“ Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto ” - duettino (short duet ) from Mozart’s opera Figaro ’s wedding on the libretto of Lorenzo da Ponte . In a duetto, Countess Almaviva ( soprano ) dictates to Susanne (also soprano) a date of invitation addressed to the countess’s husband in order to expose his betrayal.
Content
Music
The duet is written for oboe , bassoon and strings. Size - 6/8, tonality in B flat major , duration - 62 measures , tempo allegretto . In the first part of the duet (bars 1-37), the countess dictates the title and the first three lines of the letter, and after a pause, Susanna repeats and writes them down. In the second part, the countess and Suzanne re-read the lines with recitative (measures 38-45) and complete the reading with a duet.
Libretto
The aria is performed by the countess and Suzanne at the moment when they came up with a plan how to cool the count’s penchant for affair and the excessive jealousy of Figaro. They write a letter that should get to the count.
| Text aria without repetition: | "Canzonetta sull'aria" Che soave zeffiretto Questa sera spirerà Sotto i pini del boschetto. | Song of the Wind (title) What a wonderful marshmallow Quiet evening Under the canopy of pines in a small grove. |
| duet: | Ei già il resto capirà. | And he will understand the rest. |
Full text:
Suzanne: Sull'aria ... Breeze… Countess: Che soave zeffiretto ... What a wonderful marshmallow ... Suzanne: Zeffiretto ... Wonderful marshmallows ... Countess: Questa sera spirerà ... Quiet evening… Suzanne: Questa sera spirerà ... Quiet evening… Countess: Sotto i pini del boschetto. Under the canopy of pines in a small grove. Suzanne: Sotto i pini ... Under the pines ... Countess: Sotto i pini del boschetto. Under the canopy of pines in a small grove. Suzanne: Sotto i pini ... del boschetto ... Under the canopy of pines ... in a small grove ... Countess: Ei già il resto capirà. And he will understand the rest. Suzanne /
Countess:Certo, certo il capirà. Of course, of course, he will understand.
In popular culture
In the movie Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufrain ( Tim Robbins ) rebels against the power of the prison director, Sam Norton ( Bob Ganton ), turning this duetino on prison radio. Ellis Boyd Redding, nicknamed “Red” ( Morgan Freeman ), observes: “I want to think that they sang about something so beautiful that it is impossible to convey in words and that inspires the heart with the truth.” [1] The irony is that opera characters sing about a fake date invitation to uncover treason.
The use of the duetto in “Shawshank Redemption” allowed him to be included in the list of 400 compositions - nominees for inclusion in the “100 best songs from films. However, the composition did not appear on the list. [2]
Links
- ↑ The Shawshank Redemption on Wikiquote
- ↑ 100 Greatest Songs in American Movies - The 400 Nominees
Links
- “Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto” , score with text in Italian and German ( high resolution version )
- Libretto Italian and English