“Sorge infausta una procella” from the opera Orlando, HWV 31
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
David Thomas, bass
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Nicholas McGegan
Sorge infausta una procella
che oscurar fa il cielo e il mare
sorge fausta poi la stella
che ogni cor ne fà goder.
Può talor il forte errare
ma risorto dall'errore
quel che pria gli dié dolore
cusa immenso il suo piacer.
Pernicious Tempests often rise
And shed a Gloom o’er Seas and Skies
Some beamy Star does then impart
Its Rays, and gladdens ev’ry Heart.
The Brave may often err, ‘tis true,
But when that Error once they view,
What prov’d before a Scene of Woe,
Now bids unbounded Pleasures flow.
[English text used in the original libretto]
In the early 1730s Handel’s Italian opera company based at London’s King’s Theatre included the talents of an excellent bass, Antonio Montagnana (fl. 1730–50), a Venetian whose voice was apparently ‘like a cannon’. His finest Handel stage role was Zoroastro in Orlando (1733). Toward the end of the opera the benevolent wizard takes pity upon the crazed Orlando, and resolves that his magical powers will cure the hero and put him back on his path towards military glory and honor.
From a CD of Arias for Montagnana available from harmonia mundi:
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