0373NOTElectra_Mozart
ÒDÕOreste, dÕAjaceÓ, soprano colloratura aria from MozartÕs Idomeneo K.366, Act III, Scene 10..
Gaimbatista VerascoÕs libretto for Idomeneo, re di Creta (i.e. MozartÕs Idomeneo, 1781) includes in the cast of characters Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.
— The 1781 opera features Electra in a remarkable role. As long as she lives, no resolution is available for the tension between Idomeneus and Neptune (viz. Idamante). But when she dies, Act 3, Scene 10, in a dramatic colatura aria, the path is open for resolution between father and son. Electra embodies the unwillingness of tradition to yield to change, or the cycle of vengence. A fury herself, she dies in a fit of consuming rage in the operaÕs third act. The dramatic coloratura aria she sings is a genuine show-stopper, ÒDÕOreste, dÕAjaceÓ (ÒI have the torments of Orestes and of Ajax in my breast!Ó) It occurs after NeptuneÕs voice has pronounced that Idomeneus must step down from the throne and abdicate to prince Idamante with Ilia the throne of Crete. Electra has desired marriage to Idamante throughout, and can scarcely countenance this change of her fortune. She exclaims in the dramatic aria that she has been tortured beyond her capacity to endure. She sees death as her only solutionÉ and collapses dead on the stage. This departure allows Idomeneus to see the folly of his ways. He yields to NeptuneÕs demand and hands the sceptre to his son.
Anna Netrebko sings it in concert Salzburg Festival 2006: YouTube — http://youtu.be/9AdN7qwjpUw
Cheryl Studer (audio only) from Salzburg Festival 1990: YouTube — http://youtu.be/S1LqOXuxeLg
Text:
Oh smania! Oh furie! Oh disperata Elettra!
Vedr˜ Idamante alla rivale in braccio?
Ah, no, il germano Oreste neÕ cupi abissi io vu˜ seguir.
OrÕor compagna mÕavrai lˆ nellÕ inferno, a sempiterni guai, al pianto eterno.
DÕOreste, dÕAjace ho in seno i tormenti,
DÕAletto la face giˆ morte mi dˆ.
Squarciate mi il core, ceraste, serpenti, o un ferro il dolore in me finerˆ.
For one translation: http://opera-cat.livejournal.com/16984.html