About the work
Armida is a dramma eroico in three acts, its libretto probably compiled by Nunziato Porta after Torquato Tasso's epic Jerusalem Delivered. Haydn premiered the opera on 26 February 1784 at the opera house of Eszterháza; it was his last opera seria.
Plot
The sorceress Armida binds the crusader knight Rinaldo to her with a love spell in an enchanted garden until his fellow knights persuade him to return to the fight against the Saracens. Armida is left behind, vowing revenge.
Cultural significance
With 54 performances by 1788, Armida was the most-performed opera at the Esterházy court in Haydn's day; he himself considered it his finest opera, and its consistently serious tone has since been likened to Mozart's later Magic Flute overture.