Armida: the free woman (the opera Armida by Haydn)

Armida is sixteenth century Italian poet Torquato Tasso’s fiery tragic heroine from his epic The Liberaton of Jerusalem, a tale that at face value is about the Crusades. Tasso’s point was not to illuminate the history of the 11thcentury, but rather to write an allegory urging Alfonso d’Este, the duke of Ferrara in Tasso’s time, to take action against the Turkish invasions of what is now northern Italy. Thus, Tasso wrote a story illuminating political concerns and peppering them with themes of fantasy, magic, female power and prowess, and, ultimately, death. His greatest achievement in the piece was the creation of a sympathetic female heroine from “the wrong side” that has provided endless inspiration for dramatists.

There are several operas that take on Armida as a main character. Monteverdi’s opera Armida abbandonata from the early 17thcentury was incomplete or lost. Jean-Baptiste Lully’s 1686 Armideis the first known opera about this fascinating woman. Handel’s 1711 work Rinaldoglorifies her power by providing what I would call one of the most fiery musical entrances ever written for a female only see her transform later into a simple, weeping broken-hearted woman. By contrast, Hadyn’s Armida, written around 70 years later, starts at the peak of the heroine’s love affair with Rinaldo and tracks her emotional downfall into hellish action as caused by his betrayal.

            Armida’s trajectory as tragic heroine is therefore unique in Haydn’s portrayal. Her magic, fueled by the myrtle tree, is central to keeping order. Her greatest power is the ability to drug warriors into a state of love-sickness as she has done with Rinaldo. With this power she can weaken armies, thereby allowing her co-dependent uncle Idreno to overtake them with his own army. She feels trapped by her duty to Idreno, and his plans to send Rinaldo to fight against his own European camp are cause for her alarm. To support Rinaldo’s efforts to ensure the security of her country means relinquishing her power of love over him and accepting his possible death in battle.

            Another fascinating aspect of Hadyn’s telling of the story is Rinaldo’s independence. As the opera progresses the seemingly weak, punch-drunk European warrior becomes autonomous. Despite being “drugged” by Armida’s powers of love, he comes to make his own decisions about his future and is torn between loyalty to his homeland and fidelity to a woman he has come to love in earnest. He transforms from manipulated lover to restored warrior for the “correct” side of the battle.

            Perhaps what draws so many to Armida’s story are the vast amounts of emotional depth that are possible in portraying this “free woman”. She is not necessarily human, certainly not a goddess, has the marks of a Queen, is a pagan magician and seductress, and, we come to discover, holds the power of hell in her hands. She is the anti-ingénue. Yet when it comes to love it is her fallibility that inspires sympathy.

Other characters in the drama help to form the communities that exist on both sides. Ubaldo is Rinaldo’s closest friend who succeeds in bringing the latter back to his sense of self. Their comrade Clotarco falls for the magical Zelmira, but sadly their love affair, although pure, is cut short when Idreno discovers Zelmira’s betrayal. 

            Like so many other pieces from this era of opera, many of the gaps in the drama can only be filled through distinct character and design choices. Our approach to Haydn’s opera combines elements from across various periods in order to establish a timeless and other worldly atmosphere. The clothing is inspired by the Byzantine era coupled with lines from the 1930’s. The human world and the magical world are separated by texture and color, yet Armida is able to disguise herself as human while she is with Rinaldo. An atmosphere of sweeping fire that has destroyed the once-beautiful palace belonging to Armida is palpable. It is a malleable space, manipulated by Armida, which can at once create obstacles, define architecture or manipulate a person’s psyche. The intact structure high above the charred earth only exists because of the power of the myrtle tree: it is the last organic feature of Armida’s world and the key to her power. She guards this treasure carefully, but in the end cannot avoid Rinaldo’s desire to destroy it. She is then faced with a decision as to whether or not she will use her final strokes of power to destroy those who defy her, even her lover. 

Australia, 2016

Rameau and Vinci: Love, Art and the Passion of Creation, Opera

Rameau’s Pigmalion, Pinchgut Opera 2017

When it comes to love, nothing is simple. At times it is unattainable, unrequited, at others it is fulfilling. It can also be heart breaking. The theme of love is potentially the most explored in all expressions of art perhaps because of its enigmatic, ephemeral charm. There is also something alluring about being in love with love, or being in love with a tortured existence that prevents a connection from being fulfilled.

The prospect of combining operas that seemingly don’t fit together was the primary challenge of this production. The central theme of love, however, permeated throughout them. I wondered how, using that theme, the characters in each of the stories could interact throughout an entire evening’s activities, culminating in a grand passionate gesture of the baroque period in which all three operas were written. What is so palpable in the operas is the emotion in the musical structure coupled with the text. The Rameau operas are not remarkably deep, but they do pose questions that were important topics of conversation and society in the 18thcentury. The Vinci Italian intermezzo is of the commedia dell’artetradition and very accessible. The play-within-a-play idea for the production was unavoidable, but it also seemed necessary to allow the pieces to be performed in earnestness so as not to diminish their beauty by our conceit.

            It struck me, as well as my design team, that a contemporary approach would be the most useful umbrella under which the pieces played. There were various iterations of our thinking, but we finally honed in on the idea of the events taking place among art works in a gallery that was in preparation for a costume gala. Love and art, which are both so central to Pigmalion, can exist so well in a room where anything can happen in one evening especially under the influence of alcohol. Within this framework we came up with a series of archetypes that could inhabit this world including a curator, white glove art installers, cleaner, guard, an academic snob, the gallery’s biggest donor along with his wife and tomboy child, and a lonely bartender by day (artist by night) who is the most awake and sensitive character in the room. These archetypes in a party and celebratory atmosphere go through various degrees of play-acting where art imitates life…and vice versa. 

            The love stories in our production are at various times tempestuous, while at the same time each individual plays the role in the improvisation for which he/she is the most suited. The wealthy donor of the gallery, a questionable man, casts himself at the center of his own event that he has funded, with which his lovely wife grapples. But the donor harbors a secret in that the academic, casting herself as a Priestess who is against his way of life, is his ex-wife. The bartender/artist connects with the academic yet fears that the connection may never bear fruit because of their class difference. The security guard admires the cheeky cleaner, and the Curator connects with the passion of the florist. The White Gloves connect with their partner on the level pride of the artistic work that they do. As the evening continues, the gallery is slowly prepared for the gala with a pit stop of an Italian play-within-a-play inspired by 19thcentury exhibition of clothing and paintings. The academic gets back at her ex-husband for starting the game of improvisation by making him play a hypochondriac in a play found in a book. Finally, the bartender/artist is able to exhibit his work for the gala, yet finds that he is passionately in love with his creation. Unknown to him, the Academic has tricks up her sleeve to reveal her own sentiments. The evening culminates in love being the central enlightening event of the gallery gala and the lives of the players are forever changed. May this approach shed new light on these pieces for you as well.

Australia, 2017