Armide (Gluck)
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Armide is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, set to a libretto by Philippe Quinault. Gluck's fifth production for the Parisian stage and the composer's own favourite among his works, it was first performed on 23 September 1777 by the Académie Royale de Musique in the second Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris.
Rinaldo in the Garden of Armida (1763), painting by Fragonard
Ubalde et le chevalier Danois by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, (Exhibited at Paris, Salon, 1785, no. 3)
Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré)
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The Théâtre du Palais-Royal on the rue Saint-Honoré in Paris was a theatre in the east wing of the Palais-Royal, which opened on 14 January 1641 with a performance of Jean Desmarets' tragicomedy Mirame. The theatre was used by the troupe of Molière from 1660 to 1673 and as an opera house by the Académie Royale de Musique from 1673 to 1763, when it was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1770, but again was destroyed by fire in 1781 and not rebuilt.
View of the Palais-Royal in 1679. The theatre was in the east wing (on the right).
Detail plan of 1673 showing the Petite Salle in yellow and the Grande Salle in blue
General ground-floor plan of 1679 with the Grande Salle in blue (48°51′46″N 2°20′14″E / 48.862894°N 2.337255°E / 48.862894; 2.337255)
Proscenium arch with a drop-curtain for Desmarets' Mirame (1641), engraving by Stefano della Bella