Dove sono
| "Dove sono" | |
|---|---|
| Aria by W. A. Mozart | |
 Aulikki Rautawaara as the Countess in the 1950s | |
| English | Where are [those happy moments] |
| Key | C major |
| Related | Le nozze di Figaro |
| Text | by Lorenzo da Ponte |
| Language | Italian |
| Composed | 1786 |
"Dove sono" (Where are [those happy moments])[1] is an aria in Italian for lyric soprano from the third act of Mozart's 1786 opera Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). Countess Almaviva laments, in an initial recitative, that her husband has become a philanderer, and that she must rely on assistance from her maid to manipulate him. In the aria, she calmly remembers moments of love, and hopes, with increasing agitation, that her persistence may make him love her again.[2] It is frequently performed in recitals[3] and featured in anthologies of vocal music for lyric soprano.
Background and text[edit]
Mozart composed Le nozze di Figaro in 1786, in his first collaboration with Lorenzo da Ponte, based on the play La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro) by Beaumarchais.[2] "Dove sono" is an aria of Countess Rosina from the third act, preceded by a recitative, "E Susanna non vien!" (Susanna's not come!).[1] She is alone on stage. In the recitative, she regrets that her husband, Count Almaviva, who had wooed her energetically and loved her ardently, has become an indiscriminate, overbearing philanderer;[4] and that she must rely on assistance from her domestic staff in order to manipulate him. In the aria, she misses the tender moments of love that she remembers, and finally hopes that her persistence and fidelity may make him love her again.[2][5]: 266
Music[edit]
The music is in C major. The recitative is accompanied by strings, and the orchestra in the aria features oboes and bassoons prominently. The recitative, "E Susanna non vien! Sono ansiosa di saper come il Conte accolse la proposta" (Susanna's not come! I'm impatient to know what the Count said to her proposal.)[1] is marked Andante. Strings move with lively motifs when she pauses.
The melody of the aria, "Dove sono i bei momenti di dolcezza e di piacer" (Where are those happy moments of sweetness and pleasure?)[1] begins similarly to the Agnus Dei from Mozart's Coronation Mass in C major, K. 371, written in 1779.[6]: 350 While in F major in the mass, it is in C major in the opera, in 2/4 time and marked Andante again. She begins softly, with little melodic movement,[5]: 266–267 while oboes and bassoons fill her rests with expressive motifs which she later picks up. She alone begins the Allegro section, in common time, singing in increasing movement, and with increasing instrumental support, of her hope for a change in her husbands heart.[5]: 266
Usage[edit]
The journalist Bruce Scott considers that "Dove sono" is one of the best known and most loved arias in the operatic repertoire.[4] Beyond performances of the opera, it is frequently performed in recitals[3] and featured in anthologies of vocal music for lyric soprano, often with the preceding recitative.[7][8][9][10][11]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "E Susanna non vien." opera-arias.com. 2022. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ a b c Moberly, Robert; Raeburn, Christopher (1965). "Mozart's Figaro: The Plan of Act III". Music & Letters. 46 (2): 134–136. doi:10.1093/ml/XLVI.2.134. JSTOR 732624. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ a b Robinson, P.A. (1986). Opera & Ideas: From Mozart to Strauss. Cornell Paperbacks. Cornell University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8014-9428-4. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ a b Scott, Bruce (18 March 2011). "First-Time Perfection: Mozart's Marriage of Figaro". NPR. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ a b c Waldoff, Jessica; Webster, James (1996). "Operatic Plotting in Le nozze di Figaro". Wolfgang Amadè Mozart: Essays on His Life and His Music. Clarendon Press. pp. 250–274. ISBN 978-0-19-816443-2. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ Alwes, Chester Lee (2015). "Coronation Mass". A History of Western Choral Music. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. pp. 348–350. ISBN 978-0-19-936193-9. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ Le nozze di Figaro. recitative and aria, G. Schirmer, 1911, OCLC 5791146
- ^ Larsen, Robert L. Arias for soprano. New York, NY. ISBN 0-7935-0400-7. OCLC 24151184.
- ^ Opera italiana. antologia di arie = anthologie d'arias = Arien-Anthologie, 2018, OCLC 1259547087
- ^ Opera italiana : soprano : antologia di arie = anthologie d'arias = Arien-Anthologie (in Italian), 2014, OCLC 1040943934
- ^ Wolff, Ann-Elisabeth (1984), Opern-Arien für Sopran 132 Arien in vier Bänden, Peters, OCLC 890581572
External links[edit]
- "E Susanna non vien!": Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
- "E Susanna non vien! ... Dove sono i bei momenti", libretto critical edition, recordings; Digital Mozart Edition
- Details, range, tessitura, Italian and English text, aria-database.com
- Analysis of Two Arias from Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro (analysis) lizhogg.com 2015
- Video, without the recitative on YouTube, Dorothea Röschmann at The Royal Opera (2006)