by Andrew Gillett | 27 May 2025 | blog
The sorceress Armida was the subject of Joseph Haydn’s 1784 opera, one of his favourite works. The tale of Armida falling in love with the sleeping crusader Rinaldo at the point of killing him, and transporting him to her enchanted garden, seems to have sparked the imagination of a number of composers, artists and writers. Rinaldo and Armida. Nicholas Poussin c.1630 (courtesy Dulwich Picture Gallery) The themes of conflicting thoughts and interests, allegiance (political and spiritual), the consequences of love, as well as the metaphysical elements in the story, provided much scope for Haydn to have a field day of creative inspiration. The overture to Armida summarises the course of this drama in a perfectly succinct form. Sometimes called Sinfonia rather than Overture, it is, in a way, a miniature symphony, the brevity of which Haydn would have had a little chuckle of approval over. Delphine von Schauroth aged 9, c. 1823 by Langlumé Delphine von Schauroth is a forgotten star in the firmament of celebrated pianists. She was a close friend of Felix Mendelssohn and by all accounts his muse at the time that he wrote his first piano concerto (1830) – he dedicated the concerto to her. A child prodigy who had toured Europe, her playing deeply affected those who heard her. For instance, one listener wrote in ‘Der deutsche Horizont’ in 1832 : I believe that the philosopher who asserted that the soul resides in the fingertips was either a money changer or he heard Miss von Schauroth play the piano! I speak not at all of the tremendous, almost...
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