Ah! spietato! e non ti muove (Handel) Sandrine Piau

Ah! spietato! e non ti muove
from Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11 (1715)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Sandrine Piau, soprano
Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset

Ah! spietato! e non ti muove
un affetto si costante,
che per te mi fa languir!

Ma crudel, tu non sai, come
fai sdegnar' un alma amante,
che tu brami di tradir….
No, non sai.
 
Ah, cruel one! And you are not moved
By such faithful affection
That makes me languish for you!

But, pitiless, you do not realize that
You scorn a loving soul,
Whom you wish to betray.
No, you do not know.

This role of Melissa was created by Elisabetta Pilotti-Schiavonetti (c. 1680-1742). Three of the roles that Handel wrote specifically for her were sorceresses, and the demands of those roles indicate that she possessed an exceptional voice capable of both dramatic power and technical agility.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabe...

"The libretto, probably by Nicola Haym, was based on a French model, originally set by André Destouches in 1699. Like Rinaldo, it has a prominent role for a jealous sorceress, Melissa, who is determined to destroy the liaison between the hero Amadis and his beloved Oriana. Melissa is not portrayed as wholly evil, but as a woman torn between a genuine but unrequited love for Amadis and a desire to punish him for rejecting her. Her dilemma is immediately apparent in her first aria ‘Ah! spietato’. In the slow main section the anguish expressed by the vocal line is poignantly echoed by a solo oboe. The mood turns to anger in the fast middle section, after which the return of the main section is especially heartrending—a fine example of the da capo principle being used for dramatic effect."
from notes by Anthony Hicks © 1996

CD available from Naïve:
https://www.amazon.com/Sandrine-Piau-...

Photography by Annie Bertram:
http://photoart.anniebertram.com/