Cecilia Bartoli’s masterful interpretation of K. 528 (completed by Mozart on 3 Nov 1787) is a stunning ‘near-reincarnation’ of Josefa Duschek for whom Mozart compos’d this scena - what a performance ! Bravissima Madama !! You are not only a national treasure of Italy but a World Treasure to be regarded as a precious Gift for all humanity !! Here (for those of us who revere the great Mozart’s Music to near idolatry...) is some background as to how this beautiful scena sprang into existence... Mozart arriv’d in Prague with Lorenzo da Ponte in September of 1787 to work out Act II of Don Giovanni - and although he and his wife Constanza were install’d in a hotel with a balcony adjoining DaPonte’s balcony (they used to shout ideas for Act II across them, it is said) he often stay’d at the Villa Betramka own’d by Frantisek & Josepha Duschek (for whom he had already compos’d ‘Ah lo previdi K. 272 in Mannheim in 1777 & who would later sing the role of Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, premier’d in Prague in 6 Sept 1791)-after the premiere of D: Giovanni (29 Oct 1787) when ‘Mozart no longer could come up with excuses not to do so...’ Josepha reminded him that he still had not yet set the grand concert aria she had provided him with words taken from Nicolo Jommelli’s 1772 Opera-festa teatrale ‘Cerere Placata’ (the Libretto was written by the Neopolitan polyglot medical doctor Michele Sarcone, 1731-1797) taken from Act 3 scene 9 where ‘Timano’ is about to be sacrificed for running off with Proserpina against Queen Ceres orders): By 31 October (Mozart’s name Day - The Feast of St Wolfgang, according to the Karl Mozart anecdote published in 1856 in the Berliner Zeitung, nearly 70 years later) Josepha sternly reminded M. that she had not yet seen the finish’d & promised grand scena - only sketches... Josepha was infamous for her over-exaggerated theatrical performances which drew the criticism of critics like Burney and even Leopold Mozart who thought her grimaces on stage were tastelessly over the top...but Mozart himself never seem’d to have complain’d of Josepha’s alleged histrionics (his usual complaint was when his singers ‘lack’d dramatic action’ on the stage...) But Josefa was not to be put off any longer -she decided to double-bolt the gates of the Villa Betramka’s Park Pavillion telling M. that he could not leave the property unless he finish’d what he had started -and even provided him with the same desk out on the porch he would us’d to orchestrate D: Giovanni earlier in October that year-with freshly sharpen’d quills, a full pot of ink & plenty of lin’d-Staff’d paper-no excuse this time ! He reluctantly agreed to her demands-but with one condition - he would write the scena (‘Bella Mia fiamma...Resta, o Cara!’) technically in C-major-but from the point where his preliminary draft had broken off (which to judge from the score where the ‘chromatic gymnastics begin’) i.e. the point after approx 16-bars following the opening of the Aria (‘Resta, o Cara!’) he would deliberately add the most difficult chromatic incidentals and ‘unusual skips’ for the human voice to sing properly - which she would have to sing ‘precisely as written’ at first sight-or he would throw the score into the fireplace ! - Apparently Josefa manag’d to satisfy him well enough (despite all the passaggi terribili) and this difficult scena was sung by her ever since in many of her later Concerts (e.g. Dresden in 1789)... Here (see below) is a rough English prose translation of the Italian poetic text of Dr Sarcone from his famous Neopolitan festa teatrale Cerere Placata of 1772 (Act 3 Scene 9) where the lover Timano takes his final leave of Proserpina before his execution upon the Altar order’d by the Earth Mother Ceres for disobeying the Fates : Grand Recitativo Accompagnato TIMANO ‘Beautiful Flame, Farewell ! The Heavens have not intended happiness for us-for even prior to our knot being tied, those sacred threads which were to bind both our two souls together by our singular passion were destin’d by the Fates to be sever’d ! Therefore I desire that you continue to live on ! Yield to your sacred Duty (to marry the god of the Underworld, viz. Dis / Hades) - and to the Decree of the Immortal Fates ! My death shall absolve you from any promises you had previously made to me ! When you are finally join’d in matrimony to a more ‘divinely ordain’d’ mate - may your life be happy & full of Joy ! I wish you always to remember me-of course-ah, but please for heaven’s sake do not to allow any stray memories of our love creep into your dreams when you go to sleep at night ! I now go, Queen Mother Ceres, in obedience to your command - but know this : only my death alone can stop these ravings of mine ! Ceres, Alpheos, my beloved Heart - Fare Thee Well for ever !! ARIA : But stay a while, dearheart, just at the very moment that death shall tear me away from you forever, oh ye gods !! Ceres, Alpheos ! May you two gods look after her and comfort her to the bitter end ! I now must go, alas ! Therefore, I must now bid you Good Bye Forever ! Ah, this anguish, this step I must now take, is so hard for me to bear ! Where is the Temple, where the Altar whereupon I must now be sacrific’d ? Dearheart ! Good Bye for Ever ! Existence as bitter as this can never be endur’d for long !’
