Mozart's marvelous women
- Lyn Richards
- Dec 4
- 3 min read
Here's the playlist for our end of year concert - with gems from the operas we've explored over the last half year.
Abduction from the Seraglio
"Martern aller arten," – 'tortures of all kinds'. It’s acknowledged widely as one of the most challenging arias in the coloratura repertoire. It's long and it's elaborate, with relentless fiery coloratura meant to convey Konstanze's determination to defy the will of her captor, the Pasha Selim, and to plead for her release.
Edita Gruberova Bayerische Staatsoper, München (25 April 1980)
Marriage of Figaro
Porgi Amor – Countess in Marriage of Figaro, just four-lines in one of the most famous arias
'O love, bring some relief
To my sorrow, to my sighs;
O give me back my loved one
Or in mercy let me die.
In 1991, soprano Renée Fleming made a last-minute debut as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, replacing an ailing colleague. She returned to the role at the Met throughout the next few years.
Renée Fleming "Porgi Amor" https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2568932066701204 4.37
Or here's Kiri te Kanawa
Dove Sono - 'Where are they...?' Lyrics here. The Countess mourns the good things of her marriage to the philandering Count.
Kiri te Kanawa
or here's Gundula Janowitz - at the Paris Opera Garnier in 1980.
Deh Vieni – Susanna Sophie Bevan
Mozart's trick aria: beautiful love song from Susannah to the Count - to fool him into a trap.
Cherubino - 'Non so più' Susanne Mentzer Met 1998 production
Non so più" translates to a confused state of being "no longer know what I am, what I do," which says it all.
Don Giovanni
Donna Elvira's great aria Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata - 'Cruel heart, thou hast betray'd me'. Lyrics in English are here.,)
- Kiri Te Kanawa 1966 at the Met
Here's another great Mozart voice, Australian Nicole Car singing Donna Elvira's aria . Recorded at the Paris Opera (Opéra Garnier) in July 2019.
Cosi Fan Tutte,
'È amore un ladroncello' - Love’s a thief Glyndebourne Opera House, 2006. Dorabella was played by Anke Vondung
Fiordiligi’s declaration - Come scoglio immoto resta (Gruberova, from film directed by Jean-Pierre Ponelle 1988).
...and here's a gem we didn't play, compare with the Fiordiligi of Cecilia Bartoli - Come scoglio immoto resta Zurich - Direttore Nikolaus Harnoncourt 2000
Magic Flute
Queen of the Night -Diana Damrau at ROH
Damrau made Metropolitan Opera history in the 2007/08 season by appearing as both Pamina and the Queen of the Night in different performances of The Magic Flute in the same run, after which she retired from playing the Queen,[24] a role that she had sung in more than 15 productions.
Lucia Popp - Ach, ich fühl´s – PAMINA’s aria Vienna State Opera, 1983
"Ah, I feel it" sung by Pamina, who is despairing and believes her beloved Tamino has abandoned her. The full line in English is often translated as, "Ah, I feel it, it has vanished. The joy of love gone forever!"
Zaide
Finally, here's the mystery music that took us out - the beautiful aria from his unfinished opera, Zaide. Two years before Abduction - he was 23. It's been called Mozart's most lyrical aria.
"Ruhe Sanft" ("Sleep Safely"). Zaide calms her freed lover.
Mojca Erdmann 2006, at the Mozart Salzburg Festival.
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