One of Handel’s most delightful Arias, ‘As Steals the Morn’, with the libretto lightly adapted from Act 5, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Tempest:
The charm dissolves apace, And as the morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness, so their rising senses Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle Their clearer reason…
First premiered in February of 1740, this melody, with the flawless performances from all, certainly ‘melts the darkness’, and allows us all to see a little more with ‘clearer reason’, a welcome distraction from talk of stealing elections in the early morn: