Armide
Music by Jean-Baptiste Lully · libretto by Philippe Quinault · premiered 1686 · at Théâtre du Palais-Royal
Armide is an opera in five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The libretto by Philippe Quinault is based on Torquato Tasso's poem La Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem Delivered). The work is in the form of a tragédie en musique, a genre invented by Lully and Quinault. Critics in the 18th century regarded Armide as Lully's masterpiece. It continues to be well-regarded, featuring some of the best-known music in French baroque opera and being arguably ahead of its time in its psychological interest. Unlike most of his operas, Armide concentrates on the sustained psychological development of a character – not Renaud, who spends most of the opera under Armide's spell, but Armide, who repeatedly tries without success to choose vengeance over love.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Armide (Lully)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Jean-Baptiste Lully (born Giovanni Battista Lulli; 28 or 29 November [O.S. 18 or 19 November] 1632 – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-French composer, dancer and instrumentalist, 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 of Louis XIV and became a French subject in 1661. He was a close friend of the playwright Molière, with whom he collaborated on numerous comédie-ballets, including L'Amour médecin, George Dandin ou le Mari confondu, Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, Psyché and his best known work, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Jean-Baptiste Lully", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Jean-Baptiste Lully
- Acis et Galatée
- Cadmus et Hermione (1673)
- Alceste (1674)
- Atys (1676)
- Isis (1677)
- Bellérophon (1679)
- Amadis (1684)