro Balletto - ballerine: Marie-Madeleine Guimard, Gervais, Anne-Marguerite Dorival, Peslin, Dupré; ballerini: Auguste Vestris, Maximilien Gardel, Nivelon

1784. Giuseppe Haydn, Rinaldo ed Armida, Eszterháza.

-- su libretto tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Armida, soprano (Metilda Bologna), Rinaldo, cavaliere, tenore (Prospero Breghetti), Zelmira, accomplice of Armida, soprano ... Costanza Valdesturla, Idreno, king of the Saracens baritone ... Paolo Mandini, Ubaldo, friend of Rinaldo tenor ... Antonio Specioli, Clotarco, a knight tenor ... Leopoldo Dichtler. In order to prevent the capture of Gerusalmme by the knights of the First Crusade, The Prince of Darkness has sent the enchantress Armida into the world to seduce the Christian heroes and turn them from their duty. The bravest of these, Rinaldo, has fallen under Armida's spell. She comes to love him so deeply that she cannot bring herself to destroy him. At a council chamber in the royal palace of Damasco, Idreno is alarmed that the Crusaders have crossed the river Giordano. Armida, the heathen sorceress seems to have triumphed over the Christians but feared that her conquest was not complete without gaining the love of the Christian knight Rinaldo. Now Rinaldo is obsessed with Armida and promises to fight against his fellow Christians. If victorious King Idreno offers him the kingdom and Armida’s hand. Armida prays for Rinaldo’s safety. In a steep mountain, Armida's fortress at the top, knights Ubaldo and Clotarco plan to free Rinaldo from Armida’s clutches. Idreno sends Zelmira, the daughter of the Egyptian sultan, to ensnare the Christians but on encountering Clotarco she falls in love with him and offers to lead him to safety. At Armida's apartments, Rinaldo admires the bravery of the approaching knights. Ubaldo warns Rinaldo to beware Armide's charms, and reproaches the dereliction his duty as a Christian. Although remorseful Rinaldo is unable to escape Armida's enchantment. At a garden in Armida's palace. Zelmira fails to dissuade King Idreno from planning an ambush on the Christians. Idreno pretends to agree to Clotarco's demand that the Christian knights enchanted by Armida be freed. Reluctantly, Rinaldo leaves with Ubaldo. Armida expresses her fury. In the Crusaders’ encampment, Ubaldo welcomes Rinaldo who prepares to go into battle. Armida begs for refuge and Rinaldo’s love. Rinaldo departs for battle with Ubaldo and the other soldiers. In a dark, forbidding grove, with a large myrtle tree. Rinaldo, knowing that the tree holds the secret of Armida’s powers, enters the wood intending to cut it down. Zelmira and nymphs try to get him to return to Armida. As he is about to strike the myrtle Armida, dishevelled appears from it and confronts him. Armida cannot bring herself to kill him; Rinaldo strikes the tree and the magic wood vanishes. Back in the crusaders’ encampment, the crusaders prepare for battle against the Saracens. Armida appears swearing to pursue Rinaldo everywhere. As Rinaldo moves off she sends an infernal chariot after Rinaldo.

1785. Giovanni Rodolfo Zum Steeg, L'Armida -- dramma per musica in tre atti". Stuttgart, 26 maggio --

File:JohannRudolfZumsteeg.jpg

-- su libretto di Giovanni Cristoforo Bock, tratto da G. Bertati."Armida" (Stuttgart, 1783-1785).

1786. Sarti, Armida e Rinaldo, dramma per musica in due atti, su libretto di Marco Coltellini, L'Ermitage, San Pietroburgo, 15 January.

