Jerusalem Delivered
The libretto is drawn from Torquato Tasso's "La Gerusalemme Liberata" ("Jerusalem Delivered")., Canto XII, 52–62, 64–68), a Romance set against the backdrop of the First Crusade, when Godfrey of Bouillon conquered Jerusalem. Monteverdi composed it for the 1624 carnival season in Venice when it was first performed in the palace of Girolamo Mocenigo.