About the work
Tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Philippe Quinault, based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem 'Jerusalem Delivered' (1581). The opera was first performed on 15 February 1686 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris by the Académie royale de musique and remained the last stage work Lully completed entirely himself.
Plot
The sorceress Armide has enchanted many crusader knights but cannot subdue the valiant Renaud. When she moves to kill him in his sleep, his appearance overwhelms her, and she falls in love with him instead. Two companions free Renaud from her spell using magical objects; he leaves her, and in despair she destroys her enchanted castle.
Cultural significance
Eighteenth-century audiences already regarded Armide as Lully's masterpiece, and the scene in which the title character wavers between vengeance and love is considered one of the most psychologically nuanced moments in early French opera. The work stayed in the Paris Opera's repertoire until 1761 and later inspired Gluck's own setting of the same story in 1777.