Armida (Mysliveček)

It is one of many operas set at the time of the Crusades that is based on characters and incidents from Torquato Tasso's epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata.

The first performance of the opera since its first run in Milan took place in Lisbon on 22 May 2015 in the form of a semi scenic version sponsored by the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.

There is no reason to believe that an anonymous production of Armida staged in Lucca in 1778 made use of any of Mysliveček's music, in spite of multiple claims in the musicological literature that it constituted the original version of the Milan opera of 1780.

One of the arias substituted out of the production was "Il caro mio bene" (Act III, scene 1), sung by Mysliveček's friend and professional collaborator Luigi Marchesi in the role of Rinaldo.

As musicologist Paolo V. Montanari discovered, this aria (which may or may not be by Mysliveček) was a favourite of Luigi Marchesi, who inserted it in other productions, such as Il trionfo della pace (Turin, 1782) by Francesco Bianchi and Angelica e Medoro (Venice, 1791) by Gaetano Andreozzi, adapting it to the new texts.