Barbara Strozzi: Cantate, ariette e duetti, Op. 2 - Riamata da chi amava

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Barbara Strozzi occupies an important position in the history of European music as one of the finest women composers of the Italian Baroque.
Born in the Venice of Claudio Monteverdi in 1619, her natural father was probably the artist and poet Giulio Strozzi, her mother one of his faithful servants. Barbara's musical talents were developed early; as a teenager she was already at the center of attention performing at the weekly gathering of Venetian artists and literati, the Accademia dei Unisoni, who met at Strozzi's palazzo.

She published her first book of songs in 1644, explaining that it is "the first work that I, as a woman, all too daringly bring to the light of day." In the preface, she gives credit to Francesco Cavalli, student and collaborator of Monteverdi, as her teacher. The works recorded here by soprano Emanuella Galli and Galatea come from her seventh publication of 1659 entitled Diporti di Euterpe, or "The Pleasures of Euterpe." In this work, Strozzi, at the height of her artistic powers, collaborates with some of the most important poets of the period to create works which are musically innovative and dramatically expressive as well as being exceedingly beautiful.

Text:
Dormi, o mio dolore,
addormentati, o mia pena,
i sospiri ei pianti affrena,
posa in stabil core.
Pace datevi, o speranze,
acquietatevi, o desiri,
dilungatevi, o martiri,
in eterne lontananze.
Ciego duol mi affliggi a torto,
ch'alle gioie Amor mi vuole
e mi rende il mio bel Sole,
la mia vita, il mio conforto.
Alma mia, riedi a godere
che desir con tanto affetto,
corri, o core, al cor diletto,
torna al ben, torna al piacere,
alma mia, torna al godere.

Painting:
Hector, Paris and Helena, 1770, by Angelica Kauffman.