Chapter IV: Act V: Another part of the enchanted garden. Renaud, bedecked with

garlands, endeavours to detain _Armide_, who, haunted by dark presentiment, wishes to consult with the powers of Hades. She leaves _Renaud_ to be entertained by a company of happy _Lovers_. They, however, fail to divert the lovelorn warrior, and are dismissed by him. _Ubalde_ and the _Danish Knight_ appear. By holding the magic shield before _Renaud's_ eyes, they counteract the passion that has swayed him. He is following the two knights, when _Armide_ returns and vainly tries to detain him. Proof against her blandishments, he leaves her to seek glory. _Armide_ deserted, summons _Hate_ to slay him. But _Hate_, once driven away, refuses to return. _Armide_ then bids the _Furies_ destroy the enchanted palace. They obey. She perishes in the ruins. (Or, according to the libretto, "departs in a flying car"--an early instance of aviation in opera!)

There are more than fifty operas on the subject of _Armide_. Gluck's has survived them all. Nearly a century before his opera was produced at the Académie, Paris, that institution was the scene of the first performance of "Armide et Renaud," composed by Lully to the same libretto used by Gluck, Quinault having been Lully's librettist in ordinary.

"Armide" is not a work of such strong human appeal as "Orpheus"; but for its day it was a highly dramatic production; and it still admits of elaborate spectacle. The air for _Renaud_ in the second act, "Plus j'observe ces lieux, et plus je les admire!" (The more I view this spot the more charmed I am); the shepherd's song almost immediately following; _Armide's_ air at the opening of the third act, "Ah! si la liberté me doit être ravie" (Ah! if liberty is lost to me); the exquisite solo and chorus in the enchanted garden, "Les plaisirs ont choisi pour asile" (Pleasure has chosen for its retreat) are classics. Several of the ballet numbers long were popular.

In assigning to a singer of unusual merit the ungrateful rôle of the _Danish Knight_, Gluck said: "A single stanza will compensate you, I hope, for so courteously consenting to take the part." It was the stanza, "Nôtre général vous rappelle" (Our commander summons you), with which the knight in Act V recalls _Renaud_ to his duty. "Never," says the relater of the anecdote, "was a prediction more completely fulfilled. The stanza in question produced a sensation."

IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE

IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS

Opera in four acts by Gluck, words by François Guillard.

Produced at the Académie de Musique, Paris, May 18, 1779;
Metropolitan Opera House, New York, November 25, 1916, with
Kurt, Weil, Sembach, Braun, and Rappold.

CHARACTERS

IPHIGÉNIE, Priestess of Diana _Soprano_
ORESTES, her Brother _Baritone_
PYLADES, his Friend _Tenor_
THOAS, King of Scythia _Bass_
DIANA _Soprano_

SCYTHIANS, Priestesses of Diana.

_Time_--Antiquity, after the Trojan War.

_Place_--Tauris.

_Iphigénie_ is the daughter of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. Agamemnon was slain by his wife, Clytemnestra, who, in turn, was killed by her son, _Orestes_. _Iphigénie_ is ignorant of these happenings. She has been a priestess of Diana and has not seen _Orestes_ for many years.

Act I. Before the atrium of the temple of Diana. To priestesses and Greek maidens, _Iphigénie_ tells of her dream that misfortune has come to her family in the distant country of her birth. _Thoas_, entering, calls for a human sacrifice to ward off danger that has been foretold to him. Some of his people, hastily coming upon the scene, bring with them as captives _Orestes_ and _Pylades_, Greek youths who have landed upon the coast. They report that _Orestes_ constantly speaks of having committed a crime and of being pursued by Furies.

Act II. Temple of Diana. _Orestes_ bewails his fate. _Pylades_ sings of his undying friendship for him. _Pylades_ is separated from _Orestes_, who temporarily loses his mind. _Iphigénie_ questions him. _Orestes_, under her influence, becomes calmer, but refrains from disclosing his identity. He tells her, however, that he is from Mycenae, that Agamemnon (their father) has been slain by his wife, that Clytemnestra's son, _Orestes_, has slain her in revenge, and is himself dead. Of the once great family only a daughter, Electra, remains.

Act III. _Iphigénie_ is struck with the resemblance of the stranger to her brother and, in order to save him from the sacrifice demanded by _Thoas_, charges him to deliver a letter to Electra. He declines to leave _Pylades_; nor until _Orestes_ affirms that he will commit suicide, rather than accept freedom at the price of his friend's life, does _Pylades_ agree to take the letter, and then only because he hopes to bring succour to _Orestes_.