Ah! perfido
Ah! perfido |
|
|---|---|
| Concert aria by Ludwig van Beethoven | |
Josepha Duschek in 1796, when she was the first soloist of the concert aria
|
|
| English | Ah! Deceiver |
| Key | C major |
| Catalogue | Op. 65 |
| Text |
|
| Language | Italian |
| Performed | 21 November 1796: Leipzig |
| Scoring | soprano and orchestra |
Ah! perfido (Ah! Deceiver),Op. 65, is a concert aria for soprano and orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven. The dramatic scene in C major on an Italian text is structured as a recitative and aria. The recitative is taken from Pietro Metastasio's Achille in Sciro; the text of the aria is anonymous. A performance takes about 14 minutes.
The work was first performed on 21 November 1796 in the Theater am Ranstädter Tor in Leipzig, with soprano Josepha Duschek as the soloist. The singer, a friend of Mozart in Prague, advertised it as "an Italian scena written by Beethoven for Mad. Duschek", possibly to raise interest rather than a statement about a dedication. The only extant manuscript by a copyist has a dedication to "Signora Comtessa di Clari", Countess Josephine of Clary-Aldringen.
The work was notably performed again in 1808 as part of a benefit concert for the composer on 22 December which also featured the premieres of his fifth and sixth symphonies, and excerpt of his Mass in C major, among others. The singer was the 17-year old Josephine Schultz-Killitschky who stepped in on short notice after others cancelled. A sister-in-law of the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, she possibly performed, to mixed reaction, from the manuscript which shows changes made by Beethoven. This version differs from the first edition, which causes a problem for editors as both versions are authorized by Beethoven.
The work was first published in Leipzig in 1805 by the Bureau de Musique Hoffmeister & Kühnel of Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Ambrosius Kühnel, without an Opus number, like many early works by Beethoven. In 1819, Hofmeister in Leipzig printed it and assigned number 46. The number 65, which Beethoven had for unknown reasons not used, was assigned to the piece in 1819 by Artaria in Vienna, when Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 106 was published with a works list. In chronological order, a number in the range 5 to 10 would be justified.Breitkopf & Härtel printed the work in 1862 as part of Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, a publication of his complete works.
...
Wikipedia