1817. Gioaccino Rossini, Gli amori e incanti di Rinaldo con Armida, San Carlo, Napoli


-- su libretto di Giovanni Schmidt, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata". Goffredo, duce dei crociati (tenore), Rinaldo, condottiero dei crociati, tenore (Andrea Nazzari), Idraote, mago, re di Damasco (basso), Armida, maga, nipote d'Idraote, soprano (Isabella Colbran), Gernando, condottiero dei Crociati, norvegio (tenore), Eustazio, fratello minore di Goffredo, tenore (Gaetano Chizzola), Ubaldo, Crociato, tenore (Claudio Bolodi), Carlo, Crociato tedesco, tenore (Giuseppe Ciccimarra), Astarotte, diavolo (basso), coro di paladini, guerrieri, demoni, larve, soldati franchi, damasceni seguaci di Armida.

bsb10579683_00001

All'accampamento dei crociati presso Gerusalemme, giunge al cospetto del capitano Goffredo la bella Armida, nipote del re Idraote. Armida viene per chiedere aiuto ai crociati, dato che il suo regno è distrutto. Goffredo, all'inizio non vuole cedere soldati ad Armida, poi, su consiglio del fratello Eustazio, cede ("Per me propizio il fato") e decide che il capitano dei soldati d'Armida sarà Rinaldo. Il crociato Gernando, alla notizia, s'infuria. Armida e Rinaldo s'incontrano, e s'innamorano (Duetto: "Amor, possente nome"). Gernando, furibondo, insulta Rinaldo, e viene ucciso dallo stesso. Rinaldo viene condannato a morte, ma riesce a fuggire dall'accampamento (Atto I). Un coro di diavoli, guidati da Astarotte ("Alla voce d'Armida possente") apre il secondo atto, sul bellissimo palazzo della maga. Giunge Armida con Rinaldo, che è riuscita a rapire. Per sedurre il giovane fa danzare e cantare le larve dell'amore (Canzoni amorose, carole festose) e canta per lui (D'amor al dolce impero). Alla fine, Rinaldo è vinto dagli incantesimi di Armida (Atto II). Al giardino di Armida giungono Carlo e Ubaldo, due crociati che, guidati dal mago d'Ascalona, devono riportare Rinaldo al campo dei crociati. Allontanate delle Ninfe, i due osservano arrivare Armida e Rinaldo, e il crociato viene lasciato solo. Carlo e Ubaldo lo raggiungono e lo esortano a tornare all'accampamento: Rinaldo confessa loro che è stanco di vivere tra le mollezze del palazzo della maga, e decide di lasciare Armida, pur nolente. Armida, disperata e poi infuriata, distrugge il palazzo che ha creato per Rinaldo (È ver, gode quest'alma) (Atto III).























bsb10579683_00003

Struttura dell'opera: "Lieto, ridente" (Gernando) 2 Coro "Quell'astro mattutino" (Coro), "Sventurata! Or che mi resta?" (Armida, Goffredo, Idraote, Eustazio, Coro), "Non soffrirò l'offesa" (Gernando), "Amor, possente nome" (duetto tra Rinaldo ed Armida) "Se pari agli accenti" (Rinaldo, Gernando, Coro, Armida, Goffredo) "Alla voce d'Armida possente" (Coro) "Di fiamme e ferro cinti", Duetto Dove son io? (Rinaldo, Armida), "D'amor al dolce impero" (Armida), Duetto Come l'aurette placide (Ubaldo, Gernando) "Qui tutto è calma" (coro) Duetto Soavi catene (Rinaldo, Armida), "In quale aspetto imbelle" (Rinaldo, Carlo, Ubaldo), "Se al mio crudel tormento" (Armida, Rinaldo, Carlo, Ubaldo, Coro).
Brani famosi "D'amor al dolce imperio" (rondò di Armida), "Unitevi a gara" (terzetto tra Rinaldo, Ubaldo e Carlo).
RINALDO: Amor possente nome come risuoni o come su quel soave labbro nel mio dolente cor.
ARMIDA: Sì amor se un'alma fiera ti diè natura in sorte recami pur la morte e in me fia spento amor.
RINALDO: Armida, oh ciel,
ARMIDA Che vuoi.
RINALDO Chiede il destin.
ARMIDA Che mai.
RINALDO Ch'io fugga i tuoi bei rai: dover me 'l comandò.
ARMIDA Fuggirmi, eppur gli eroi sovente amor piagò. Insieme
RINALDO : Vacilla a quegli accenti, manca la mia costanza misero! Più speranza di libertà non ho.)
ARMIDA: Vacilla a questi accenti, manca la sua costanza la dolce mia speranza perduta ancor non ho.
RINALDO Ah, non poss'io resistere... sì, t'amerò costante.
ARMIDA: Oh inaspettato ~ giubilo! Oh fortunato ~ istante! Insieme
RINALDO: Cara, per te quest'anima prova soavi palpiti, ch'esprimere non so.
ARMIDA: Caro, per te quest'anima prova soavi palpiti, ch'esprimere non so.
Rossini was taking something of a risk when he chose to write an opera about Rinaldo, based on Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, a story of the Crusades. Rinaldo had been one of the most popular subjects for Seicento and Ottocento opera, inspiring such composers as Lulli, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, and Jommelli, but the subject's popularity had declined during the Classical period, and was rarely touched upon in the Romantic era. Rossini's opera revolves around the characters of Rinaldo and Armida. As the opera opens, Armida comes to the camp of the Crusaders to ask for help, claiming that her throne has been stolen from her by her uncle. Her true intent is to sow dissent among the Crusaders and to seduce Rinaldo, with whom she has fallen in love. Various rivalries lead to her fleeing with Rinaldo to an enchanted island. However, Rinaldo's comrades follow them there, and persuade him that his duty is to the Crusade, not to Armida. She pleads with him to remain, or at least to allow her to go with him, but he still goes with the other Crusaders. Crushed, Armida hesitates between love and the thirst for revenge, and the opera ends with her fiery choice of revenge.
This music is incredibly intricate and exposed, and very effective when well-sung.

