Armide

Opera production

Armide

Tragédie en musique in 3 acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Libretto by Philippe Quinault (based on Torquato Tasso’s La Gerusalemme liberata)
First performed in 1686 in Paris

A co-production by Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, in collaboration with Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Nordic Baroque Dancers and orchestra Les Folies Françoises. 2017 co-production with Warsaw Opera Kameralna.

Performances

5-14 November 2017 Warsaw Opera Kameralna, Poland
18-22 June 2016 Orangerie at Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany
22-26 August 2015 Innenhof der Theologischen Fakultät, Innsbruck, Austria

Photo credits: Stefan Gloede / Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci 2016

Team

Stage direction and choreography Deda Cristina Colonna
Musical direction Patrick Cohën-Akenine/Benjamin Bayl
Scenography and light design Francesco Vitali
Orchestra Les Folies Françoises/WOK orchestra
Dance company Nordic Baroque Dancers
Dance rehearsal director Karin Modigh

Nordic Baroque Dancers

Caroline Copeland/Andrea Miltnerová
Noah Hellwig/Charlotte Bell
Guillaume Jablonka
Robert Le Nuz/Romain Arreghini
Karin Modigh
Adrian Navarro

Singers in Warsaw 2017

Armide Marcelina Beucher
Renaud Aleksander Rewiński/Aleksander Kunach
Phénice Sylwia Krzysiek/Aleksandra Żakiewicz
Sidonie Aleksandra Borkiewicz
Hidraot Jarosław Bręk
Aronte/Ubalde Piotr Pieron
La Haine/Un amant fortuné Tomasz Rak
Artemidor/Le chevalier danois Sylwester Smulczyński

Singers in Innsbruck 2015/Potsdam 2016

Armide Elodie Hache/Emilie Renard
Renaud Joao Pedro Cabral/Rupert Charlesworth
Phénice Daniela Skorka
Sidonie Miriam Albano
Hidraot Pietro di Bianco
Aronte/Ubalde Tomislav Lavoie
Artémidor Jeffrey Francis
Le chevalier danois Enguerrand de Hys

What would a French baroque opera be without dance elements? An egg without the yolk.

Peter Buske

Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten

The absolutely magnificent troupe from Nordic Baroque Dancers is not an adventitious or ornamental element, but contributes fully to the rhetorical efficiency of the tragedy. The dramatization of the choreography allows for a pertinent unification of the heterogeneous elements of the opera, and reminds us to what extent it was born from the art of dancing.

Classiquenews.com

Photos from Opera Kameralna in Warsaw, November 2017

Credits: Warszawska Opera Kameralna/Jarosław Budzyński

Videos and media coverage from Innsbruck, Potsdam and Warsaw

Photo credits: Francesco Vitali, Rupert Larl, Tabea Walch / Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik 2015

The dancers' point of view

Karin Modigh, Noah Hellwig and Robert Le Nuz, all members of Nordic Baroque Dancers and dancers in Armide, speak about the production and about their fascinating work to develop baroque dance together with choreographer and director Deda Cristina Colonna.

Innsbruck 2015

The choreographer's point of view

Deda Cristina Colonna speaks about her work as the choreographer and director of Armide, and her close work with the dancers of Nordic Baroque Dancers.

Innsbruck 2015

The scenographer's point of view

Francesco Vitali uses very modern technologies and techniques mixed with costumes from Centre de musique baroque de Versailles to stage Lully’s baroque opera Armide.

Innsbruck 2015