is an opera by

Antonio Sacchini Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian classical period (music), classical era composer, best known for his operas. Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his m ...

, first performed on 28 February 1783 by the

Académie Royale de Musique The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

at the

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin () is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to hou ...

in Paris. It takes the form of a

tragédie lyrique This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most co ...

in three acts. The French

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

, by Jean-Joseph Lebœuf, is based on Cantos XVII and XX of

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

's epic poem ''

Gerusalemme liberata ''Jerusalem Delivered'', also known as ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'' ( ; ), is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Christian knights, l ...

'' and, more directly, on the five-act tragedy by

Simon-Joseph Pellegrin The abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin (1663 – 5 September 1745) was a French poet and playwright, a libretto, librettist who collaborated with Jean-Philippe Rameau and other composers. Biography He was born at Marseille, the son of a ''conseiller'' ...

, '' Renaud, ou La suite d'Armide'', which had been set to music by

Henri Desmarets Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque music, Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumenta ...

in 1722 and was intended as a sequel to

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

's famous opera '' Armide''. According to

Théodore Lajarte Théodore Lajarte (10 July 1826 – 20 June 1890) was a French musicologist, librarian, and composer.Huebner 1992. Early years Lajarte was born in Bordeaux. His full name has been given as Théodore Édouard Dufaure de Lajarte. He studied at t ...

, Lebœuf was helped by

Nicolas-Étienne Framery Nicolas-Étienne Framery (; 25 March 1745, Rouen – 26 November 1810, Paris) was a French music theorist, critic and lyric writer associated with opera, especially opéra comique. He wrote and adapted librettos. His work became more academic and a ...

, the regular translator of Sacchini's libretti.

Performance history

The premiere took place on 28 February 1783 at the Académie Royale de Musique (Salle du Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin) in Paris, with Sacchini's patron Queen Marie-Antoinette among the audience. The choreography was by

Maximilien Gardel Maximilien Gardel (18 December 1741, in Mannheim – 11 March 1787, in Paris) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of German descent. He was the son of Claude Gardel, ballet master to King Stanisław Leszczyński, and elder brother by 17 ...

and the cast contained some of the stars of the Académie, including the ''

haute-contre The ''haute-contre'' (plural ''hautes-contre'') was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century. History ...

Joseph Legros Joseph Legros, often also spelt Le Gros, (7 September or 8 September 1739 – 20 December 1793) was a French singer, impresario and composer of the 18th century. He is usually regarded as the most prominent ''haute-contre'' of his generation, th ...

and the soprano

Rosalie Levasseur Marie-Rose-(Claude-)Josephe Levasseur (or Le Vasseur), known in her day as Mademoiselle Rosalie, and later commonly referred to as Rosalie Levasseur (8 October 1749 – 6 May 1826) was a French soprano who is best remembered for her work with ...

as Renaud and Armide. These would be the last roles they would play. ''Renaud'' marked Sacchini's debut at the Académie Royale. His friend Framery, a great admirer of Italian music, had persuaded him to move from London to Paris. Sacchini had also accumulated a lot of debts in London which made life difficult for him there. It was not the first time Sacchini had written an opera on a story taken from Tasso: he had set Jacopo Durandi's libretto ''

Armida Armida is the fictional character of a Saracen sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Description In Tasso's epic '' Jerusalem Delivered'' (), Rinaldo is a fierce and determined warrior who is also honorabl ...

'' to music in Milan in 1772 and had reworked the opera, under the new title ''Rinaldo'', for London in 1780. But the events in these operas merely serve as the background to the action of ''Renaud''. The opera was a success, "thanks above all to Sacchini's score, which contains some superb passages" and was performed 51 times over the next two years. It was played another 76 times between 1789 and 1795 and finally enjoyed a brief revival in 1815. The opera had 130 performances all told before it left the repertoire for good.

