Harmonious Love

Handel’s cantata Apollo & Dafne was written in Venice when he was just 24 years old. It tells the story of Apollo’s vanity as he suggests that even Cupid’s bow is no match for his own. Challenging Apollo’s boastfulness, Cupid shoots his arrows and Apollo falls prey to rapturous yearnings for Dafne. She spurns his advances and, in a desperate effort to escape, is transformed into a laurel tree. 

Love brings life to a statue in Rameau's Pygmalion. The protagonist sculptor has carved a beautiful marble figure and has fallen desperately in love with his inanimate work of art. He faithfully entreats Venus to turn his handiwork into a breathing, captivating, and singing creature. Love inspires a miracle and triumphs over longing.