Händel: M’hai Resa Infelice [Jeanine De Bique, Holland Baroque]

Accompanied by the early music ensemble Holland Baroque, the Trinidadian classical soprano Jeanine De Bique sings M’hai Resa Infelice, a soprano aria from George Frideric Händel‘s 1741 opera Deidamia (HWV 42).

George Frideric Händel’s M’hai resa infelice

“M’hai resa infelice” from Deidamia is not as widely recognized or performed as many of Händel‘s other works. The title translates from Italian to “You made me unhappy.”

Händel’s opera Deidamia, a co-production with the Earl of Holderness, was first performed on 10 January 1741 at London’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre but received only two more performances at a time when the public was becoming tired of Italian opera. The work was Handel’s last Italian opera, and he subsequently turned his attention to composing oratorios. The opera was revived in the 1950s and it receives staged performances today, e.g. the 2012 staging by David Alden for Netherlands Opera.

Händel’s M’hai Resa Infelice lyrics [text]

Italian: M’hai resa infelice

M’hai resa infelice:
che vanto n’avrai?
Oppressi, dirai,
un’alma fedel.

Le vele se darai
de’ flutti al seno infido,
sconvolga orribil vento
l’instabil elemento,
e innanzi al patrio lido
sommèrgati, crudel.

English translation: You made me unhappy

You made me unhappy:
what pride will you have in it?
Oppressed, you will say,
a faithful soul.

The sails if you will give
of the waves to the treacherous breast,
upset horrible wind
the unstable element,
and in front of the homeland shore
submerged, cruel.

Jeanine De Bique

Jeanine De Bique is a Trinidadian classical soprano, who trained at the Manhattan School of Music, known for her performance of Baroque music.

She has been described as “one of the most exciting sopranos to catch onstage these days. Animated, joyful, and technically flawless, the Trinidadian vocalist with the light, starry voice that soars before landing on audiences’ ears like a musical meteor shower” (Operawire) and a “sheer endless wealth of color and nuances[…] a radiant, free-floating timbre.” (Opernwelt)

Since her breakthrough debut at the 2017 Salzburg Festival as Annio in Peter Sellar’s production of La Clemenza di Tito, conducted by Teodor Currentzis and subsequently shown at De Nationale Opera Amsterdam, she has appeared as Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro for San Francisco Opera, Helena in Ted Huffman’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Donald Runnicles, in the title role of Handel’s Rodelinda at Opéra de Lille, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm and released on DVD by Erato (winner of the Opus Klassik Award 2020), as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for Opéra National du Rhin and as Aida in the world premiere of Caruso a Cuba by Micha Hamel in a return to De Nationale Opera Amsterdam.

Concert highlights include:

• Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Raphaël Pichon at La Seine Musicale in Paris and with Lorin Maazel and the Munich Philharmonic
• Mahler’s Symphony no 2 with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under Tugan Sokhiev in Toulouse and at the Philharmonie de Paris
• Handel arias and Mozart’s Requiem with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer at the Hollywood Bowl and New York’s Lincoln Center
• Mahler’s Symphony no 4, conducted by Teodor Currentzis, in Milan, St Petersburg, Munich, and Budapest
• Return visits to the BBC PROMS in works by Handel with the Chineke! Orchestra and with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Richard Egarr
• The Messiah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Symphony
• Paert’s Como cierva sedienta with Iván Fischer and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin
• Mahler’s Symphony no 8 with Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop at the Ravinia Festival.

Ms De Bique holds a Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her awards include First prize at the Young Concert Artists, Inc. Music Competition, the Arleen Auger Prize at the Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition, and Third Prize in the Viotti International Music Competition.

She was a prize winner at the Gerda Lissner Vocal Competition (New York), a finalist and study grant award recipient of the 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and received a study grant from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation. She is a recipient of the Youth Ambassador for Peace, awarded by the National Commission of UNESCO, Trinidad and Tobago.

Sources

• M’hai resa infelice lyrics [text] on the Lieder.net archive
• Deidamia (opera) on Wikipedia
• Jeanine De Bique’s official website
• Jeanine De Bique on Wikipedia