Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: german
Song Meaning of “Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17: “Piangerò la sorte mia” (Cleopatra)” by George Frideric Handel
This aria from George Frideric Handel’s three-act opera seria, Giulio Cesare in Egitto is viewed as one of his most powerful arias. Through this beautiful piece, Cleopatra unburdens her heavy heart and sings of despair, loss and inevitability.
The aria begins with her sorrowful realization that fate has separated her from her beloved Julius Caesar and despair as she realizes she can do nothing to change it. She sings “Piangerò la sorte mia” meaning “I will weep for my fate”. The changes in Cleopatra’s voice bring forth a range of emotions, at times bitter and resentful before she breaks into a beautiful victorious cadence and as she faces her despair.
The music reflects her resignation and sadness as she meekly sings, her desperation slowly building until it reaches its peak with her singing “scatterò” or “I shall scatter”. Handel carefully orchestrates the aria, drawing attention to Cleopatra’s tragic predicament. As she sings of her love for Julius Caesar, the music swells and fades, reaching a moving climax in the powerful orchestration of the final section of the aria.
It is a powerful piece that, in its sorrowful beauty, speaks to us all of the resiliency of the human spirit in despair. Handel may have been speaking of Cleopatra in this opera, but we can all relate to the heart-wrenching pain of leaving everything you love behind.