Bravissima! Superb singing! Never mind about facial expressions- you can tell she deeply understands and lives every word she sings! I much prefer seeing such expression and intensity , instead of a boring barbie-doll-face trying to sing! Cecilia is a true artist!
Cecilia Bartoli’s masterful interpretation of K. 528 (completed by Mozart on 3 Nov 1787) is a stunning ‘near-reincarnation’ of Josefa Duschek for whom Mozart compos’d this scena - what a performance ! Bravissima Madama !! You are not only a national treasure of Italy but a World Treasure to be regarded as a precious Gift for all humanity !!
Here (for those of us who revere the great Mozart’s Music to near idolatry...) is some background as to how this beautiful scena sprang into existence...
Mozart arriv’d in Prague with Lorenzo da Ponte in September of 1787 to work out Act II of Don Giovanni - and although he and his wife Constanza were install’d in a hotel with a balcony adjoining DaPonte’s balcony (they used to shout ideas for Act II across them, it is said) he often stay’d at the Villa Betramka own’d by Frantisek & Josepha Duschek (for whom he had already compos’d ‘Ah lo previdi K. 272 in Mannheim in 1777 & who would later sing the role of Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, premier’d in Prague in 6 Sept 1791)-after the premiere of D: Giovanni (29 Oct 1787) when ‘Mozart no longer could come up with excuses not to do so...’ Josepha reminded him that he still had not yet set the grand concert aria she had provided him with words taken from Nicolo Jommelli’s 1772 Opera-festa teatrale ‘Cerere Placata’ (the Libretto was written by the Neopolitan polyglot medical doctor Michele Sarcone, 1731-1797) taken from Act 3 scene 9 where ‘Timano’ is about to be sacrificed for running off with Proserpina against Queen Ceres orders):
By 31 October (Mozart’s name Day - The Feast of St Wolfgang, according to the Karl Mozart anecdote published in 1856 in the Berliner Zeitung, nearly 70 years later) Josepha sternly reminded M. that she had not yet seen the finish’d & promised grand scena - only sketches... Josepha was infamous for her over-exaggerated theatrical performances which drew the criticism of critics like Burney and even Leopold Mozart who thought her grimaces on stage were tastelessly over the top...but Mozart himself never seem’d to have complain’d of Josepha’s alleged histrionics (his usual complaint was when his singers ‘lack’d dramatic action’ on the stage...)
But Josefa was not to be put off any longer -she decided to double-bolt the gates of the Villa Betramka’s Park Pavillion telling M. that he could not leave the property unless he finish’d what he had started -and even provided him with the same desk out on the porch he would us’d to orchestrate D: Giovanni earlier in October that year-with freshly sharpen’d quills, a full pot of ink & plenty of lin’d-Staff’d paper-no excuse this time !
