
Armide
Tragédie en musique in five acts and one prologue (1686)
Music by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Libretto by Philippe Quinault based on "La Gerusalemme liberata ovvero il Goffredo" (1575) by Torquato Tasso
Performed in French
Friday, 18 December 2015, 7 pm
Content
The opera Armide represents the last collaboration between Jean-Baptiste Lully and the librettist Philippe Quinault and is at the same time considered one of their most successful. Quinault took material from Torquato Tasso’s epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata as his subject matter: Armide, the niece of King Hidraot of Damascus, has magical powers which she uses to great effect in the battle against the enemy army of crusaders. Against her will she falls in love with the Christian knight Renaud. She initially succeeds in ensnaring him, but his friends manage to free him from her spell. Humiliated and despairing, Armide destroys her own palace and hurtles off through the air in a chariot.
Cast
La Glorie | Hélène Le Corre |
Biography |
La Sagesse | Marie-Claude Chappuis |
Biography |
Armide | Marie-Adeline Henry |
Biography |
Renaud | Antonio Figueroa |
Biography |
Sidonie | Lucinde | Une bergère héroïque | Marie-Claude Chappuis |
Biography |
Phénice | Mélisse | Hélène Le Corre |
Biography |
Hidraot | Douglas Williams |
Biography |
Ubalde | Etienne Bazola |
Biography |
Aronte | La Haine | Edwin Crossley-Mercer |
Biography |
Artémidore | Emiliano Gonzalez Toro |
Biography |
Le Chevalier Danois | Un amant fortuné | Cyril Auvity |
Biography |
Une nymphe des eaux | Hélène Le Corre |
Biography |
Orchestra | Les Talens Lyriques |
Biography |
Choir | Le Chœur de Chambre de Namur |
Biography |
