Concert arias and opera excerpts

Vado, ma dove, K 583

Throughout the first half of 1789, Mozart barely wrote any new works. However, the creative juices started flowing again in May-June, and although some superb pieces came from his pen his output never approached that of previous years. During these months he also wrote arias for two singers – Adriana Ferrarese del Benne and Louise Villeneuve – partly for his own, and partly other artists’ operas. Adriana and Louise played the roles of Fiordiligi and Dorabella, respectively, in Così fan tutte debuting in 1790. He intended the aria beginning Vado, ma dove for the latter singer, with which the opera buffa Il Burbero di buon core (The Good-Hearted Curmudgeon) by Vicente Martín y Soler was complemented. The libretto was by Lorenzo da Ponte and Mozart was needed because in the meantime Martin y Soler left Vienna to serve in the court of Catherine the Great.

Misera, dove son, K 369

Misera, dove son! – Ah! non son’io che parlo recitativo and aria was written in Munich in 1781, during the happy Idomeneo period. The lyrics are taken from Metastasio’s libretto Ezio. We don’t know who Mozart intended the aria for.

Voi avete un cor fedele, K 217

The aria phrasing comes from Carlo Goldoni’s comedy Le nozze di Dorina. Mozart’s composition dates from October 1775 (Salzburg), the commission may have come from an Italian travelling troupe, but the singer is unknown.

The Marriage of Figaro– overture; Voi che sapete – Cherubino’s aria, K 492

The composer of Figaro “not only delighted in stage life, he not only rejoiced and laughed, but profoundly and sincerely experienced this life as well,” writes Aladár Tóth. This absolute love of life fizzes in the overture of Figaro, which accurately reflects the chaos and intoxication of the ‘mad day’. Géza Fodor characterizes the figure of the lovelorn teenager Cherubino thus: “he is nothing less than the symbolic figure of a state of mind, a human state, if you like, a phase: the awakening desire. This desire is abstract and general, its object the female sex as a whole. Its contradictory nature derives from this: happy euphoria and profound melancholy.” The arietta beginning Voi che sapete is an especially sensual (and hugely popular) formulation of this state of mind.

Così fan tutte – overture; Amore é un ladroncello – Dorabella’s aria (Così fan tutte), K 588

“Since the beginning of the last century, Così fan tutte has occupied a place in music’s common perception as the most problematic master opera by Mozart. It is interesting to note, however, that at the time of the première people did not feel like this, and in the wake of the far from unambiguous reception for Don Juan, Così certainly met with a positive public reception,” writes Géza Fodor. Dorabella’s aria in the second act has the voice of the girl finding play and excitement in love, so where is the determined tone of the pledge of fidelity?

Solitudine amiche… Zeffiretti, lusinghieri – Ilia’s recitativo and aria (Idomeneo), K 366

Of Mozart’s contemporaries, most spoke of the opera Idomeneo in glowing terms: “tears of joy and delight” welled up in eyes, while the orchestral musicians at the première were unanimous in stating that “this was the most beautiful music they had ever heard, new and remarkable”. János Malina writes of Emőke Baráth’s recent role of Ilia thus: “she sang with an enchanted beauty and feeling in the tender aria opening the third act”.