Armida is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 by Antonín Dvořák

Antonín Dvorák

Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...

 in four acts, set to a libretto by Jaroslav Vrchlický

Jaroslav Vrchlický

Jaroslav Vrchlický was one of the greatest Czech lyrical poets. He was born Emil Frida, Vrchlický being a pseudonym.He also wrote epic poetry, plays, prose and literary essays and translated widely from various languages, introducing e.g. Dante, Goethe, Shelley, Baudelaire, Poe, and Whitman to...

 that was originally based on Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...

's epic La Gerusalemme liberata

Jerusalem Delivered

Jerusalem Delivered is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso first published in 1581, which tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Catholic knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to take Jerusalem...

. Dvorak's opera was first performed at Prague's National Theatre on 25 March 1904; the score was published as opus 115 in 1941.

In terms of genre, Armida represents the culmination of Dvorak's experimentation with a Wagnerian

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

 style of opera composition, though much of the music belongs to Dvorak's own genre. Vrchlický's libretto parallels the one that Philippe Quinault

Philippe Quinault

Philippe Quinault , French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris.- Biography :Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of Marianne. Quinault's first play was produced at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1653, when he was only eighteen...

 wrote for Jean-Baptiste Lully

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...

 in their opera of the same name

Armide (Lully)

Armide is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The libretto was written by Philippe Quinault, based on Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata .Critics in the 18th century regarded Armide as Lully's masterpiece...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 25 March 1904 (Conductor: - )
King Hydraot of Damascus Damascus Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...	bass	Emil Pollert Emil Pollert Emil Pollert, born Emil Popper was a Czech opera singer at the National Theatre in Prague, in his time the main representative of bass roles.-Life:...
Armida, his daughter	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Růžena Maturová Růžena Maturová Růžena Maturová was a Czech operatic soprano whose international career began in the late 1880s and continued through the first decade of the 20th century....
Ismen, a prince and magician	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Bohumil Benoni
Petr, a hermit	bass	Václav Kliment
Bohumir Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087... , commander of the Franks First Crusade The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Václav Viktorin
Rinald, a crusader Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Bohumil Pták
Dudo	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Bedrich Bohuslav
Sven	tenor	Adolf Krössing Adolf Krössing Adolf Krössing was a Czech operatic tenor, stage director, and actor of both the stage and film. Possessing a smaller voice, Krössing impressed audiences not with his vocal prowess but with his dramatic gifts. A master of improvisation and comic timing, he excelled in character roles...
Roger	tenor	Hynek Svejda
Gernand	bass	Robert Polák
Ubald	bass	Frantisek Sír
Hlasatel, a herald	bass	Otakar Chmel
Muezin Muezzin A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Jan Vildner
Siren Siren In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...	soprano	Marie Kubátová
A nymph	soprano	Vilemína Hájková
Choruses of Demons, Nymphs, Sirens, Sprites, Knights etc

Synopsis

In the royal gardens of Damascus the call to prayer is heard. Ismen enters with news of the approaching Franks, but tries to dissuade the King from a confrontation: let him instead send his daughter (whose hand Ismen has been seeking) to sow dissention. She balks, but changes her mind when Ismen uses his magic to show her the enemy camp, recognizing Rinald as the knight she has just dreamed of.

Armida arrives in the crusader's camp and meets Rinald, who brings her to into the council where she tells a story of an usurping uncle having blinded the king and chased her into the desert. Rinald cannot wait for the commander of an expedition to restore her kingdom to be chosen by lot and is caught leaving camp with her by the hermit Peter, but the lovers are aided in their escape by Ismen, driving a chariot pulled by dragons.

Rinald and Armida are entertained in her garden by sirens and fairies. Ismen is disguised as an old man and tries to destroy the palace, but finding his powers no match for Armida's sorcery, he goes to Rinald's companions and claims to be a convert. Glad of his help, they accept from him the Archangel Michael

Michael (archangel)

Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...

's diamond shield, which they use to bring Rinald out of the palace, which collapses as soon as Armida gives way to grief.

Rinald asks forgiveness for abandoning his comrades and his mission. As the crusaders advance on Damascus the battle passes through the camp and Rinald kills Ismen and faces a black knight, who drops his sword when he curses Armida's name. Only after stabbing her does he recognize her and baptise her as she dies in his arms.