"Bella mia fiamma, addio", K. 528, is a

concert aria A concert aria is normally an aria or operatic scene (''scena'') composed for singer and orchestra, written specifically for performance in concert rather than as part of an opera. Concert arias have often been composed for particular singers, the ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

for solo

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

and orchestra, composed in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1787. The text of this aria is taken from the 1772 opera ''Cerere placata'', composed by

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

with text by . The aria was published by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

in 1881.

Description

Sung by the character Titano, the aria is marked andante, then allegro, and consists of 196 bars in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

. The

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

reaches from D to A with a

tessitura In music, tessitura ( , , ; ; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer (or, less frequently, musical instrument). It is the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or characteristic) tim ...

of D to G. A typical performance lasts for around ten minutes. The aria contains

bravura In classical music a bravura is a style of both music and its performance intended to show off the skill of a performer. John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, ''A dictionary of music and musicians (A.D. 1450-1889)'p. 271-272/ref> Commonly, it is a vir ...

writing with difficult

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

passages. The aria part of the work calls for a

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, two

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

s, two

natural horn The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day (French) horn (differentiated by its lack of valves). Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the natural horn evolved as a separation from the tr ...

s in C, and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. The time signature for the

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

, then for the aria proper triple metre.

History

Composed in Prague, dated 3 November 1787, the aria was dedicated to its original singer,

Josepha Duschek Josepha Duschek (née Hambacher) (1754–1824) was an outstanding soprano of the Classical period (music), Classical era. She was a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who wrote a few works for her to sing. Her name is most often given in its G ...

, for whom Mozart previously wrote the aria " Ah, lo previdi", K. 272, in Salzburg. The composition of this aria was somewhat unusual; the following tale is attributed to Mozart's son Karl Thomas: Librarian Bernard Wilson, commenting on the story, adds: "There seems to be some corroboration of this account in the aria itself. The words ''Quest' affano, questo passo è terribile per me'' (mm. 27–34) are set to an awesome tangle of chromatic sequences artfully calculated to test the singer's sense of intonation and powers of interpretation. Apparently Mme. Duschek survived the ''passo terribile'', since the

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

bears her name in Mozart's hand."Wilson, Bernard E. (1974) "Review of ''Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke, Serie II: Bühnenwerke, Werkgruppe 7: Arien, Szenen, Ensembles, und Chöre mit Orchester, Band 4''". In ''

Notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

'', 2nd Ser., vol. 30, no. 4. (June 1974), pp. 856–857. In 1789, Duschek sang the work along with other arias at concerts given by Mozart in Dresden and Leipzig during his Berlin journey of that year.

Text

''Recitativo'' 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! ''Aria'' ''(to Proserpina):'' Resta, o cara, acerba morte mi separa, Oh Dio ... da te! ''(to Cerere):'' Prendi cura di sua sorte, consolarla almen procura. ''(to Alfeo):'' Vado ... ahi lasso! Addio, addio per sempre. Quest'affanno, questo passo è terribile per me. Ah! Dov'è il tempio, dov'è l'ara? ''(To Cerere):'' Vieni, affretta la vendetta! Questa vita così amara più soffribile non è! ''(To Proserpina):'' Oh cara, addio per sempre! Light of my life farewell! Heaven has not planned for our happiness. Those pure strands were snapped before out knot of happiness could be bound by our spirit in a single will. Live, and submit to fate and your duty. My death absolves you from your promises. United to a better partner (Oh grief!) You will have a better, happier life. Remember me, but do not be disturbed by thoughts of unhappy former lover. My Queen, I leave you and death will end my ravings. Ceres, Alpheus, beloved heart, goodbye. Stay my beloved A cruel death takes me from you, Oh God! Look after her Comfort her. I go, alas, farewell farewell forever. This distressing situation is hard to bear. Where is the temple, where is the altar? Come revenge, be quick This bitter life Can be borne no longer. Goodbye forever!

References

External links

* *
Italian and English text

Notes
by Ian Page, 2017 * ,

Cecilia Bartoli Cecilia Bartoli Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI (; born 4 June 1966) is an Italian mezzo-soprano widely known in the music of Vincenzo Bellini, Bellini, George Frideric Handel, Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart, Gioachino Ross ...

Concentus Musicus Wien Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as a pioneer of the period-instrument performance movement. History Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Alice Harnoncourt co-founded the CMW in 19 ...

, conductor

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...

* ,

Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December ...

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, P ...

, conductor

György Fischer György Fischer (12 August 1935 – 25 October 2020) was a Hungarian pianist and conductor. Life Assistant to Herbert von Karajan at the Vienna Opera, he became a specialist in the works of Mozart, conducting operas in Cologne, Munich, and South ...

{{Authority control Arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Soprano arias 1787 compositions Music dedicated to family or friends Compositions in C major Ceres (mythology)