«Sacre Piante» from serenata Il Parnaso Confuso | music by C. W. Gluck | libretto by Pietro Metastasio
Samuel Mariño | soprano
Michael Hofstetter | music direction
Barockorchester der Thüringen Philarmonie Gotha-Eisenach
Gluck Festspiele | Nürnberg | 18 May 2024
ITALIAN ORIGINAL
Sacre piante, amico rio,
a voi do l'estremo addio
e confusa, in altre sponde
a celarmi io volgo il piè.
Mute ogn'or saran le scene,
nè mai più le ciglia altrui
verseran fra dolci pene
belle lagrime per me.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Sacred forest, friend irate,
to you I bid the final farewell
and embarrased, in other shores
to hide myself I turn my steps.
Mute will now be the stages,
never more the others’ eyes
will let flow, in sweet pains,
fair tears shed for me.
Here is the story behind this aria. Apollo tells the Muses that there will be a royal wedding and that they should prepare celebratory works for it. Excited at first, the Muses soon realize that there isn’t nearly enough time to create worthy pieces and, furthermore, that the wedding has already begun without them. Understandably, the Muses feel both professionally and personally disrespected. Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, finds this especially … tragic and tells Apollo and everyone that she is quitting her job. [“A voi do l’estremo addio” — “To you I bid the final farewell”] She feels embarrassed and disappointed, and wants to hide away. And without her, of course, all stages will fall silent ... You can find out how it all ends - and the special occasion and cast of this serenata - with a quick internet search.
