Lucio Silla
K. 135


Dramma per musica in tre atti
Including the embellished version of Aria No. 14: Ah se a morir mi chiama (see music example)
German Translation by Eberhard Schmidt
Vocal Score based on the Urtext of the New Mozart Edition by Eugen Epplée
BA 4590a



Preface                Contents


Preface
On 13 December 1769 Leopold Mozart and his son Wolfgang set out on their first tour of Italy. It was not until 28 March 1771 that they finally returned to Salzburg. The trip brought the young composer two commissions for opere serie. In March 1770 he was commissioned to write Mitridate, K87 (74a), for the 1770-71 Carneval season at the Regio Ducal Teatro in Milan. Mozart started work on the opera in Bologna on 29 September 1770, and the première duly took place on the Feast of St Stephen (26 December) in 1770. The second, Lucio Silla (K135), again commissioned for the 1771-72 Carneval season in Milan, doubtless resulted from the success of Mitridate. News of the commission reached the Mozarts in March 1771 in Verona, where they had stopped on their return to Salzburg. (At roughly the same time Wolfgang received an invitation from Vienna to supply a serenata teatrale for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand, the third son of Maria Theresia, scheduled to take place in Milan in October 1771. This invitation ultimately resulted in Ascanio in Alba, K111.)
The librettist chosen for Lucio Silla was Giovanni da Gamerra (1743-1803). Born in Leghorn, Gamerra had, in 1771, assumed the position of official poet to the Milan opera, where he dominated the stage with his librettos for a few years (until 1775) in lieu of the ubiquitous Pietro Metastasio. Gamerra is known as a leading figure of Italian pièces larmoyantes ("drammi lagrimosi"), and this aspect found its way accordingly into his libretto for Mozart's second opera seria, along with his predilection for miraculous, terrifying and melodramatic effects. The plot of Lucio Silla is drawn from the events in the life of the Roman dictator Cornelius Sulla (138-78 BC) as recounted by Plutarch. This, together with its love stories, its emphasis on noble sentiments and its "subplot" of secondary characters, makes it typical of the Italian opera librettos of its day.
Wolfgang Amadé started work on his second Milanese opera in October 1772 while still in Salzburg. On 24 of that same month the two Mozarts set out for the Lombard capital, thereby initiating their third Italian journey. (The second had taken place in the autumn of 1771 to finish and rehearse the festa teatrale Ascanio in Alba.) Immediately upon arrival Mozart devoted himself to the far grander concluding section of his Lucio Silla score, writing his music in the presence of the singers, and in deference to their wishes, as they gradually arrived. Leopold Mozart's reports to Salzburg convey a good picture of the progress of the production and the brief, and perhaps for this reason very hectic, period of rehearsal in December. The première, as with Mitridate in 1771, took place on the Feast of St Stephen, the day on which the Carneval season generally opened. Mozart conducted the performance from the first harpsichord while the leading harpsichordist of the Ducal Theater, Giovanni Battista Lampugnani, was seated at the second.

Wolfgang Rehm
Hallein (Salzburg), November 2000



Contents



Overtura

Atto primo

Scena I
Recitativo Oh Ciel! l'amico Cinna (Cecilio, Cinna)
No. 1 Aria Vieni ov'amor t'invita (Cinna)

Scena II
Recitativo Dunque sperar poss'io (Cecilio)
No. 2 Aria Il tenero momento (Cecilio)

Scena III
Recitativo A te dell'amor mio (Silla, Celia, Aufidio)
No. 3 Aria Se lusinghiera speme (Celia)

Scena IV
Recitativo Signor, duolmi vederti (Aufidio, Silla)

Scena V
Recitativo Sempre dovrò vederti (Silla, Giunia)
No. 4 Aria Dalla sponda tenebrosa (Giunia)

Scena VI
Recitativo E tollerare io posso (Silla)
No. 5 Aria Il desio di vendetta e di morte (Silla)

Scena VII
Recitativo Morte, morte fatal (Cecilio)

Scena VIII-IX
No. 6 Coro Fuor di queste urne dolenti (Coro)
- O del padre ombra diletta (Giunia)
Recitativo Se l'empio Silla, o padre (Giunia, Cecilio)
No. 7 Duetto D'Eliso in sen m'attendi (Giunia, Cecilio)


Atto secondo

Scena I
Recitativo Tel predissi, o signor (Aufidio, Silla)
No. 8 Aria Guerrier, che d'un acciaro (Aufidio)

Scena II
Recitativo Ah no, mai non credea (Silla, Celia)

Scena III
Recitativo Qual furor ti trasporta? (Cinna, Cecilio)
No. 9 Aria Quest'improvviso tremito (Cecilio)

Scena IV
Recitativo Ah sì, s'affretti il colpo (Cinna, Celia)
No. 10 Aria (Cavatina) Se il labbro timido (Celia)

Scena V
Recitativo Di piegarsi capace (Cinna, Giunia)
No. 11 Aria Ah se il crudel periglio (Giunia)

Scena VI
Recitativo Ah sì, scuotasi omai (Cinna)
No. 12 Aria Nel fortunato istante (Cinna)

Scena VII
Recitativo Signor, a'cenni tuoi (Aufidio, Silla)

Scena VIII
Recitativo Silla? L'odioso aspetto (Giunia, Silla)
No. 13 Aria D'ogni pietà mi spoglio (Silla)

Scena IX
Recitativo Che intesi eterni Dei? (Giunia, Cecilio)
No. 14 Aria Ah se a morir mi chiama (Cecilio)

Scena X
Recitativo Perchè mi balzi in seno (Giunia, Celia)
No. 15 Aria Quando sugl'arsi campi (Celia)

Scena XI
Recitativo In un istante oh come s'accrebbe il mio timor! (Giunia)
No. 16 Aria Parto, m'affretto (Giunia)

Scena XII
No. 17 Coro Se gloria il crin ti cinse
Recitativo Padri coscritti io, che pugnai per Roma (Silla, Giunia, Aufidio)

Scena XIII
Recitativo Sposa, ah no, non temer (Cecilio, Silla, Giunia, Aufidio)

Scena XIV
Recitativo Come? D'un ferro armato (Silla, Cinna, Giunia)
No. 18 Terzetto Quell'orgoglioso sdegno (Giunia, C ecilio, Silla)


Atto terzo

Scena I
Recitativo Ah sì tu solo, amico (Cinna, Cecilio, Celia)
No. 19 Aria (Cavatina) Strider sento la procella (Celia)

Scena II
Recitativo Forse tu credi, amico (Cecilio, Cinna)
No. 20 Aria De'più superbi il core (Cinna)

Scena III
Recitativo Ah no, che'l fato estremo (Cecilio, Giunia)

Scena IV
Recitativo Tosto seguir tu dei (Aufidio, Giunia, Cecilio)
No. 21 Aria Pupille amate (Cecilio)

Scena V
Recitativo Sposo ... mia vita ... (Giunia)
No. 22 Aria Fra i pensier più funesti di morte (Giunia)

Scena VI
Recitativo Celia, Cinna non più (Silla, Cinna, Celia)

Scena VII
Recitativo Anima vil, da Giunia che pretendi? (Giunia, Silla)

Scena ultima
Recitativo Lo sposo mio? (Giunia, Cinna, Celia, Cecilio, Silla, Aufidio)
No. 23 Finale col Coro (Ciaccona) Il gran Silla che a Roma in seno (Giunia, Cecilio, Cinna [Celia], Silla [Aufidio], Coro)

Appendix