Ch'io mi scordi di te?

Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non temer, amato bene, K. 505, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for soprano, piano obbligato and orchestra, composed 1786 in Vienna; it is often considered to be one of his greatest compositions in this genre.

History

The scena (recitative and rondo) was originally composed in 1786 with different music and a different text for the recitative as an insertion aria, ("Non più. Tutto ascoltai...Non temer, amato bene", K. 490), for the character Idamante in a revision of Mozart's earlier opera Idomeneo for amateur performance in Vienna.

The work was written for Nancy Storace, probably for her farewell concert from Vienna on Friday, 23 February 1787 at the Theater am Kärntnertor. Mozart himself very likely played the obbligato piano part (K. 490 has a violin obbligato). The words to the aria are by Giambattista Varesco, but the new words of the recitative are thought to be by Lorenzo Da Ponte.^[1] Mozart entered the work on 27 December 1786 into his catalogue with the remark: "for Mlle Storace and me." He performed it again with Josepha Duschek on 12 May 1789 in the Gewandhaussaal in Leipzig on his Berlin journey. Mozart's autograph, dated 26 December 1786, was thought to have been been lost since 1945,^[2] but is now known to be in the university library in Cracow.^{[citation needed]}

Instrumentation

The work is scored for two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, strings, soprano, piano.

Structure

The work consists of two sections, the recitative, 27 bars, in G minor ("Ch'io mi scordi di te?") and the aria itself, 219 bars, a rondo in E-flat major ("Non temer, amato bene"). A performance takes between ten and eleven minutes.

The piece opens with the strings, alternating between solo soprano and solo strings. After the opening few phrases, the tempo briefly changes to be much more fast and rigorous. It soon changes back to the opening tempo with the soprano part now accompanies by strings. After this, the winds quickly modulate the piece to E-flat major at which point the piano enters, in a light, gentle almost flirtatious upwards moving passage which sets the theme for the opening of the rondo. The soprano then enters again with the piano being a more prominent accompaniment, at times solo. Throughout the rondo there is a considerable amount of coloratura and sustained notes. There is a sudden tempo change ushered in by the piano in rapid scales. There is then a brief passage in which the piano only accompanies the orchestra. A new theme is then introduced and repeated, after this, another intense moment is introduced with repeated use of the word perche by the soprano. After this there is a passage in the minor with only the piano and soprano. However, the winds and piano soon lead the modulation back to the major at which point the theme of the rondo introduced at the faster tempo is repeated. There is then a considerable amount of coloratura from the soprano, culminating in two high notes which then further lead to a trill, and to the glorious ending accompanied by arpeggios in the piano.

Libretto

Idamante:

Ch'io mi scordi di te? Che a lui mi doni puoi consigliarmi? E puoi voler che in vita? Ah no! Sarebbe il viver mio di morte assai peggior. Venga la morte, intrepida l'attendo. Ma, ch'io possa struggermi ad altra face, ad altr'oggetto donar gl'affeti miei, come tentarlo? Ah, di dolor morrei! Non temer, amato bene, per te sempre il cor sarà. Più non reggo a tante pene, l’alma mia mancando va. Tu sospiri? O duol funesto! Pensa almen, che istante è questo! Non mi posso, oh Dio! spiegar. Stelle barbare, stelle spietate, perchè mai tanto rigor? Alme belle, che vedete le mie pene in tal momento, dite voi, s’egual tormento può soffrir un fido cor?

You ask that I forget you? You can advise me to give myself to her? And this while yet I live? Ah no! My life would be far worse than death! Let death come, I await it fearlessly. But how could I attempt to warm myself to another flame, to lavish my affections on another? Ah! I should die of grief! Fear nothing, my beloved, my heart will always be yours. I can no longer suffer such distress, my spirit fails me. You sigh? O mournful sorrow! Just think what a moment this is! O God! I cannot express myself. Barbarous stars, pitiless stars, why are you so stern? Fair souls who see my sufferings at such a moment, tell me if a faithful heart could suffer such torment?

References

1. ^ Program notes by James M. Keller, New York Philharmonic, May 2006
2. ^ Series II, Group 7, Vol. 3, p. XVI of the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

• Ch'io mi scordi di te? at Allmusic, Description and discography

External links

• Ch'io mi scordi di te?: Score and critical report (German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Discography at Neue Mozart-Ausgabe Online
• Recording by European Sinfonietta, Ed Spanjaard, conductor; Miranda van Kralingen, soprano; Brilliant Classics, courtesy of Neue Mozart-Ausgabe Online (direct link)