Vorrei spiegarvi, K. 418
Aria for soprano with 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns and strings
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
In 1783, Mozart's sister-in-law Aloysia Weber Lange was to make her Vienna debut in Pasquale Anfossi's opera Il curioso indiscreto, but she found that the arias for her character did not suit her dramatically and did not make use of her unusually beautiful high register. Mozart was therefore asked to provide two new arias that could be inserted into Anfossi's opera for her. In Vorrei spiegarvi, the heroine Clorinda is betrothed to a nobleman who wishes to test her fidelity by sending a friend, the Count di Ripaverdi, to court her. In the first part of the aria, Clorinda muses on her attraction to the new suitor, but in the second faster section, she pulls herself together and rejects him, sending him back his own lover.
The aria begins with an Adagio that features Aloysia Weber's cantabile singing, as well as her high register (going up to a high E). As it becomes more agitated in the Allegro and then a Più Allegro, it becomes a virtuoso vehicle for her. Over time, Mozart wrote a number of arias for her, and she appeared in his operas, including Don Giovanni, in which she sang the role of Donna Anna at the premiere.
Boston Baroque Performances
Vorrei spiegarvi, K. 418
May 11 & 13, 2000
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloist:
Lynette Tapia, soprano