A beautiful Mozart concert: selected arias and Symphony No. 38 (popularly known as the Prague Symphony). Soloist: Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. Concentus Musicus Wien conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Cecilia Bartoli & Nikolaus Harnoncourt Live in Concert – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Programme

  1. 0:01:08 Voi avete un cor fedele, K.217 (see notes 1)
  2. 0:08:50 Vado, ma dove? K.583 (see notes 2)
  3. 0:13:33 Giunse alfin il momento, Al desìo di chi t’adora, K.577 (Susanna’s aria from “Le Nozze di Figaro”) (see notes 3)
  4. 0:22:20 Un moto di gioia mi sento, K.579 (Susanna’s aria from “Le Nozze di Figaro”)(see notes 4)
  5. 0:27:05 Bella mia fiamma, addio!, K.528 (see notes 5)
  6. 0:39:50 Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 (Prague) (see notes 6)

Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as being a progenitor of the period-instrument performance movement.

Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his wife, violinist Alice Harnoncourt co-founded the CMW in 1953, along with several musicians from the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The CMW did research and rehearsal for 4 years before their first official concert; although the ensemble made its ‘unofficial’ debut at the Konzerthaus, Vienna in 1954 with a production of Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo, the CMW’s first public concert was in May 1957 at the Schwarzenberg Palace in Vienna.

The CMW gave a regular concert series at the Schwarzenberg Palace from 1958 to 1962. The CMW made its formal debut in the Mozart-Saal of the Vienna Konzerthaus in February 1962 and performed concerts regularly there until 1971. The CMW staged its first opera at the 1971 Wiener Festwochen with Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria.

The CMW’s first concert at the Musikverein, Vienna, was in 1973. The orchestra has continued to perform regularly at the Musikverein since then. Nikolaus Harnoncourt directed the ensemble from the cello until 1987 and has continued to lead the CMW as its conductor and artistic director.

Notes

1. Voi avete un cor fedele lyrics (Italian & English translation)

Voi avete un cor fedele, (You have a faithful heart)
Come amante appassionato: (like a passionate lover)
Ma mio sposo dichiarato, (But my husband would say)
Che farete? cangerete? (What will he do? Will he change?)
Dite, allora che sarà? (Tell me, what happens then?)
Manterrete fedeltà? (Will you stay loyal?)
Ah! non credo. (Ah, I think not.)
Già prevedo, (I already foresee)
Mi potreste corbellar. (You’d could diddle me.)
Non ancora, (Not yet)
Non per ora, (Not right now)
Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)

Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)
Non ancora, Non per ora, (Not yet, not right now)
Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)

Che farete? cangerete? (What will he do? Will he change?)
Voi avete un cor fedele, (You have a faithful heart)
Come amante appassionato: (like a passionate lover)
Ma mio sposo dichiarato, (But my husband would say)
Che farete? cangerete? (What will he do? Will he change?)
Dite, allora che sarà? (Tell me, what happens then?)
Manterrete fedeltà? (Will you stay loyal?)

Ah! non credo. (Ah, I think not.)
Già prevedo, (I already foresee)
Mi potreste corbellar. (You’d could diddle me.)
Non ancora, (Not yet)
Non per ora, (Not right now)
Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)

Ma mio sposo dichiarato, (But my husband would say)
Che farete? cangerete? (What will he do? Will he change?)
Dite, allora che sarà? (Tell me, what happens then?)
Manterrete fedeltà? (Will you stay loyal?)

Ah! non credo. (Ah, I think not.)
Già prevedo, (I already foresee)
Mi potreste corbellar. (You’d could diddle me.)
Non ancora, (Not yet)
Non per ora, (Not right now)
Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)

Voi avete un cor fedele, (You have a faithful heart)
Come amante appassionato: (like a passionate lover)

Non ancora, (Not yet)
Non per ora, (Not right now)
Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)
Non ancora, Non per ora, (Not yet, not right now)
Non mi vuò di voi fidar. (I’m not going to trust you.)

