8. Ah, fuggi il traditor!... Non ti fidar, o misera - Te Kanawa, Allen (Don Giovanni ROH'88)

[drtmuir]

Il labbro e' mentitor ? Check.

fallace il ciglio ? Check.

OK, point made, Elvira. Now get out of our way, we're out of here! :P

[Baccalaureus79]

Now, is or isn't Elvira going to have Giovanni's baby? I keep wondering, because in some stagings she is, in some she isn't. But there is one line where she says: "Le tue colpe ed il mio stato voglio a tutti palesar" - "I want to make known to all my state and your guilt!"

[antmusique]

I find that line intriguing as well, but I'm not sure what was implied by the word "stato" in Italian at that time... Maybe not necessarily pregnancy.

[Baccalaureus79]

As far as I know it meant the same as today. Italian hasn't changed that much since.

[antmusique]

Okay.

(Just out of curiosity, are you an Italian linguist or a native Italian speaker?)

[SuperZorrolover]

@Baccalaureus79 yes, ok.( i am' italian).

[VanVitot]

No, the problem is you don't speak italian. Yes, now "my state" may mean pregnancy, but in that case means "my state of abandoned woman".

[geschreiben]

@Baccalaureus79 No no no. Some idiot came up with that 20 years ago as an excuse for why she's so determined, based on the "il mio stato" line. (I've seen directors have her as s drunk instead. stupid.) Her "stato", according to the libretto, is just that she is non-virginal and abandoned by her should-be husband. Don't forget, back in the day, being engaged (or "betrothed") was legally nearly the same as being married. (and yes, I'm a profesisonal translator). Homegirl's been wronged!

[geschreiben]

@Baccalaureus79 Whether her "state" is pregnancy, or just being abandoned and ready to kill him, is up to the director. The former is a very recent interpretation, though, and is said to not have been intended by Da Ponte, who wrote the libretto (the source the story comes from isn't about a pregnant woman).

[interpreterr]

"Io son per mia disgrazia uom di buon core" - I love his expression when he says that-:)

[allislove1]

Lovely.

[Agodipino]

fantastic!!!!

[fairlytaleofnewyork]

Thanks for posting whole opera.

I love this scean! Sir Thomas Allen and Damme Kiri Te Kanawa have a perfect match on the performance. I prefer Lucia Popp or Suzanne Menzter as Zerlina with Thomas Allen. To me they are much more refined, certainly Lucia Popp...

[fieldcastilla]

Really fascinating! But, does anybody has an idea of why would Mozart choose to compose this aria in a Haendel-like style?

[ChristianistheLawr]

Yes. To make us laugh on Elvira's hypocrisy.

[gotterhaus]

Another fascinating excerpt!