Sposa son disprezzata

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"Sposa son disprezzata" is an Italian aria with music by Germaniano Giacomelli, found in the opera Bajazet, a pasticcio by Antonio Vivaldi. The title in English means "I am wife and I am scorned".

[edit] Libretto

The libretto was written by Agostino Piovene.

Sposa son disprezzata,
fida son oltraggiata,
cieli che feci mai?
E pur egl'è il mio cor
il mio sposo, il mio amor,
la mia speranza.

L'amo ma egl'è infedel
spero ma egl'è crudel,
morir mi lascierai?
O Dio manca il valor
valor e la costanza.

The English translation reads:

I am wife and I am scorned,
I am faithful and I'm outraged.
Heavens, what have I done?
And yet he is my heart,
my husband, my love,
my hope.

I love him, but he is unfaithful,
I hope, but he is cruel,
will he let me die?
O God, valor is missing -
valor and constancy.

In an adaptation by Alessandro Parisotti during 1880s, the second stanza was left out. This adaption is the most widely heard, popularized by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli in her album If You Love Me (Se tu m'ami).

[edit] Vivaldi or Giacomelli?

The music for this aria was not composed by Vivaldi. The opera Bajazet, which aria is from, is as mentioned before a pasticcio. It was a common practice during Vivaldi's time to compile arias from other composers with own works for an opera. Vivaldi himself composed the arias for the good characters and mostly used existing arias from other composers for the villains in this opera. "Sposa son disprezzata" is sung by a villain character, Irene. The original aria - "Sposa non mi conosci" - was composed by Geminiano Giacomelli, from his opera Merope (1734). The aria is sung by the character Epidide:

Sposa non mi conosci,
parlo, tu non m'ascolti.
Cieli, che feci mai?
E pur sono il tuo cor,
il tuo fido, il tuo amor,
la tua speranza

The music for this aria is the same as "Sposa son disprezzata", only the libretto is different. Vivaldi's Irene sang of betrayal by her husband; whereas in Giacomelli's Epidide sang of betrayal by his wife.