Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili [1653-1730] was a leading figure in Roman
culture, composing operas and cantatas as well as providing libretti for such
composers as Scarlatti, Bononcini, and Melani.
He held high Vatican offices, including
librarian of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and archivist of the Archivio
Segreto Vaticano. He was also a generous patron of the arts and became a friend
of Handel during the composer’s Roman sojourn from 1706 to 1710 and they
maintained a lively correspondence in later years. He provided the texts for this Cantata and
for Handel’s first oratorio, Il trionfio del Tempo e del Disinganno,
both works were performed in early 1707 at one of the Cardinal’s palaces. This was the era when opera was banned in Rome and cantatas were
used to circumnavigate the papal law. The presence of dance movements in the
score suggests that some kind of staging may have been undertaken in private.
The score requires a chamber orchestra and virtuoso soloists: oboe, violin and
cello.
Arcadian and ancient
mythological themes were fashionable at the time and the Cardinal creates a
tale along the lines of the Orpheus legend but with a twist. The soloist
switches between narrator and the heroine Chloris herself. After a charming little overture in D major
featuring the oboe, the plot is explained in a recitative: Thyrsis has died and
his beloved Chloris is distraught. She enunciates her grief in a lively
coloratura aria Let my thought fly up to heaven with an exacting solo
violin part. In the ensuing recitative
she decides to go to Hades and rescue him. She thinks she sees his shade but it
vanishes and she appeals to him not to flee in a moving lament: I left the light for you. In the following recitative Chloris loses her
cool and accuses Thyrsis of mocking her; however, she then resolves to be kind
and will take him from Hades to the Elysian Fields. In her third aria she
commands a breeze to steer their ship there Abandon your dark sails. An orchestral interlude follows for which
Handel borrowed four lines of a piece by Reinhard Keiser, followed by music
from his own opera “Almira”. To conclude Chloris sings a charming minuet: Oh these delightful and serene shores . The narrator then returns to round off the
tale: perhaps all this had happened in Chloris’ mind. A short, sprightly
orchestral minuet closes proceedings.
Introduzione
Instrumental
Recitativo: Da
quell giorno fatale
Da quell
giorno fatale
|
Ever
since that fateful day
|
Che tolse
morte
|
When
death took
|
Il crudo
Tirsi a Clori
|
Untamed
Tirsi from Clori,
|
Ella per
duolo immense,
|
In
her boundless grief,
|
Sciolto il
crin, torvo il guardo,
|
Her
hair dishevelled, her gaze dulled,
|
Incerto il
piede, par ch’abbia
|
Her
footsteps faltering, she seems to harbour
|
In sé due
volantà, due cori:
|
Two
passions, two emotions:
|
E del chiaro
intelletto,
|
And
with the clarity of her mind
|
Per gran
fiamma d’amor, tubato il raggio,
|
Disturbed
by her feverish love,
|
Ora
s’adorna, ora del crin negletto
|
Now
he adorns herself, now she spitefully ravages
|
Fa
dispettoso oltraggio,
|
Her
unkempt locks,
|
E varia nel
pensier, ma sempre bella,
|
Her
mind wanders, but beautiful as ever,
|
Agitate,
cosi seco favela:
|
Tormented,
she talks thus to herself:
|
Aria: Un pensiero voli in ciel
Un pensiero
voli in ciel,
|
Let
a thought fly to heaven,
|
Se in cielo
è quella
|
If
in heaven is that
|
Alma bella
|
Fair
spirit
|
Che la pace
m’involò.
|
Which
robbed me of peace.
|
Se in Averno
è condannata
|
If
he has been condemned to hell
|
Per avermi
disprezzata,
|
For
having scorned me,
|
Io dal regno
delle pene
|
Then
from the realm of grief
|
Il mio bene
rapiro.
|
I
shall steal back my love.