2. Vado, ma dove? Oh Dei! lyrics (Italian & English translation)

Vado, ma dove? Oh Dei! (I go, but where? Oh Gods!)
Se de’ tormenti suoi, (For your torments)
se de’ sospiri miei (For my sighs)
non sente il ciel pietà! (Does heaven feel no pity?)
Vado, ma dove? Oh Dei! (I go, but where? Oh Gods!)
Se de’ tormenti suoi, (For your torments)
se de’ sospiri miei (For my sighs)
non sente il ciel pietà! (Does heaven feel no pity?)
Se de’ tormenti suoi, (For your torments)
se de’ sospiri miei (For my sighs)
non sente il ciel pietà! (Does heaven feel no pity?)
Tu che mi parli al core, (You, who speak to my heart)
Guida i miei passi, amore; (guide my steps, love;)
Tu quel ritegno or togli (Your checks or warnings)
Che dubitar mi fa. (Make me doubt myself)
Che dubitar mi fa. (Make me doubt myself)

Tu che mi parli al core, (You, who speak to my heart)
Guida i miei passi, amore; (guide my steps, love;)
Tu quel ritegno or togli (Your checks or warnings)
Che dubitar mi fa. (Make me doubt myself)
Che dubitar mi fa. (Make me doubt myself)
Che dubitar, che dubitar mi fa. (doubt, doubt myself)
Che dubitar, che dubitar mi fa. (doubt, doubt myself)
Che dubitar mi fa. (Make me doubt myself)
Che dubitar mi fa. (Make me doubt myself)

3. Deh vieni, non tardar (Susanna’s aria from “Le Nozze di Figaro”)

The Marriage of Figaro (Italian: Le nozze di Figaro), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera’s libretto is based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (first performed in 1784).

The Marriage of Figaro is now regarded as a cornerstone of the standard operatic repertoire, and it appears among the top ten on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.

Italian

Giunse alfìn il momento
Che godrò senza affanno
In braccio all’idol mio. Timide cure,
Uscite dal mio petto,
A turbar non venite il mio diletto!

Oh, come par che all’amoroso foco
L’amenità del loco,
La terra e il ciel risponda,
Come la notte i furti miei seconda!

Al desìo di chi t’adora,
Vieni, vola, o mia speranza!

Morirò, se indarno ancora
Tu mi lasci sospirar.

Le promesse, i giuramenti,
Deh! rammenta, o mio tesoro!

E i momenti di ristoro
Che mi fece Amor sperar!

Ah! ch’io mai più non resisto
All’ardor che in sen m’accende!
Chi d’amor gli affetti intende,
Compatisca il mio penar.

English translation

At last, comes the moment
When, without reserve,
I can rejoice in my lover’s arms. Timid scruples,
Hence from my heart,
And do not come to trouble my delight!

Oh, how the spirit of this place,
The earth and the sky, seem
To echo the fire of love,
How the night furthers my stealth!

Come, hurry, my beloved,
To the desires of the one who adores you!

I shall die if you leave me
Still to sigh in vain.

The promises, and vows;
(Of) those! Remember, my darling!

And those moments of solace,
Which love made me hope for!

Ah, I can no longer resist
The passion that is burning in my heart!
Let those who understand the pains of love,
Have sympathy for my suffering.

4. Un moto di gioia (Susanna’s aria from “Le Nozze di Figaro”)

Italian

Un moto di gioia
Mi sento nel petto,
Che annunzia diletto
In mezzo il timor!

Speriam che in contento
Finisca l’affanno
Non sempre è tiranno
Il fato ed amor.

Di pianti di pene
Ognor non si pasce,
Talvolta poi nasce
Il ben dal dolor:

E quando si crede
Più grave il periglio,
Brillare si vede
La calma maggior.

