I always loved this impassioned complaint--by Giovanni Legrenzi---back when I was studying music. It's a rebuke to Cupid for the pain and unhappiness he causes---though he's just a baby still on his mother's milk. It's an exciting song.
It reminds me of a young tenor on whom I had a crush at opera camp. He was so, so gay----but he didn't know it, and neither did I. He had a magnificent voice even though he was only 18 (about 10 years from the voice's prime).
Looking through the various renditions on You Tube, this is the one I liked best.This guy is really good.
My music teacher thought it was a "man's song," so wouldn't let me perform it. So I have a version by a soprano just to show....too late, alas!
Che fiero costume
D'aligero nume,
Che a forza di pene si faccia adorar!
E pur nell' ardore
Il dio traditore
Un vago sembiante mi fe' idolatrar.
Che crudo destino
Che un cieco bambino
Con bocca di latte si faccia stimar!
Ma questo tiranno
Con barbaro inganno,
Entrando per gli occhi, mi fe' sospirar!
Franco Tenelli performs (tenor)
The pretty young soprano who posted it performs:
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