|
Recitativo: Ma
fermata pensier
Ma fermata
pensier,
|
Stay,
my thought;
|
Pur troppo è
vero che fra l’ombre
|
That
he truly has been condemned
|
D’Averno è
condannato
|
To
the shades of hell
|
Per giusta
pena, e per crudel mio fato.
|
As
due punishment is my cruel fate.
|
Si, si,
rapida io scendo
|
Yes,
I hasten down
|
A rapir il
mio bene
|
To
steal my love
|
Dell’arsa
Dite
|
From
the flames of hell,
|
Alle
infocate arene.
|
From
the burning sands.
|
Ma che
veggio?
|
But
what do I see?
|
Rimira il
mio sembiante
|
Gazing
mockingly at my features,
|
Dispettosa,
poi fugge, un’ombra errante.
|
Then
fleeing: a wandering shade.
|
Tirsi, ah
Tirsi, ah! Crudele!
|
Tirsi,
ah Tirsi, ah, how cruel!
|
Aria: Per te lasciai la luce
Per te
lasciai la luce,
|
For
you I left the light,
|
Ed or che mi
conduce
|
And
now that love leads me
|
Amor per
rivederti,
|
To
see you once more,
|
Tu vuoi
partir da me.
|
You
wish to run from me.
|
Deh! Ferma I
passi incerti,
|
Ah,
stay your wavering steps,
|
O pur se
vuoi fuggir, dimmi, perché?
|
Or
if you would still shun me, tell me, why?
|
Recitativo: Non
ti bastava, ingrate
Non ti
bastava, ingrate,
|
Was
it not enough, thankless man,
|
D’avermi in
vita lacerate il core?
|
To
have torn my heart in two?
|
Dopo
l’ultimo fato
|
After
death
|
Siegui ad
esser per me furia d’amor;
|
You
continue to be a torment of love to me;
|
Anzi, ti
prendi a scherno
|
Indeed,
you mock me
|
Ch’io venga teco
ad abitar l’inferno.
|
For
coming to love with you in the underworld.
|
Ma pietà per
rigore ti render.
|
But
I shall repay your coldness with mercy.
|
Su, vieni al
dolce oblio di Lete;
|
Come
to the sweet oblivion of Lethe;
|
Indi daranno
pace
|
There
Elysium will bring peace
|
Gli Elisi al
già sofferto affanno.
|
To
the distress we have suffered.
|
Aria: Lascia
omai le brune vele
Lascia omai
le brune vele,
|
Leave
the dark sails,
|
Negro pin di
Flegetonte.
|
The
black ship of Phlegethon.
|
Io farò che
unzeffiretto,
|
I
shall make a breeze
|
Per diletto,
|
Take
pleasure
|
Spiri
intorno a te fedele,
|
In
wafting faithfully around you
|
E che mova i
bianchi lini
|
To
steer the white sails
|
Pellegrini
in Acheronte.
|
Towards
th Acheron.
|
Recitativo: Ma
siamo giunti in Lete
Ma siamo giunti
in Lete;
|
But
we have arrived at the Lethe;
|
Odi il suono
soave degli Elisi beati
|
Hear
the gentle sound of blessed Elysium
|
Entrée
Instrumental
Minuet: In
queste amene
In queste
amene
|
On
these pleasant,
|
Piagge
serene
|
Tranquil
shores
|
Da sé ridente
|
Every
smiling flower
|
Nasce ogni
fior.
|
Springs
up from another.
|
Tra suoni e
canti
|
Amid
music and song
|
Sempre
clemente
|
Lovers
breathe
|
Spiran gli
amanti
|
An
ever clement
|
Aura d’amor.
|
Air
of love.
|
Recitativo: Si,
disse Clori
Si, disse
Clori,
|
Yes,
said Clori,
|
E se d’un
sole estinto
|
And
if she no longer saw the fair light
|
Più non vide
il bel lume,
|
Of
a sun that had gone out,
|
Io vide
almen per fantasia dipinto.
|
She
saw it at least in her dreams.
|
Minuet
Instrumental
|