Come dolce oggi l’auretta by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Emma Kirkby, Judith Nelson & Poppy Holden, sopranos
The Consort of Musicke
Anthony Rooley, conductor
This trio is the only surviving music from Monteverdi’s lost opera Proserpina rapita (1630). It was published posthumously in Il Nono Libro de Madrigali (The 9th book of madrigals) in 1651.
Come dolce oggi l’auretta
spira, scherza, lusinga e vien lascivetta
a baciarmi le guance e’l sen.
Gli Amoretti l’aura fanno
quando l’ali spiegano al ciel quando vanno
della notte a squarciar il vel.
Ride il bosco, brilla il prato,
scherza il fonte, festeggia il mar,
quando un fiato
d’aura fresca s’ode spirar.
Entri pur nel nostro petto,
o bell’aura, nel tuo venir,
quel diletto
che fa l’alme tanto gioir.
[Lyrics by Giulio Strozzi (1583-1652)]
TRANSLATION (by Susannah Howe):
How sweetly today the breeze
breathes, plays, caresses and wantonly
kisses my cheeks and breast.
Little Cupids create the breeze
as they fly up to heaven on their way
to draw back the veil of night.
The woods laugh, the meadow gleams,
the spring frolics, the sea sparkles,
when a breath
of fresh air is heard to murmur.
As you arrive, o lovely breeze,
may our hearts be filled
by the delight
that makes men’s souls rejoice.
available from Decca:
[ Ссылка ]
Art by agnes-cecile (Silvia Pelissero):
[ Ссылка ]
