Aminta e Filide

When Les Arts Florissants brought this work to the audience of the Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie in the summer of 2019, they immediately felt the powerful charm of this little Handelian gem. Although Aminta e Fillide is very rarely performed, one is immediately struck by the sense of familiarity that emanates from it. Nothing surprising in fact: in this youthful pastoral cantata from his first stay in Rome (1708), Handel drew material for several of his masterpieces many years later - some of the most famous arias from Agrippina, Rinaldo or the Ode to Saint Cecilia are literally extracted from this score!

The variety of the 40 or so arias in this cantata is astonishing. It was originally composed for Marquis Ruspoli and the Academy of Arcadians, a group of scholars who met under the patronage of Queen Christine of Sweden and enjoyed meeting in the heat of the Roman summer in the idyllic gardens of the Marquis. For nearly an hour, in a sober style, the story follows the amorous assaults of the shepherd Aminte, hindered by the reluctance of the nymph Phyllis... but Aminte's steadfastness and constancy will eventually melt the heart of the belle.