Il core spera e teme

This piece is from the Opera :
Serse

This piece is for the role/s :
Serse

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Atalanta has departed with the message that it is impossible to stop loving someone simply because they do not return the feeling. Serse, whose love for Romilda is unrequited, knows this only too well. Perhaps the pain would be bearable if only a lover could fall in and out of love as he pleased. But the heart lives in hope and fear, not knowing whether love will bring anything in return. When Hope is questioned, the happy answer is "Yes", but when Doubt is questioned, the cold reply is "No".

A straightforward and rhythmic aria for mezzo. The piece has a solid structure, with each sentence separated from its neighbour - the occasional change (such as the long held Bb rising to C) merely underlines its uniformity. One instrumental pattern appears throughout the piece in both the orchestral and vocal lines (the dotted semiquaver fanfare figure). The middle section shifts to the relative minor as the uncertainty of the answer becomes apparent. Note the appearance of hemi-demisemiquavers towards the end of the middle section, and the implied fast trills. The four-square rhythms and separated sentences carry the feel of a royal proclamation. It is a remarkably unemotional piece for someone who is in suffering.

� 2005 Jeremy Fisher
Internet rights 2005 OperaTalent