Lascia ch'io pianga is a soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

 aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 by composer George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

 which has become a popular concert piece. The melody for the song began its life as an Asian dance in his 1705 opera Almira

Almira

Almira, Königin von Castilien or Der in Krohnen erlangte Glückswechsel, is George Frideric Handel's first opera.-Background:Handel came to the city of Hamburg in the summer of 1703 and played as a violinist in the theatre at the Gänsemarkt, the local market place...

. As an aria the piece was first used in Handel's 1707 oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno

The Triumph of Time and Truth

The Triumph of Time and Truth is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel which saw three iterations across 50 years of Handel's career.HWV 46a is an Italian oratorio from 1707. In 1737 Handel revised and expanded the oratorio to create HWV 46b...

; albeit with a different text and name, "Lascia la spina". Handel later recycled the work for his 1711 opera Rinaldo

Rinaldo (opera)

Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...

, giving the aria to the character Almirena (portrayed by soprano Isabella Girardeau

Isabella Girardeau

Isabella Girardeau was an Italian operatic soprano who flourished in London, England from 1709-1712. Commonly referred to by the opera going public in London as "La Isabella", she is best remembered today for creating the role of Almirena in the momentous premiere of George Frideric Handel's...

 in the opera's premiere) in Act II. Rinaldo was a major triumph for Handel, and it is with this work that the aria is chiefly associated. The aria has been recorded by numerous artists on record and CD, and is featured in several films including Farinelli

Farinelli (film)

Farinelli is a 1994 biographical film about the life and career of the Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time...

, All Things Fair

All Things Fair

All Things Fair is a 1995 Swedish drama film directed by Bo Widerberg, about a sexual relationship between a teacher and her 15 year old student in southern Sweden during World War II. Bo Widerberg's son Johan Widerberg stars as the boy and Marika Lagercrantz plays the teacher...

by Bo Widerberg, L.I.E.

L.I.E.

L.I.E. is a 2001 American independent film about a relationship between Howie, a 15-year-old boy, and a pedophile known as 'Big John'. The title is an acronym for the Long Island Expressway. The film was directed by Michael Cuesta, who has said that the film is about exploring sexuality...

by Michael Cuesta

Michael Cuesta

Michael Cuesta is an American film and television director. Cuesta co-wrote and directed the 2001 independent film, L.I.E.. He has directed and produced television series including Six Feet Under, Dexter and Blue Bloods.-Biography:He received a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in...

 and Antichrist

Antichrist (film)

Antichrist is a 2009 arthouse-horror film written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It follows horror film conventions and tells the story of a couple who, after the death of their child, retreat to a cabin in the woods where the man experiences strange...

by Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....

.

The piano melody can be heard in the introduction and coda to Tsuki Amano's song Zero no Chōritsu.

Italian	English
Lascia ch'io pianga mia cruda sorte, e che sospiri la libertà. Il duolo infranga queste ritorte de' miei martiri sol per pietà.	Let me weep my cruel fate, and I sigh for liberty. May sorrow break these chains Of my sufferings, for pity's sake.