Stage director Mariame Clรฉment takes a critical look at the Crusades with her 2015 production of Rossiniโs rarely-performed Armida. Premiered on November 11, 1817 at Naplesโs Teatro di San Carlo, the three-act opera tells the tale of a cunning sorceress who manipulates a group of knights defending Jerusalem to abandon their posts and cast aside their noble and heroic ideals.