Cruelle mère des amours

from the opera Hippolyte et Aricie by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Phèdre
Les Arts Florissants under William Christie

The opera was premiered by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre.

Cruelle mère des amours,
Ta vengeance a perdu ma trop coupable race;
N'en suspendras-tu point le cours?
Ah ! du moins, à tes yeux, que Phèdre trouve grâce.

Je ne te reproche plus rien,
Si tu rends à mes vœux Hippolyte sensible.
Mes feux me font horreur; mais mon crime est le tien;
Tu dois cesser d'être inflexible.

Cruel mother of loves,
your vengeance has brought low my most guilty race.
Will you not check its course?
Ah! At least let Phaedra find grace in your eyes!

I will reproach you no more
if you make Hippolytus susceptible to my desires.
My ardour horrifies me, but my crime is yours.
You should cease to be inflexible.

available from ERATO:
http://www.arts-florissants.com/audio...

Photography in the video by Jakub Gulyás:
http://jakubgulyas.com/portfolio/mari...