Arie a voce sola, Op.8 - Che si puo fare (Barbara Strozzi, 1664), soprano - Mariana Flores
What can one do if the rebel stars have no pity; what can be done if heaven has no peaceful influence to soothe my sorrows; what can one say from the stars disasters rain upon me at all hours; what can be said if perfidious love denies the slightest repose to my martyrdom; what can be said? That is how it goes with perverse destiny, that condemns the innocent, so too constancy that most trusted gold and, oh, it nonetheless need be purified at every hour by the flames of my sorrows. Yes, yes I should suffer, yes, yes, from my sighs I should hold back my breath. In bitter misfortunes so as to prolong my being, the heavens deny me my destiny, that my life's course should lead to death. Cursed spirits, you do rejoice indeed, when each of the perverse furies has as its only goal the torment of my soul. If the furies of Dis were to vanish, you would spend your days in the eternal Elysia, while I perish in the underworld. So it happens to him who must follow the example of the blind man: in the end he falls to the ground.