ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Elvira's 'Ah chi mi dice mai' and 'Ah fuggi il traditor', then turn to Fiordiligi's 'Come scoglio' and the second part of the recitative that precedes it. Elvira's first dramatic entry into the opera is when she breaks in on the first of several disputes between Giovanni and Leporello. She is looking for Giovanni, who, as is gradually revealed, she is in love with. This pastiche of a ternary da capo cavatina is called a trio because of the offstage presence of the two men, but they contribute only a few bars between them. Fiordiligi's melody is as wayward as her rhythms. As with most feminine music in these operas, her line has no middleground structure, and its extreme angularity does nothing for her 'unfeminine' attempts to withstand the approaches of men. Fiordiligi turned away from the men during her preceding recitative, and now she turns back to them in a musically impassioned display of outright rejection.
