DESCRIPTION:
Monteverdi (1567-1643) Scherzi musicali
Canzonette a tre voci
"Lidia spina del mio core"
Maria Cristina Kiehr, Sopran
Stephan MacLeod, Bassbariton



Lidia spina del mio core
ond'amor mi straccia e punge
di dolcissimo licore
pur talhor la piaga m'unge
e senz'arte o sugo d'herba
il dolor mi disacerba.

Che là dove il cor languisce
molle stende e candiderà
quella mano onde rapisce
amar l'alme e i cori alletta
e toccando e ritoccando
mi vien dolce il cor sanando.

O che piaga aventurosa
se sì bella e bianca mano
mentre in sen mi si riposa
va sanando il cor pian piano
e soccorre a la ferita
con le perle de le dita.

Che se 'I guardo troppo fier
troppo frena i miei desiri
e l'avorio lusinghiero
poco tempra i miei martiri
Lidia mia che dolce sorte
s'en tua man ne vengo a morte.



Translation:

Lidia, thorn in my heart
With which Love rends and pricks me,
Yet with sweetest liquor
Sometimes anoints the wound,
And without art or juice of herb
Soothes my pain.

For, where my heart languishes,
She places, soft and fairest white,
That hand with which Love
Ravishes souls and allures hearts;
And touching and caressing it again
She gently heals my heart.

Oh, how fortunate a wound,
If so fair and white a hand,
As it rests on my bosom,
Heals my heart little by little
And relieves my pain
With its pearly fingers.

But what avails such aid
If at the same time I feel
My breast bitten by another worm,
My heart stricken by another torment,
And in the twinkling of an eye
I faint from another sorrow?

Yet when Lydia touches my heart,
So sweet a passion takes hold of me;
When she darts a glance at me
My courage returns at once.
At once severe and gentle,
Lydia wounds and soothes my heart.

For if your gaze too sternly
Reins in my desires
And this charming whiteness
Allays my torments too litte,
My Lydia, how sweet my fate
Should I expire in your hands!
(Charles Johnston)


Gemälde: Veronese, Mars und Venus, 1575-80