Handel: “Va tacito“, from his Opera Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar). Andreas Scholl, countertenor.

“Va tacito e nascosto“ (Italian. English translation: “Silently and stealthily“) is an aria written for alto castrato voice in Act 1 of George Frideric Handel’s opera “Giulio Cesare in Egitto“ (Julius Caesar in Egypt HWv 17), composed in 1724 to a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. Here in this aria, a diplomatic stand-off is depicted; a peeing contest, as it were - its outcome made entirely unambiguous by the overwhelming military supremacy of the “upstart“ Romans, led by Julius Caesar. Here is a clip