Il pinar senza speranza

This cantata, from an important manuscript in Berlin containing 18 Albinoni cantatas for soprano and continuo, describes a disappointed lover's repudiation of Cupid. The form is notably concise, having only three movements: two arias enclosing a recitative. The first aria, expressing the lover's unhappiness in love, employs an ostinato bass - a speciality of the composer - very eloquently, while the second aria playfully, almost flirtatiously, heaps opprobrium on Cupid, even though one suspects that sooner or later the lover will be grateful again for his services.