Antonio SALIERI (1750-1826)
Armida (1771) [125:34]
Lenneke Ruiten (soprano, Armida)
Teresa Iervolino (mezzo-soprano, Ismene)
Florie Valiquette (soprano, Rinaldo)
Ashley Riches (baritone, Ubaldo)
Chœur de Chambre de Namur
Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset
rec. 10-13 July 2020, Philharmonie, Paris
APARTÉ AP244 [53:42 + 71:52]
Christophe Rousset is a keen advocate of the works of Antonio Salieri, and you can find the opera Tarare (review) and Les Horaces alongside his numerous fine recordings for the Aparté label. This recording of Armida is announced as the world première recording of the original 1771 Vienna version of the opera, but whatever its provenance this is the only complete recording you are likely to find anywhere.
The name Salieri will forever be tied in with that of Mozart and apocryphal stories of rivalry and enmity from the former, supposedly jealous of the acclaim showered on his more talented contemporary. Antonio Salieri did well enough for himself, and proved to be an influential figure in the world of opera in the last decades of the 18th century. Armida takes us to the beginning of this illustrious career, with Salieri only twenty years old when writing this, his first opera seria. The love story between Rinaldo and Armida was already well-known at the time, the subject deriving from Torquato Tasso’s epic poem Gerusalemme liberata, which was first published in Venice in 1580. The three-act libretto used by Salieri was written by Marco Coltellini (1719-1777), who also provided librettos for Gluck, Hasse, Traetta and others.
The narrative of Armida involves the sorceress Armida, who beguiles the Christian Crusader knight Rinaldo into joining her on her enchanted island. An intense drama which includes a magic shield, emotional blackmail, and a finale that presages today’s Hollywood convention of leaving heavy hints of a sequel. Salieri’s choice of this subject may well have been a canny marketing ploy: the confrontation between West and East represented by the Christian Crusader and a Saracen sorceress was to prove an immediate success in Vienna, which held ancestral memories of being besieged by the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Armida is an admirably well-paced drama, with very few places where the recitative might seem a little over-extended, and in most cases with these texts illustrated with detailed interjections and moments of atmospheric presence from the orchestra to keep everything interesting. There may not be quite the percentage of memorable arias and ensemble finales to be found in Mozart’s mature operas but there are plenty of magical passages, and with the unrelenting density of the drama there is never a dull moment. It pays to follow the libretto in the chunky booklet sandwiched between the 2 CDs of this nicely presented package, which has all of the sung texts and booklet notes provided in Italian, English, German and French.
All of the soloists are excellent, with Lenneke Ruiten’s liquid tones in the title role deserving of a separate mention. The acting is convincing without being overdone, the chorus is good though perhaps a little distant at times, and the instrumentalists of Les Talens Lyriques provide superb accompaniment, with plenty of unobtrusive but characterful playing. The fortepiano continuo is a nice touch, having a timbre that blends well in the ensemble as a whole.
Planned live performances of this production of Armida in February 2021 were sadly cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this excellent recording will serve for now as a reminder that, in order to discover the qualities of any composer, we have to listen to their music rather than their perceived reputation.
Dominy Clements
