ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses music of feminine sorrow in the Contessa's 'Porgi amor' from Figaro, the leave-taking trio from the first act of Cosi, and several of Anna's recitatives and arias in Don Giovanni. After the masculine brilliance of Figaro's ending to the first act, the extended orchestral introduction to 'Porgi amor' is similar in effect to the Rococo orchestral introduction to Fiordiligi and Dorabella's first appearance in 'Ah guarda sorella', immediately after the brilliant male trio 'Una bella serenata'. But that duet's delicate Rococo graces are worlds apart from the tragic integrity of this aria. The musical stasis is complicated further by what follows. When the Contessa returns to her opening line with turning semiquavers, now in with the strings, her melody defies all sense of Enlightened musical time. The image of the beautiful, aristocratic woman, languishing amidst her luxurious desires, is a familiar male literary fantasy.
