Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo

ACT ONE
Rome, during the age of the High Baroque: in a hall of a grand palazzo, a performance is in preparation. A stage is built; the musicians, including a singer, several chorus members and instrumentalists, rehearse the cantata that is to be performed on this occasion. It deals with the emergence and essence of music: the myth of Orpheus. At first, it depicts the passing of the island of the Sirens, when Orpheus is able to lead his fellow travelers past the song of the man-murdering sirens by drowning them out with his powerful voice.
The writer and the musician listen impatiently to the rehearsal. They are waiting for the famous composer Alessandro Stradella, who leads a life riddled with scandal, the “new Orpheus” who promised a new aria as the highlight of the performance. While the musician is skeptical of Stradella’s eccentric innovations, the writer in contrast sees them as nothing less than the search for truth, as in the paintings of Caravaggio. The singer also reveals herself to be a Stradella aficionado and provides several samples of his music.
In the meantime, the servants of the house, Solfetto, Finocchio, Minchiello, and the maids Pasquozza and Chiappina, make fun of the Prince and Princess, the master of the house and his wife, and their guests, mocking their “highnesses” and their strange behavior and exchange the latest gossip. All the while, the rehearsal is continued. The musician and the writer come to speak of Stradella’s excessive private life: numerous passionate affairs, including with some of the noblest ladies of Roman society, are rumored to regularly cause him difficulties.

ACT TWO
Years later, the rehearsal still continues without Stradella having appeared. Solfetto and Finocchio wait with the news that the composer has fled the city with his latest flame, a countess, but her husband is in hot pursuit. Unimpressed by this, the rehearsal continues.
Other rumors then begin to circulate: Stradella is supposed to have been attacked by pursuers in Turin, but, to everybody’s relief, survived the attack and then sought refuge in Genoa—now without his lover. But it seems dubious whether he will be able to complete his composition.
The singer interrupts work on the cantata and turns to several short songs by Stradella, while the servants ask in boredom when the rehearsal will finally be over. Slowly the cantata seems to come to an end, with the description of Orpheus’ murder by the furious bacchantes.
In the meantime, the musician and the writer begin to argue over the question of sensuality in art. Their argument is interrupted by the appearance of a young singer who reports that Stradella has been murdered. Together with a violinist, he begins a lament to the great artist.
With this, the rehearsal comes to an abrupt end, the singers and musicians leave the hall. The young singer hands over a sheet of music to the perplexed singer, not saying a word. While leaving, he discusses Stradella’s modest legacy with the musician and the writer. The singer, now left alone, decodes the music on the paper: it is the aria she had been waiting for the whole time?