Or fia mai vero, o lontananza infida

The text for Or fia mai ver, o lontananza infida does not appear in Ottoboni’s Trattenimenti poetici, and its authorship is therefore uncertain. However, it exhibits one of Ottoboni’s most consistent stylistic ‘trademarks’ – the use of end-rhyme throughout the recitative stanzas (i.e., not merely in a final couplet) – and the unusually serious treatment of the subject (the ability of a lover’s imagination to remain close to the beloved despite physical separation) is very much in his vein. It should be considered a candidate for his authorship. The text comprises two arias, each introduced by a short recitative, and a final recitative that is completed, in order to achieve a better sense of climax, by a ‘cavata’ – the name given to an extended setting, often in contrapuntal style, of one or two selected lines of recitative.