Hyperion Records

This introduzione for soprano, strings and continuo dates from the same period as the Gloria RV589 and, to judge from thematic resemblances such as the ‘pounding’ octaves close to the beginning, may have been designed to precede it. It was certainly written for the patronal festival of the Pietà, the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin on 2 July, since its central recitative refers to Mary’s receiving a visit (‘dum hodie visitatur’).

As usual, Arcadian and Christian forms of imagery mingle. The first aria speaks cheerfully in its first semistrophe of the beauty of a rose, while its second semistrophe (that is, the ‘B’ section of the da capo structure) moves to a contrasting, dark mood as it describes how, come the evening, the rose droops and loses its fragrance. This is the cue for the recitative to explain how all worldly glory is transitory, whereas the humble mother of Jesus is permanently glorious. It remains for the second aria, dance-like in its lilt, to sing Mary’s praise and prefigure some of the liturgical text of the Gloria to follow.

from notes by Michael Talbot © 2004