Nel cor più non mi sento

"Nel cor più non mi sento" (Why feels my heart so dormant) is a soprano aria from act 2 in Giovanni Paisiello's 1788 opera L'amor contrastato, ossia La molinara,[1] usually known as La molinara .

This aria was immortalized by Beethoven who composed six variations in G major for piano, WoO 70, in 1795. Other composers who wrote variations based on Paisiello's work include Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Giovanni Bottesini (for double bass), Johann Baptist Wanhal, and notably, Paganini ("Introduction and variations in G major" for violin, Op. 38, MS 44, 1827).

Lyrics

Nel cor più non mi sento
brillar la gioventù;
cagion del mio tormento,
amor, sei colpa tu.
Mi pizzichi, mi stuzzichi,
mi pungichi, mi mastichi;
che cosa è questo ahimè?
Pietà, pietà, pietà!
Amore è un certo che,
che disperar mi fa.

Why feels my heart so dormant
No fire of youth divine?
Thou cause of all my torment,
O Love, the fault is thine!
He teases me, he pinches me,
He squeezes me, he wrenches me;
What tortures I must bear!
Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy!
Thou, Love, art surely one
Will drive me to despair!

Music

The aria, or rather arietta, is very short, 20 bars; it is bracketed by a short introduction and a postlude. A typical performance last for about 1:20 minutes. It is written in the time signature of 6/8 and the key signature of F major. The vocal range covers the interval of an octave plus a minor third, from D4 to F5.

In concert performances of this aria, it is often performed with a complete da capo where the interpreter applies ornaments and embellishments during the repetition.

References

  1. ↑ "Molinara, La (L'amor contrastato, ossia La molinara) (Doubtful Love, or The Maid of the Mill)" by Gordana Lazarevich, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. (subscription required)

External links

Interpretations