Ingratissima Clori

IThe text for Ingratissima Clori does not appear in Ottoboni’s Trattenimenti poetici, and its authorship is therefore uncertain. However, it exhibits one of Ottoboni’s most consistent stylistic ‘trademarks’ – the use of end-rhyme throughout the recitative stanzas (i.e., not merely in a final couplet) – and the worldly- wise view of romantic love expressed in it (amounting to: if one love-object is unresponsive to you, seek another) is very much in his vein. It should be considered a candidate for his authorship. The text comprises two arias, each introduced by a short recitative. This is the ‘RARA’ layout that dominated the cantata around 1700, before becoming displaced from favour in its turn by the even more condensed ‘ARA’ layout.