Monteverdi - L'Incoronazione di Poppea - Speranza tu mi vai - Act 1
Libretto : Gian Francesco Busenello
Réalisation musicale René Jacobs
Poppea, Danielle Borst
Nerone, Guillemette Laurens
Ottavia, Jennifer Larmore
Ottone, Axel Köhler
Seneca, Michael Schopper
Drusilla, Lena Lootens
Nutrice, Dominique Visse
Arnalta, Christoph Homberger
Lucano, Guy de Mey
Amore, Martina Bovet
Poppea
Hope, you come to me caressing my heart, delighting my desires, and engird me so, indeed, a royal but imagined mantle. No, no, I fear no harm, Love and Fortune fight for me.
Arnalta
Ah, daughter, may heaven will it that these embraces should not one day be your downfall.
Poppea
No, no, I fear no harm.
Arnalta
The Empress Ottavia has discovered Nero's love, therefore I fear and tremble lest every day, every moment be the last day, the last moment of your life.
Poppea
Love and Fortune fight for me.
Arnalta
Dealing with kings is dangerous, love and hate have no sway over them, self interest is their only concern. If Nero loves you, it is mere pleasure, if he forsakes you, your sorrow avails nothing. Best keep your silence, as the lesser of all evils. You can never bargain with him as an equal, and if your objective is marriage, you will go begging to your ruin.
Poppea
No, no, I fear no harm.
Arnalta
Look yonder, look, Poppea, where the meadow is most pleasing and delightful, there lurks the hidden serpent. The twists of Fate may well bode ill, and calm comes before the storm.
Poppea
No, no, I fear no harm, Love and Fortune fight for me.
Arnalta
Then you are mad if you think that a blind boy and a bald old woman could afford you felicitous protection.