English translation

An emotion of joy
I feel in my heart
that says happiness is coming
in spite of my fears.

Let us hope that the worry
will end in contentment.
Fate and love are
not always tyrants.

From weeping, from pain
one cannot always live
Sometimes then is born
a good thing out of sorrow.

And when one believes
the danger is greatest,
one sees shining
a greater calm.

5. Bella mia fiamma, addio!, K.528

Italian

Bella mia fiamma, addio!
Non piacque al cielo di renderci felici.
Ecco reciso, prima d’esser compito,
quel purissimo nodo, che strinsero
fra lor gl’animi nostri con il solo voler.
Vivi: Cedi al destin, cedi al dovere.
Della giurata fede la mia morte t’assolve.
A più degno consorte … O pene!
unita vivi più lieta e più felice vita.
Ricordati di me, ma non mai turbi
d’un felice sposo la rara
rimembranza il tuo riposo.

Regina, io vado ad ubbidirti
Ah, tutto finisca il mio furor col morir mio.
Cerere, Alfeo, diletta sposa, addio!

Resta, o cara, acerba morte mi separa
Oh Dio….. da te!

Prendi cura di sua sorte,
consolarla almen procura.

Vado . . . ahi lasso!
Addio, addio per sempre.
Quest’affanno, questo passo
è terribile per me.
Ah! Dov’è il tempio, dov’è l’ara?
Vieni, affretta la vendetta!

Questa vita così amara
più soffribile non è!

English translation

Light of my life, farewell!
Heaven did not intend our happiness.
Before the knot was tied,
those pure strands were severed that bound
our spirits in a single will.
Live: Yield to fate and to your duty.
My death absolves you from your promise.
O grief! United to a more worthy consort
you will have a happier, more joyous life.
Remember me, but never let stray
thoughts of an unhappy lover
disturb your rest.

Majesty, I go in obedience to your will…
Ah, let death put an end to my raving.
Ceres, Alpheus, beloved heart, farewell!

Stay, dear heart, cruel death tears me away
O God….from you!

Look after her,
comfort her at last.

I go … alas!
Farewell, farewell forevermore.
This anguish, this step
is hard for me to bear.
Ah! Where is the temple, where is the altar?
Dear heart, farewell forever!

A life as bitter as this
can be borne no longer!

6. Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504

Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1786. It was premiered in Prague on January 19, 1787, during Mozart’s first visit to the city. Because it was first performed in Prague, it is popularly known as the Prague Symphony.

The symphony has three movements, each in sonata form:

  1. Adagio – Allegro, 4/4. The first movement begins with a slow introduction (he does this in only two other symphonies, No. 36 [“Linz”] and No. 39). Daniel E. Freeman has noted that it is probably the longest and most sophisticated slow introduction written for any major symphony up to that time, perhaps to compensate for the length of the missing minuet in order to help bring the entire work into closer alignment with the customary length of a standard four-movement symphony. The introduction gives way to the main portion of the movement, in which six melodies are developed and recapitulated in a very contrapuntal example of sonata-allegro form. Certain phrases in the first movement bear a resemblance to the overture to Die Zauberflöte. The allegro proper opens in a complicated manner with the “first theme” traded off between the second violins (who start it) and the first violins (who finish it off).
  2. Andante in G major, 6/8. The second movement’s structure is typical of Mozart’s symphonies dating from this period, although the music shifts into the minor key in a movement of contrasting moods.[citation needed] It is in the subdominant key of G major.
  3. Finale (Presto), 2/4. The finale of Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 is a lively Presto in which the flute plays a prominent role, especially in counterpointing the main melody in the development section. According to Antony Hopkins CBE (21 March 1921 – 6 May 2014, the English composer, pianist, and conductor, as well as a writer and radio broadcaster), this movement “shows Mozart in an unusual mood, nearer to Beethoven’s boisterousness than his fastidious taste normally allowed him to go.”

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

Published by M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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