Mio cor, che mi sai dir?

Mio cor, che mi sai dir? from Rinaldo (HWV 7), 1711
by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Bernarda Fink, Goffredo
The Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood

Handel’s Rinaldo premiered on February 24, 1711. It was the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. At the premiere, the role of Goffredo was sung by Francesca Vanini-Boschi, contralto en travesti.

In Act II Goffredo, one of the leaders of the First Crusade, curses his situation, but despite the grief of losing his daughter he vows to fight on for victory or death.

Mio cor, che mi sai dir? 
O vincer, o morir, 
sì, sì, t'intendo.

Se la mia gloria freme, 
sol da una bella speme
io pace attendo.

What do you advise, my heart?
Victory, or death,
yes, I hear you.

My honour my falter,
but hope leads me
to expect peace.  
- translation by Kenneth Chalmers

CD available from DECCA:

Art in the video from the Crusader Bible: