UMS Concert Program, : The Philidor Trio --

THE PHILIDOR TRIO (Text Translations)
Three Arias from Astarte by Bononcini
1. Disdain, return to my breast, to revenge the betrayal of my love. Yet I know that this heart plots revenge in vain, for it is helpless to act.
2. I shall gather the lovely rose with a timid hand if the thorn does not fall: and the flowery bush will be full of terror while the snake lurlcs within.
3. Well you know whether I love or not" you know all my thoughts, yet you are not able to please me. No, you must suffer in silence. You are faithful, and you're true, I'll tell you of my love, but what more can I do, if I don't happen to love you
Cantata by Porpora
Behold the gloomy shore, the sandy waste, the empty strand that still bear the imprints of her whom cruel fate took from my sight. Oh heaven, why did you not cover yourself with thick black clouds And you waves, why did you not change into a tempest, to keep my lovely nymph from fleeing Oh God, to whom do I speak; where am I Who is listening Ah, my love is far away, and here on this beach I cry alone, in vain.
I ask the shore, the sea, the hills, with unchanging laments, "Where is my beloved, what is she doing' But there is no one to answer: the wind moans, the waves break, and the shore lies empty.
Hov; lucky you are, you solitary shores, deep vales, craggy cliffs and barren hills, whom heaven has blessed with the sight of that lovely light, that fair faces that gentle bearing; how I envy you' Ah, if only I could join you, changed into woods or rocks' bereft then of feeling, I would not suffer in her presence.
Only one spark struck by love from those lovely eyes would suffice to give life and feeling to trees and rocks. With the first sweet glance I would come to life through her alone, and my faithful love.
Two Arias from Alcina by Handel
1. Only tears are left me: I would make sincere vows, but I have incurred the wrath of the gods, and heaven hears me not. If only in clear waters I could hide from the sun, from the day: if only I could change myself to stone, so that my suffering would be over;
2. Come back to delight me; this faithful heart would love only you, my dearest. My heart is already given to you; my love will be faithful and true" to you I'll never be cruel, my dearest hope.
Three of Cleopatra's Arias from Giulio Cesare by Handel
1. Don't despair; who knows If you're unlucky as a ruler, you may be lucky in love. Admiring some beauty, you'll find a heart to console.
2. And so in one day have I lost both riches and power Oh bitter fate! My beloved Caesar may be dead; Cornelia and Sextus are helpless and cannot rescue me. Oh God, thare is no hope left in my life.' I shall mourn my fate, so cruel, so harsh, as long as I have life in my breast. But when I am dead,
my ghost will haunt that tyrant day and night;
3. The stormtossed ship, if at last it safely reaches port, desires no other blessing. So too, the heart caught between pain and tears, when it finds its consolation, returns the spirit to joy.