Là ci darem la mano
" " (Italian for "There we will give each other our hands") is a duet for the characters Don Giovanni (baritone) and Zerlina (soprano) in Mozart's 1787 opera Don Giovanni.
The duet, with words by Lorenzo Da Ponte, is sung during the first act of the opera. Don Giovanni has just met Zerlina and her betrothed, Masetto. In an attempt to distract Masetto and have him removed from the scene, Giovanni offers to host a wedding celebration for the couple at his castle. When Masetto has left, Giovanni attempts to seduce Zerlina to accompany him to his castle. However, after the end of the duet Donna Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction, leaving with Zerlina.
Là ci darem la mano,
Là mi dirai di sì.
Vedi, non è lontano;
Partiam, ben mio, da qui.
Give me thy hand, oh fairest,
Whisper a gentle 'Yes',
Come, if for me thou carest,
With joy my life to bless.
There we will give each other our hands,
There you will say 'yes' to me.
See, it's not far;
Let's go there, my dear.
(Vorrei e non vorrei,
Mi trema un poco il cor.
Felice, è ver, sarei,
Ma può burlarmi ancor.)
I would, and yet I would not,
I dare not give assent,
Alas! I know I should not...
Too late, I may repent.
I would like to, and I wouldn't,
My heart is trembling a little.
True, I could be happy,
But it could trick me again.
Andiam, andiam, mio bene,
a ristorar le pene
d'un innocente amor.
With thee, with thee, my treasure,
This life is nought but pleasure,
My heart is fondly thine.
Let's go, let's go, my dear,
To restore the values
Of an innocent love.
"Là ci darem la mano", number 7 in the score, starts in the key of A major with a tempo indication of andante and a time signature of 2
4. The vocal range for Don Giovanni covers E3 to E4, Zerlina's range covers E4 to F♯5. The piece is labelled a "duettino", a "little duet". This may be because the two roles sing only as a duet towards the very end of the piece, after Zerlina's assenting Andiam!. Until then, Giovanni tries to seduce Zerlina, but she is torn between Giovanni's exhortations and her fidelity to Masetto. Finally, the signal for her submission is a swerving chromatic melodic line, falling over almost an octave during 3 1/2 bars. After a fermata emphasising Zerlina's weakening resolve, the tempo then changes to allegro and the time signature to 6
8. A proper two-part duet, much of it in third parallels, is then sung for most of the remaining 32 bars. A performance takes between 3 and 3 1/2 minutes.
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