Classical Music | Mezzo-Soprano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Non so più cosa son, from The Marriage of Figaro Play Play

Rebecca Henry	Mezzo-soprano
Tom Jaber	Piano

Recorded on 10/14/2009, uploaded on 05/03/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

One of Mozart's most enduring operas, Le nozze di Figaro premiered with much success on May 1, 1786. It was Mozart's first collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who would later provide the librettos for Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni. Based on a stage play by Pierre Beaumarchais that had been banned in Vienna for its satirical treatment of the aristocracy, Le nozze di Figaro nevertheless became one of Mozart's most successful operas.

The aria "Non so più cosa son" ("I no longer know what I am") from Act I is an example of aria agitata, a common form of aria in both opera seria and opera buffa during the 18^th century. The aria agitata was sung in a breathless manner and, musically, possessed a rapid accompaniment with offbeat accents. In the case of "Non so più cosa son," the aria is sung by Cherubino, a young teenage page in the service of Count Almaviva. He admits his growing interest in women and that he cannot help but think and speak of love. Towards the end of the aria, on the words "E se non ho chi m'oda" ("And if no one is near to hear me"), the tempo slows from the original Allegro vivace to an Adagio, creating a brief moment of melancholy. However, the breathless Allegro pace resumes on the final line ("I speak of love to myself") to close the aria. Joseph DuBose