A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Armide

ARMIDE. One of Gluck's greatest operas, produced (in his sixty-fourth year) on Sept. 23, 1777, at the Académie royale. The libretto is by Quinault, the same which was set by Lulli in 1686. 'Armide' followed 'Alceste' (1776) and preceded 'Iphigenie in Tauris' (1779). Comparing it with 'Alceste.' Gluck himself says, 'The two operas are so different that you will hardly believe them to be by the same composer. … I have endeavoured to be more of the painter and the poet and less of the musician, and I confess that I should like to finish my career with this opera. … In Armide there is a delicate quality which is wanting in Alceste, for I have discovered the method of making the characters express themselves so that you will know at once whether it is Armida who is speaking or one of her followers.' The overture was originally written 27 years before for 'Telemacco.'