By the time Rossini wrote his opera, "Armida," ten other composers had treated the subject to music. Rossini, however, was the first of two 19th century composers to use Italian poet Torquato Tasso's story of a sorceress in the First Crusade. All told, more than a dozen composers have written operas called, or about, Armida.
Rossini was brave, it seems, as that list of composers includes Jean-Baptiste Lully, Handel, Haydn, Gluck, Vivaldi and Salieri. After Rossini, Brahms and Dvorak also wrote music for Armida.
Tasso's story weaves a tale of Armida, heading out to stop the Christians from completing their mission. Along the way, she falls in love with a Christian soldier, Renaldo. Armida holds Renaldo prisoner, and what happens after that entirely depends on the opera you watch, or the version of Tasso's you read.
Rossini chooses a thrilling ending that I refuse to divulge here - you'll have to listen to The Metropolitan Opera's live broadcast of Rossini's Armida on Classical Minnesota Public Radio at 12:00 p.m. Saturday, March 5.
Oh, and be prepared to have Renee Fleming knock your socks off as Armida, the only female role in Rossini's masterpiece.
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