Son qual misera colomba

Scoring: Solo S, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Vl, Va, Bc

The opera Cleofide by Johann Adolf Hasse was part of an ambitious plan to revive the art of Italian opera at the Saxon court. The dramatic plot – about Alexander the Great’s conquests in India – is brought to life by Hasse’s brilliant setting.

The aria “Son qual misera colomba, che se piomba in lei l’artigilio” tells of despair and the agony of love. Cleofide compares herself to a dove caught in the hunter’s trap, ensnared in a web of difficulties. The music reflects the deep emotional intensity of Cleofide’s suffering and torment.