Armida abbandonata

Libretto title page, 1770

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 Jerusalem Delivered 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[]

Synopsis[]

Act 1

The enchantress Armida has bewitched the Crusader knight Rinaldo. Tancredi fails to break the spell.

Act 2

Ubaldo and Dano manage to free Rinaldo from Armida's power. She is furious and destroys her own palace in her anger.

Act 3

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, Gilles Ragon, Véronique Gens, Patricia Petibon. Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset (FNAC, 1995; reissued by Sound Arts / Ambroisie, 2005 / 2006)

References[]

Further reading[]

• The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Amanda Holden (Viking, 1993)
• Del Teatro (in Italian)

External links[]

• Armida abbandonata (Jommelli): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Libretto, 1770