Success on the operatic stage eluded Dvorak for many years. At the very end of his career he devoted himself to opera, producing "The Devil and Kate," "Rusalka," and "Armida" from 1898 to 1903. "Rusalka" was the first of his operas to enjoy an unequivocal success. After its premiere in 1900 he sought to follow up on the success by asking Jaroslav Kvapel, his librettist, to prepare a book for a new opera. When Kvapel had to decline, Dvorak found a libretto other composers had been rejected, which was written by Jaroslav Vrchlicky and based on a venerable source: Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata.

The episode of that book that tells the story of Armida was the subject of at least fifty operas written by composers from Lully to Rossini. Set in Crusader times, this story of heroism, magic, and love obviously is full of possibilities, bur Vrchlicky enhanced it by transferring to the love story of Armida and Rinald the fate of another favorite Crusader legend from the same book, that of Clorinda who, since she is disguised in warrior's armor, is slain by her lover Tancred.

Dvorak stated that he modeled his opera on Tannhäuser, by Wagner. The parallels are easy to find: The pilgrims of Wagner inspire Dvorak's Crusaders and the Venusberg is the model for Armida's enchanted and sensual garden. Dvorak's music uses the Wagnerian leading motive technique extensively for persons, events, and ideas. The opera has a few weaknesses, mainly attributable to the librettist's lack of interest in the Crusaders as a group and his propensity to resort to magical events on slim pretexts. These made the opera only a mixed success, yet it is full of lyrical treasure and brilliant orchestral effects.



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