sung by the dwsChorale
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Stream mp3Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, helped Theseus find his way round the labyrinth and overcome the Minotaur and she then eloped with him to a small island.
Now she been abandoned there by Theseus. She bewails her fate and curses her unfaithful lover.
Monteverdi wrote various settings of Ariadne's Lament; this opulent version is for five part choir.
The edition that I have used is the one provided by Alessandro Magagnin
on the Choral Public Domain Library, amended in a few places on the basis of
the performance recorded by
the Consort of Musicke
Words, with translation by Francesco Campelli (CPDL)
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1. Lasciatemi morire! E che volete voi che mi conforte in così dura sorte, in così gran martire? Lasciatemi morire! 2. O Teseo, o Teseo mio, sì che mio ti vo’ dir, ché mio pur sei, benché t’involi, ahi crudo! agli occhi miei. Volgiti, Teseo mio, volgiti, Teseo, o Dio! Volgiti indietro a rimirar colei che lasciat'ha per te la patria e il regno, e ’n queste arene ancora, cibo di fere dispietate e crude, lascerà l’ossa ignude. O Teseo, o Teseo mio, se tu sapessi, o Dio! Se tu sapessi, ohimè!, come s’affanna la povera Arianna, forse, forse pentito rivolgeresti ancor la prora al lito. Ma con l’aure serene tu te ne vai felice, et io qui piango. A te prepara Atene liete pompe superbe, et io rimango cibo di fere in solitarie arene. Tu l’uno e l’altro tuo vecchio parente stringerai lieto, ed io più non vedrovvi, o madre, o padre mio! 3. Dove, dov'è la fede, che tanto mi giuravi? Così ne l’alta sede tu mi ripon degli avi? Son queste le corone onde m’adorni il crine? Questi gli scettri sono, queste le gemme e gl’ori? Lasciarmi in abbondono a fera che mi stracci e mi divori? O Teseo, o Teseo mio, lascerai tu morire, invan piangendo, invan gridando aita, la misera Arianna ch'a te fidossi e ti die' gloria e vita? 4. Ahi, che non pur risponde! Ahi, che più d’aspe è sordo a’ miei lamenti! O nembi, o turbi, o venti, sommergetelo voi dentr’a quell’onde! Correte, orche e balene, e delle membra immonde empiete le voragini profonde! Che parlo, ahi! Che vaneggio? Misera, ohimè! Che chieggio? O Teseo, o Teseo mio, non son, non son quell’io, non son quell’io che i feri detti sciolse: Parlò l’affanno mio, parlò il dolore; Parlò la lingua sì, ma non già ‘l core. |
Let me die! And what do you think can comfort me in such harsh fate, in such great suffering? Let me die! Oh Theseus, oh my Theseus, for I want to call you mine, for mine you still are, cruel one, even though you flee from my eyes. Turn back, my Theseus, turn back, Theseus, oh God! Turn back to gaze on her who abandoned her country and kingdom just for you, and who will leave her bare bones on these sands as food for merciless wild beasts. Oh Theseus, oh my Theseus, if you only knew, oh god! Alas, if you only knew how terribly scared poor Ariadne is, perhaps you would relent and point your prow back to the shore. But you sail merrily on gentle breezes, while I cry here. Athens prepares for you joyful proud ceremonies, and I remain food for beasts on these lonely sands. Both your aged parents you shall joyfully embrace, but I shall never see you again, oh mother, oh father. Where?, Where is the faithfulness that you swore to me so often? Is this how you set me on the high throne of your ancestors? Are these the crowns with which you adorn my locks? Are these the sceptres, these the jewels and the gold? To leave me, abandoned for the wild beast to tear and devour? Oh Theseus, oh my Theseus will you leave to die, weeping and calling in vain for help, wretched Ariadne, who put her faith in you and gave you glory and her life? Alas, he doesn't even answer! Alas, he is deafer than a snake to my cries! Oh clouds, storms, winds! bury him beneath those waves! Hurry, you whales and sea monsters, and fill your deep whirlpools with his filthy limbs! What am I saying? Why do I rage so? Alas, wretched, what am I asking for? Oh, my Theseus, it is not I, no, it is not I who uttered those terrible words: my breathless fear and pain spoke; my tongue did speak, but not my heart. |
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