ARMIDA, ADELAIDA, AND ADINA.
After the immense success of "La Gazza Ladra," Rossini returned to
Naples. It will be remembered that while he was at Rome superintending
the production of "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" the San Carlo had been burnt
down. King Ferdinand was in despair at the loss of his magnificent
theatre; but that enterprising manager, Barbaja, hearing of his
monarch's grief, went to him, and promised to rebuild the San Carlo,
more magnificent than ever, in nine months. Barbaja fulfilled his
promise, and in January, 1817, the new San Carlo was reopened.
The same year, a few months after the production of "La Gazza Ladra,"
Rossini brought out at the San Carlo an opera called "Armida," in which
the principal characters were assigned to Mdlle. Colbran, Nozzari, and
Benedetti. Although very successful at the time, this opera seems soon
to have been forgotten--doubtless by reason of the subject not being
sufficiently modern for our modern taste. "Armida" is noticeable as the
only one of Rossini's Italian operas containing ballet music, a style in
which, as in every other, he was a consummate master. Of this he gave
brilliant proof a dozen years afterwards in the unrivalled ballet music
of "Guillaume Tell."
The music written for the divertissement of "Armida" was transferred in
1827 to the French edition of "Mosè" as reconstructed for the stage of
the Académie. "Armida" contains the celebrated duet "Amor possente nume"
(which Davide thought fit to introduce into the last act of "Otello"; at
a period, however, when the composer was no longer in Italy to control
him), and a beautiful chorus for female voices, "Che tutto è calma."
In regard to choruses, as to solo voices, Rossini had to suit his music
to his company. At Naples he had a fine chorus of women as well as of
men. At Rome only men sang in the chorus. Thus the choruses in "Il
Barbiere" are written exclusively for male voices.
It is also worth observing that "Armida," like "Otello" and "Mosè in
Egitto," is in three acts, a division which in a few years (witness the
operas of Donizetti and Bellini) was quite to supersede the old division
into two acts, with the interval between filled up by a ballet an hour
long.
* * * * *
In the winter of the same year (1817) Rossini revisited Rome, where he
was once more engaged to write an opera for the carnival. "Adelaida di
Borgogna" was the title of the work, which is said to have been well
received, but does not seem to have left many traces.
* * * * *
Some time in 1818 a Portuguese nobleman requested Rossini to write an
opera for the San Carlo theatre of Lisbon, which was delivered and
produced the same year under the title of "Adina Ossia il Califfo di
Bagdad." "Adina" was a little work in one act, the music of which does
not seem to have become known out of Portugal.