Handel compos’d Flavio in 1723 (premiered King’s Theatre Haymarket London on 14 May & restag’d by Handel in 1732) to a Libretto adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym (after Mateo Noris 1682 & Silvio Stampaglia 1696) and this achingly elegiac aria in a Siciliano rhythmic g-minor with its Mannheim Sighs (closing Act II scene xi number 36 in the Opera) foreshadows Donna Anna’s laments over her dead father The Commendatore in Don Giovanni 64 years later - and Pamina’s lament in Mozart’s Die Zauberfloete-in this scene (Emilia’s lament over her dead father Lotario, at a time when she knows that her lover Guido has stabb’d her father to death with a sword and sings this lament over his cold lifeless corpse the following text : ‘But whom would I wish to punish ? The idol of my heart? My dearest treasure? It would be far better for me just to die if only to bring an end to my pain & suffering !’ Despite the light scoring of this very intimate opera (no woodwinds except 2 oboes very sparingly employ’d & no Trumpets & Drums anywhere in sight) one’s attention is drawn all the more inwardly to the sufferings of the characters - some of Handel’s most heartfelt music is employ’d throughout...
Superbe
Yes it is!!! Thanks😍
Handel compos’d Flavio in 1723 (premiered King’s Theatre Haymarket London on 14 May & restag’d by Handel in 1732) to a Libretto adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym (after Mateo Noris 1682 & Silvio Stampaglia 1696) and this achingly elegiac aria in a Siciliano rhythmic g-minor with its Mannheim Sighs (closing Act II scene xi number 36 in the Opera) foreshadows Donna Anna’s laments over her dead father The Commendatore in Don Giovanni 64 years later - and Pamina’s lament in Mozart’s Die Zauberfloete-in this scene (Emilia’s lament over her dead father Lotario, at a time when she knows that her lover Guido has stabb’d her father to death with a sword and sings this lament over his cold lifeless corpse the following text :
‘But whom would I wish to punish ? The idol of my heart? My dearest treasure? It would be far better for me just to die if only to bring an end to my pain & suffering !’
Despite the light scoring of this very intimate opera (no woodwinds except 2 oboes very sparingly employ’d & no Trumpets & Drums anywhere in sight) one’s attention is drawn all the more inwardly to the sufferings of the characters - some of Handel’s most heartfelt music is employ’d throughout...
So informative. Thank you:-)
Superbe