He reluctantly agreed to her demands-but with one condition - he would write the scena (‘Bella Mia fiamma...Resta, o Cara!’) technically in C-major-but from the point where his preliminary draft had broken off (which to judge from the score where the ‘chromatic gymnastics begin’) i.e. the point after approx 16-bars following the opening of the Aria (‘Resta, o Cara!’) he would deliberately add the most difficult chromatic incidentals and ‘unusual skips’ for the human voice to sing properly - which she would have to sing ‘precisely as written’ at first sight-or he would throw the score into the fireplace ! -
Apparently Josefa manag’d to satisfy him well enough (despite all the passaggi terribili) and this difficult scena was sung by her ever since in many of her later Concerts (e.g. Dresden in 1789)...
Here (see below) is a rough English prose translation of the Italian poetic text of Dr Sarcone from his famous Neopolitan festa teatrale Cerere Placata of 1772 (Act 3 Scene 9) where the lover Timano takes his final leave of Proserpina before his execution upon the Altar order’d by the Earth Mother Ceres for disobeying the Fates :
Grand Recitativo Accompagnato
TIMANO
‘Beautiful Flame, Farewell ! The Heavens have not intended happiness for us-for even prior to our knot being tied, those sacred threads which were to bind both our two souls together by our singular passion were destin’d by the Fates to be sever’d !
Therefore I desire that you continue to live on ! Yield to your sacred Duty (to marry the god of the Underworld, viz. Dis / Hades) - and to the Decree of the Immortal Fates ! My death shall absolve you from any promises you had previously made to me !
When you are finally join’d in matrimony to a more ‘divinely ordain’d’ mate - may your life be happy & full of Joy !
I wish you always to remember me-of course-ah, but please for heaven’s sake do not to allow any stray memories of our love creep into your dreams when you go to sleep at night !
I now go, Queen Mother Ceres, in obedience to your command - but know this : only my death alone can stop these ravings of mine !
Ceres, Alpheos, my beloved Heart - Fare Thee Well for ever !!
ARIA : But stay a while, dearheart, just at the very moment that death shall tear me away from you forever, oh ye gods !!
Ceres, Alpheos ! May you two gods look after her and comfort her to the bitter end ! I now must go, alas ! Therefore, I must now bid you Good Bye Forever !
Ah, this anguish, this step I must now take, is so hard for me to bear !
Where is the Temple, where the Altar whereupon I must now be sacrific’d ?
Dearheart ! Good Bye for Ever ! Existence as bitter as this can never be endur’d for long !’
Fantastic performance, Cecilia is one of a kind and she can do anything with her voice...love her as a artist.
Brava Cecilia. I have heard this many times, but, never like that. She is a great singer. Outstanding performance by everyone.
Bravissima!
Superb singing!
Never mind about facial expressions- you can tell she deeply understands and lives every word she sings!
I much prefer seeing such expression and intensity , instead of a boring barbie-doll-face trying to sing!
Cecilia is a true artist!
What miserable, mean criticism!
AWESOME AND BEYOND-Excellent interpretation, commitment to the text and FANTASTICALLY SUNG PTL
signora bartoli,hai trafitto il mio cuore,come un amore impossibile.....
Magnifico !
Si vero
Marvelous performance, Cecilia is the best :)
Wonderful!
incomparable
Oh yess!!
Dona de uma voz espetacular.
@primalamusica3 I agree with you! Whole range of feelings!
magnificent =)
08:52
I agree!
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ohhh ceicei is intense here!
08:34 08:35
the 6 videos on your channel are the complete concert?
Thanks a lot for upload, I really enjoy this performance!
¿Qué orquesta, teatro, año?
VENDETTA!!
Hi friends can anybody explain me which language she is singing , this is happy or sad song
Listen simply : you'll find the reply to your question by yourself.
Qué tercia para una murga.
I like her singing, but this one makes me laugh. her facial expression and eyes. lolol. My impression of sister Cecilia is--- wild. lol