Hello everyone! I hope everyone reading this is doing well. Yesterday I took the final for my physics class (pray for me), and on Tuesday I start computer science 2. I am posting this recording from a few weeks back, and I am hopeful that Zoe will post the other recording we've made, but I need to teach her how the editor works, and how Steem works. Hopefully she will post it soon though. A few weeks ago, we decided to make a recording of Dido's infamous lament from Dido and Aeneas. I will explain more about the aria and opera, but first here are the lyrics and the recording. The YouTube video has subtitles available in both English and Spanish. I will also include the Spanish translations here since I know a lot of the users here speak Spanish primarily.

Lyrics and Recording

English (Source)	Spanish (Source)
Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me,	Tu mano, Belinda, la oscuridad me envuelve.
On thy bosom let me rest,	En tu seno déjame descansar,
More I would, but Death invades me;	más de lo que quisiera, pero la muerte me invade.
Death is now a welcome guest.	La muerte es ahora un bienvenido huésped.
When I am laid, am laid in earth,	Cuando repose sobre la tierra,
May my wrongs create	que mis errores no creen
No trouble, no trouble in thy breast;	problemas en tu pecho.
Remember me, remember me, but ah! forget my fate.	Recuérdame, recuérdame pero, ¡ay!, olvida mi sino.
Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.	Recuérdame pero, ¡ay!, olvida mi sino.

Context (Source)

This recitative and aria comes at the end of the opera. The whole opera follows a character named Dido, and the man she plans to marry Aeneas. In the second act, the two go out into the woods, and a sorceress disguises herself as the god of war Mercury who goes to Aeneas and tells him that he needs to begin his plan to create a new Troy on Latin soil. Aeneas believes this is a message from the Gods, and immediately leaves to go do it. The sorceress hopes to kill off Aeneas while he's at sea, and that the heart break from having Aeneas leave will kill Dido. Eventually, Aeneas changes his mind and comes back to Dido, but she sends him away for having even considered leaving her. She then states that she must now die since he is gone, and sings this aria. She dies, and the opera concludes with Cupids laying roses at her tomb.

The Lamenting Bassline

This aria is famous for its use of the chromatically descending bassline from the baroque era that was often used to depict a feeling of lament. It can also be heard in Bach's Crucifixus (about the crucifixion of Christ) , and a more current example can be found in the chorus of the song Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word by Elton John.

Previous Recordings

Handel's O care selve (5/20/2021)
Puccini's O mio babbino caro (5/28/2021)
Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (6/11/2021)

Conclusion

Thanks for reading and listening to this! It's really been fun making these recordings, and I look forward to sharing some of the other pieces we record! Thank you to Bethlehem for allowing us to use their equipment to record! Have an amazing day!