1826. Il Parnasso italiano ovvero: I quattro poeti celeberrimi italiani. "La Divina commedia" di Dante Alighieri, "Le Rime" di Francesco Petrarca, "L'Orlando furioso" di Lodovico Ariosto e "La Gerusalemme liberata" di Torquato Tasso, edizione giusta gli ottimi testi antichi, con note istoriche e critiche. Compiuta in un volume. Ornata di quattro ritratti secondo Raffaello Morghen, Lipsia, presso Ernesto Fleischer.

1869. Brahms, Rinaldo: cantata per tenore, coro maschile e orchestra. Akademischer Gesangverein. Vienna, 28 feb.


-- su libretto di Goethe, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme Liberata" di Torquato Tasso. Rinaldo, tenore (Gustav Walter) -- For the libretto, Brahms turned to Goethe, whose "Rinaldo" dates from 1811 and was intended from the start as a dramatic scena for musical setting. Conductor: Brahms. Chorus numbering 300, and the Court Opera orchestra. A dialogue between Rinaldo, who has been enchanted by Armida, and his fellow knights, who are calling him back to the path of duty. Hanslick was not alone in drawing a connections between Rinaldo's enthrallment to Armida and Tannhäuser's languishing in the arms of Venus. The otherworldliness of Rinaldo's hallucinatory vision of Armida's realm is underscored by the tortuous chromaticism in Rinaldo's vocal lines, and the fluid modulations by thirds that pervade his arias. In contrast, Brahms characterizes the "real" world of the knights through mellow brass sonorities, chorale-like or imitative textures, and a predominantly tonal idiom. Equally compelling is Brahms's reaction to the intertwined themes of memory and transformation, poetic conceits that find musical complements in the techniques of motivic recall and elaboration. The cantata's principal musical idea, a finely spun-out line presented at the outset, accrues referential meaning only gradually. When heard in conjunction with Rinaldo's opening words ("Ihr ward so schön"), it functions as a sonic metaphor for the image of Armida and her realm preserved in the hero's memory. But when, in the concluding section of his second aria, Rinaldo sees the enchantress as a she-devil and her artificial paradise as a wasteland, his hallucination calls forth a stunning series of transformations in the musical idea: E-flat major is displaced by C minor; instead of pastoral winds we have the storm and stress of angry orchestral outbursts; and wrenching chromaticism imparts a gruesome character to the gentle dips and curves of the original melody. The melodic alterations of the main theme have a counterpart in the harmonic reinterpretations that articulate the moment of dramatic reversal, when Rinaldo views the image of his moral decay as reflected in the diamond shield.  The auratic quality of the passage is ensured by distant brass fanfares and a long-held D sharp fanned out over four octaves in the strings. Rinaldo, however, "misreads" the pedal tone as a C sharp, causing the music to shift from the prevailing D flat tonality to a languid F-sharp minor. This tonal dislocation is am emblem for the pain experienced by the her as he passes from a dream-state to consciousness of the harsh realities of the actual world. Rinaldo's pain persists in varying forms until the end of the work. Rinaldo's pain can be heard in the plangent strains of his second aria and, soon thereafter, in his minor-mode echoes of the chorus's consoling phrases ("Unglücklicher Reise! Unseliger Wind!"). The wounds acquired through the destruction of an illusion, Brahms seems to say, are never entirely healed.

