Armida (Salieri)

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Antonio Salieri
Armida is an operatic 'dramma per musica' by Antonio Salieri in three acts, set to a libretto by Marco Coltellini. The plot is based on the epic poem by Torquato Tasso, and Lully, Traetta, and Handel had already composed operas based on the situations that Tasso originally developed. The plot of all of these, and Salieri's work, is based on the relationship between Armida and the Crusader Rinaldo.

Salieri's opera was first performed in Vienna on the 2nd June 1771, and his composition was much influenced by the aesthetics of Christoph Willibald Gluck, who attempted to reform opera seria by tying the drama more closely to the music. Salieri's overture follows the principles set out by Gluck in the preface to Alceste. Other Gluckian influences display themselves in the frequent interplay of soloist and chorus, and the heavy use of chorus overall.

Roles

Cast Voice type Premiere, June 2, 1771
(Conductor: - )
Armida soprano Catharina Schindler
Ismene soprano
Rinaldo soprano castrato Giuseppe Millico ?
Ubaldo tenor

Recordings

The Overture has been recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) conducted by Michael Dittrich, on Naxos Records.

References

  • John A. Rice: "Armida", Grove Music Online ed L. Macy (accessed 12 May 2007), grovemusic.com, subscription access.
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