Photo : frontpage of the manuscrit

Infos

Genre : II/7 Arias, scenes, ensembles and choirs with orchestra
Composition : Salzburg, 26 october 1775
Performance : probably composed as an insertion aria for a representation of Le Nozze (Galuppi, 1755) or Le Nozze di Dorina (Cocchi, 1762)
Orchestration : soprano, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings (with divided violas)
Text : after Carlo Goldoni (Le Nozze di Dorina)
Manuscript : Berlin, Staatsbibliothek
Score : DME Online

Commentary

This irresistible aria written by Mozart at the age of 19 is very much loved by sopranos: it is thus relatively often recorded. “Voi avete un cor fedele” is an aria of insertion for a performance by an Italian company (in Salzburg?) though the full context is not known.

For Stanley Sadie, this aria, “substantial with ironic overtones, set in alternating slow and fast sections, shows a remarkable advance in comic aptitude in its gestures and its timing as compared with anything in La finta giardiniera”.

In the first part of the aria, an Andantino grazioso, Dorina, a maid, initially adopts a rather cutting tone. It is followed by an Allegro full of virtuosity on the word “fidar” (scales, trills). Each part is repeated, before a short reminder of the opening and a lasr intensification which brings the work to a brilliant end.

Listen

More than a dozen recordings of the aria are available. Our preference goes to the soprano Chen Reiss, ideal of mischievousness and virtuosity, with a beautiful accompaniment on period instruments by the German ensemble l’Arte del Mondo.

Watch

In a wonderful DVD dedicated to Mozart, Cecilia Bartoli sings several Mozart concert arias with the Concentus Musicus Wien and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. What a pity the Italian mezzo never recorded these jewels on CD. In “Voi avete un cor fedele” (see video below), Bartoli is simply stunning (diction, virtuosity, interpretation).

Listen to this work on our playlists

Read

Philharmonie de Paris (work’s description)