Lascia la spina

[Erika Leroux]

For a few minutes, and only a few minutes, passers by might be startled by a voice, singing, as if from nowhere. The more perceptive might think its source is from below their feet, perhaps escaping through a metal grate, but they cannot quite pin it down.

The voice is female, and is obviously trained to a high degree. She is singing in Italian. To those in the know, it is an aria reminiscent of Handel's Rinaldo. Yet the words are different. Older, as if the seed of the later form. The emotion in her performance is beyond measure.

Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa; tu vai cercando il tuo dolor.
Canuta brina per mano ascosa, giungerà quando nol crede il cuor.

And then, as abrubtly as the song has begun, it ends.