Roles

Synopsis

The action takes place in the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

during the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

Background

Armide, Princess of Damascus and a sorceress, has fallen in love with the crusader Renaud. Armide uses her magic to make Renaud fall in love with her too. However, two of Renaud's fellow knights manage to find him and free him from the spell, allowing Renaud to take his place among the crusaders once again. The abandoned Armide is consumed with fury and desperation.

Act 1

Renaud arrives at the camp of the Saracen King of Damascus, Armide's father, Hidraot, to offer peace to the Muslims if they will cede Jerusalem. Hidraot and his allies are ready to accept when the furious Armide bursts in on her chariot, accusing them of cowardice and promising her hand in marriage to whoever kills the treacherous Renaud. Once Renaud has left, Armide's followers vow to kill him (Chorus: "''Arbitre et souverain du sort!''") and the act ends with the arrival of the warlike Amazons, in a ballet according to French operatic convention.

Act 2

Armide, having calmed down, reveals that she is still in love with Renaud. But Antiope, Queen of the Amazons, announces that Armide's followers have laid an ambush for the crusader. Armide rushes to his aid. Although she fails to persuade him to love her again (Duet: "''Généreux inconnu ...''"), she succeeds in warning him of the trap the Saracen chiefs are planning. Hidraot arrives and rebukes Armide for giving in to her love for Renaud; the crusader has been causing carnage in the Muslim camp. Armide uses her magic to conjure up the Furies, but they are held back by a mysterious higher power. Hidraot disowns his daughter and returns to the camp, intending either to kill Renaud, or "to perish by his blows".

Act 3

The battle is over and Armide searches for her father in vain, but finds Adraste, King of India, still breathing. Adraste blames Armide's double-dealing for his death and Hidraot's impending slaughter at the hands of Renaud. Armide prays to heaven to strike her down and save her father and, when she hears that Hidraot has been bound in chains to the chariot of the victorious Renaud, she decides to kill herself. Renaud enters and tries to stop her. She is only reassured when her father arrives and tells her that he owes his life to the crusader. Armide and Renaud are reconciled and free at last to declare their love for one another. The scene magically changes to a magnificent palace and the opera ends with a ''ballet général''.

Recordings

Complete

*''Renaud'' Marie Kalinine (Armide), Julian Dran (Renaud), Jean-Sébastien Bou (Hidraot), Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

(Ediciones Speciales, 2013)

Individual arias

Armide's act 2 aria ("Hélas vous le dirais-je....Ah! Que dis-tu?") was recorded by

Véronique Gens Véronique Gens (born 19 April 1966) is a French operatic soprano. She has spent much of her career recording and performing Baroque music, Baroque music. Gens was born in Orléans, France, and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning fir ...

on the album ''Tragédiennes 2'', accompanied by the orchestra Les Talens Lyriques conducted by

(Virgin Classics, 2009). The Italianate aria of a coryphée ("Que l'éclat de la victoire") was recorded by

Sandrine Piau Sandrine Piau (born 5 June 1965) is a French soprano. She is particularly renowned in Baroque music although also excels in Romantic and modernist art songs. She has the versatility to perform works from Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart to Schumann, Deb ...

on the album ''Le triomphe de l'amour'', accompanied by the orchestra

Les Paladins ''Les Paladins'' is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 12 February 1760 at the Paris Opera. The author of the libretto is not known for sure but was probably one of the Duplat de Monticourt brothers. Rameau called ''Les Paladins ...

conducted by

Jérôme Correas Jérôme Correas (born 3 August 1966) is a French conductor, harpsichordist and bass baritone. Life Born in Les Lilas, at the age of five Correas began studying the piano. In 1982, he met the great harpsichordist and musicologist Antoine Geof ...

(

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

, 2012).

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * *

External links

*
Score manuscript
(digitized at Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Period printed score
(digitized in Internet Archive)

italianopera.org {{Authority control Operas Operas by Antonio Sacchini French-language operas Operas based on Jerusalem Delivered Tragédies en musique 1783 operas