"Il mio tesoro" (or "") is an
aria for
lyric tenor voice from scene 2 in act 2 of
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
's opera ''
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...
''. It is often performed in recitals and featured in anthologies of music for tenor. In the aria, Don Ottavio, a young nobleman, urges the listener to assure his (the nobleman's) beloved fiancée, Donna Anna, that he intends to secure vengeance for her against the man who murdered her father.
Libretto
Il mio tesoro intanto
andate a consolar,
E del bel ciglio il pianto
cercate di asciugar.
Ditele che i suoi torti
a vendicar io vado;
Che sol di stragi e morti
nunzio vogl'io tornar.
My treasure, meanwhile,
Go and console.
And from her beautiful eyes, the tears,
Try to wipe away.
Tell her that the wrongs against her,
I'm going to avenge,
That only of killing and death
As announcer will I return.
Music
The aria is set in
B-flat major and in
cut common time
''Alla breve'' also known as cut time or cut common timeis a Meter (music), musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C with a vertical line through it), which is the equivalent of . The term is Italian language, Italian for "on t ...
(), with tempo indication of ''
Andante grazioso''. It is 101
bars long and takes about four minutes to perform. Its
vocal range covers
D3 to A4, while its tessitura is roughly F3 to G4. For most of the piece, the violins and violas play ''con sordino'' (with
mutes) for a mellow effect. In addition to the strings, the aria uses
clarinets in B-flat, bassoons and
B♭ alto horns.
In other media
A concert performance of "Il mio tesoro" is mentioned in the opening paragraphs of
Tolstoy's novel ''
Anna Karenina''.
''Anna Karenina''
, chapter 1 Excerpts from it are sung by the protagonist's father in the 1949 black comedy film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets''.
References
External links
*, sung by Luigi Alva, Aix-en-Provence Festival 1960
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mio Tesoro, Il
Arias from Don Giovanni
Tenor arias
Opera excerpts
1787 compositions
Compositions in B-flat major
Songs about revenge