Delirio amoroso Cantata for soprano solo and instruments HWV 99

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