I love music. All genres of music. Among them, classical music is probably my favorite. And of classical music genres, I love opera the most, I believe. (It’s hard for me to be absolute here because I love all music. I think it makes the world go round.)
Among opera, George Frideric Handel’s are some of my favorites. This brings me to “Ombra mai fù.” An aria from Handel’s “Xerxes,” it’s one of his most renowned and loved compositions. In this aria, Xerxes sings to a plane tree about its beauty, grace and shade. He has fallen in love with this tree and sings as if it’s his long-lost beloved found. According to history, Xerxes had the tree permanently decorated with gold ornaments and placed it in the care of deities.
Xerxes was known as an extraordinarily cruel, ruthless leader. Yet, he adored his tree, and the tree touched his hidden humanity. It opened the vulnerability of his heart and soul. In turn, with his aria, Handel opens mine. Every time I listen, I’m profoundly moved. Often, tears fill my eyes, as if it’s my first time hearing it. I imagine the tree as Xerxes might have seen it. A tree that understood him and his deepest feelings, dreams and grief. And Handel’s three-minute aria touches all of these for me and, I imagine the same for many others who hear it.
Ombra mai fù translation
Frondi renere e belle/Tender and beautiful fronds
dei mio plantano amato/of my beloved plane tree
per voi reisplenda il fato./let Fate smile upon you.
Tuoni, lampi, e procelle/May thunder, lightning, and storms
non v’oltraggiano mai la cara pace,/never disturb your dear peace,
né giunga a profanarvi austro rapace./nor may you by blowing winds be profaned.
Ombra mai fù/Never was a shade
di vegetabile/of any plant,
cara ed amabile,/dearer and more lovely,
soave piú./or more sweet.
