Possente spirto from the opera L’Orfeo (1607)
by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, tenor
I Gemelli
ORFEO:
Possente spirto, e formidabil nume,
senza cui far passaggio a l'altra riva
alma da corpo sciolta invan presume,
Non vivo io, no, che poi di vita è priva
mia cara sposa, il cor non è più meco,
e senza cor com'esser può ch'io viva?
A lei volt'ho il cammin per l'aer cieco,
a l'inferno non già, ch'ovunque stassi
tanta bellezza il paradiso ha seco.
Orfeo son io, che d'Euridice i passi
segue per queste tenebrose arene,
ove già mai per uom mortal non vassi.
O de le luci mie luci serene,
s’un vostro sguardo può tornarmi in vita,
ahi, chi niega il conforto a le mie pene?
Sol tu, nobile Dio, puoi darmi aita,
né temer dei, ché sopra un'aurea cetra
sol di corde soavi armo le dita
contra cui rigida alma invan s'impetra.
TRANSLATION (by Mary Pardoe):
Mighty spirit and formidable god,
without whom no bodiless soul can hope
to gain passage to the other side,
I am not alive, no, for since my beloved bride is deprived of life,
my heart is long longer with me,
and without a heart, how can I be alive?
Through the darkness I have made my way to her
and not to Hades, for wherever
such beauty dwell is Paradise.
I am Orpheus, following Eurydice's steps
through these gloomy regions,
where no mortal man has ever trod.
O clear light of my eyes, if one glance
from you can restore me to life, ah,
who would deny me comfort
in my torment? You alone, noble god,
can help me, nor need you fear,
for as a weapon I have only the sweet
strings of a golden lyre, which the most
obdurate spirit cannot resist.
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Art in the video:
[0:31] Orpheus sing to Hades and Persephone by Jacquesson de la Chevreuse (1839-1903)
[1:18] Orpheus by Károly Ferenczy (1862–1917)
[2:18] Orpheus and Eurydice by Jean-Baptiste Poncet Vassil (1747-1817)
[2:48] Orpheus and Eurydice by Jean Raoux (1677-1734)
[3:29] Orpheus and Eurydice in the Underworld by a follower of Heinrich Füger 1751–1818)
[4:49] Orpheus Mourning the Death of Eurydice by Ary Scheffer (1795–1858)
[6:32] Orpheus in the Underworld by Henri Regnault (1843-1871)
[7:29] Orpheus and Eurydice by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
[8:06] Orpheus and Eurydice by Joseph Paelinck (1781-1839)
[8:31] Orpheus by Gerard van Honthorst (1592-1656)
[9:01] Orpheus in the Underworld by Gioacchino Giuseppe Serangeli (1768-1852)
