from the opera "Radimiaro"
Voicing: SA and piano
composed by G.F. Handel
Edited by Betsy Cook Weber
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) is one of the most important composers of the Baroque era. Born in Germany, he is most famous for his oratorio, Messiah, but he also wrote thirty operas over a period of forty years. "Se teco vive il cor" comes from one of those operas, Radamisto, written in 1720, As is so often true in opera, the story of Radamisto is a tangled one. In terms of this duet, however, "Se teco..." is a fairly straight-forward love song between Radamisto and his wife Zenobia. Of interest is the fact that, in this version, Radamisto is sung by a soprano, which was a typical convention of the day.