Christopher Purves, "Fra l'ombre e gl'orrori" (G.F. Handel)
From Handel's Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, a dramatic cantata written in 1708, this dark aria that likens the singer, as the titular Cyclops Polifemo/Polyphemus, to a spent butterfly that knows no joy or peace, while putting the vocalist, in this case bass-baritone Purves, through a roller coaster of a melody that pushes the upper and lower ranges of the register. Beautifully performed live here by the singer.
The cantata, which Handel later turned into the masque Acis and Galatea, is based on the story in Ovid's Metamorphoses of the love between the sea nymph Galatea and the mortal Acis, which comes to a tragic end thanks to the jealous Cyclops.
Acis and Galatea as depicted by Luca Giordano in 1685.
