Ch'io mi scordi di te?, K. 505
For soprano and solo piano with 2 clarinets in Bb, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in Eb, and strings
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
This aria is for the unusual combination of solo voice, piano obbligato and orchestra. Mozart wrote it on December 26, 1786, intending to perform the piano part himself with the young English soprano, Nancy Storace. Months earlier, she had sung the role of Susanna in the premiere of The Marriage of Figaro, and there has long been speculation that Mozart was in love with her.
Earlier that year, Mozart had written a tenor aria on this same text to insert into a revival of his opera Idomeneo, but being set here as an independent concert piece for Nancy Storace, the text suggests a more personal tone. She and Mozart performed it together early in 1787, shortly before her departure from Vienna. It is his farewell to her.
Mozart, Ch'io mi scordi di te?, K. 505
Recitativo:
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'affetti miei,
Come tentarlo?
Ah! di dolor morrei.
Aria:
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?
Recitative:
I forget you?
Can you counsel me
to give myself to him,
and still wish me to live?
Ah, no!
My life would be
far worse than death.
Let death come:
I await it calmly.
But that I could be consumed
by another flame and bestow
my love on another,
how could I attempt it?
Ah! di dolor morrei.
Aria:
Do not fear, my love;
my heart shall be yours for ever.
I can no longer bear such pain;
my spirit fails me.
Do you sigh? Oh bitter sorrow!
But think at least of my predicament!
Oh heaven! I cannot explain.
Cruel stars, pitiless stars,
why so harsh?
Kind souls who see
my anguish at this moment,
say if a faithful heart
can suffer such torment as this.
Boston Baroque Performances
Ch'io mi scordi di te?, K. 505
March 15, 1997
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Dominique Labelle, soprano
John Gibbons, piano