1888. Legoux, Rinaldo: dramma lirico in un atto

-- su libretto di M. di Temines-Lauzieres, Boulogne-sur-Mer, 8 sep. Nouvelle mise à la scène de l'épisode des amours de Rinaldo et Armida dans la Gerusalemme liberata.


1904. Antonín Dvořák, Rinaldo ed Armida, Praga.


-- su libretto di Jaroslav Vrchlický, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Hydraot, re di Damasco, bass (Emil Pollert), Armida, sua figlia, soprano (Růžena Maturová), Ismen, a prince and magician, baritone (Bohumil Benoni Petr), a hermit bass (Václav Kliment), Bohumir, commander of the Franks --  baritone  -- (Václav Viktorin) Rinaldo Este, principe condottiero dei crociati, tenore (Bohumil Pták), Dudo -- tenor -- (Bedrich Bohuslav), Sven -- tenor --  (Adolf Krössing), Roger tenor (Hynek Svejda), Gernand bass (Robert Polák), Ubald bass (Frantisek Sír), Hlasatel, a herald bass (Otakar Chmel), Muezin baritone (Jan Vildner), Siren soprano (Marie Kubátová), a nymph soprano (Vilemína Hájková), choruses of Demons, Nymphs, Sirens, Sprites, Knights etc. In the royal gardens of Damasco the call to prayer is heard. Ismen enters with news of the approaching Franks, but tries to dissuade the King from a confrontation: let him instead send his daughter (whose hand Ismen has been seeking) to sow dissention. She balks, but changes her mind when Ismen uses his magic to show her the enemy camp, recognizing Rinaldo as the knight she has just dreamed of. Armida arrives in the crusader's camp and meets Rinaldo, who brings her to into the council where she tells a story of an usurping uncle having blinded the king and chased her into the desert. Rinaldo cannot wait for the commander of an expedition to restore her kingdom to be chosen by lot and is caught leaving camp with her by the hermit Peter, but the lovers are aided in their escape by Ismen, driving a chariot pulled by dragons. Rinaldo and Armida are entertained in her garden by sirens and fairies. Ismen is disguised as an old man and tries to destroy the palace but finding his powers no match for Armida's sorcery, he goes to Rinaldo's companions and claims to be a convert. Glad of his help they accept from him the Archangel Michael's diamond shield, which they use to bring Rinaldo out of the palace, which collapses as soon as Armida gives way to grief. Rinaldo asks forgiveness for abandoning his comrades and his mission. As the crusaders advance on Damascus the battle passes through the camp and Rinaldo kills Ismen and faces a black knight, who drops his sword when he curses Armida's name. Only after stabbing her does Rinaldo recognize Armida, and he baptises her as she dies in his arms.

2005. Judith Weir, Rinaldo ed Armida, Londra, Channel 4 television -- 25 Dec.



-- su libretto di Judith Weir, tratto dalla "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso. Armida -- soprano (Talise Trevigne), Rinaldo -- tenor -- (Kenneth Tarver), Goffredo -- bass -- (Dean Robinson), Ms. Pescado, a weather reporter, Armida's friend -- soprano -- (Donna Bateman), Idraote -- bass or bass-baritone -- (Nicholas Folwell), Carlo -- baritone -- (Grant Doyle), Ubaldo -- tenor -- (Olivier Dumait).  

No comments:

Post a Comment