Opus 65 “Ah, perfido!”, scene and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra
I) Recitative: Allegro con brio – II) Aria: Adagio
Opus 65: Ah, perfido!, scene and Aria for soprano and orchestra op. 65, 1796, published in Leipzig: separate parts and vocal-piano score by Hoffmeister & Kuhnel, July 1805; full score by Peters, 1856. GA n. 210 (series 22/1) – B. 65 – KH. 65 – L. II, p. 265 and III, p. 69 – N. 65 – P. 78 – T. 42.
The original score is lost; only some fragments remain in the Paris Conservatory Library. Nottebohm refers to other sketches (which were already kept in the Königliche Bibliothek in Berlin) and speculates that the aria may have been started in Vienna in 1795. A manuscript copy of the score, revised by Beethoven and titled by him “Une grande Scene mise en Musique par L. van Beethoven à Prague 1796”, was purchased at a public auction in November 1827 by the publisher Haslinger. We only know the history of this copy up to 1900.
The aria was first performed in Leipzig on November 21, 1796, by Josepha Duschek, a renowned soprano from Prague, wife of composer Franz Xaver Duschek, and already a close friend of Mozart. The announcement in Leipziger Zeitung (November 19th) said: “An Italian scene composed for Madame Duschek by Beethoven.” However, from two autograph notes—one at the beginning of the third page of the manuscript (“Recitativo e aria composta e dedicata alla Signora Di Clari”), the other at the end of the first page of the sketches mentioned by Nottebohm (“pour Mademoiselle la Comtesse de Clari”)—it can be reasonably inferred that the work was originally written for the 19-year-old Countess Josefine Clary, a talented amateur singer from Prague, who later married the Bohemian music lover Count Christian Clam Gallas in 1797.
The printed edition hasn’t a dedication. The form follows the traditional structure of the grand concert aria. Thayer-Riemann suggests some influence from Salieri. The accentuation of the words is perfect, unlike the often-defective accentuation of the Italian songs Beethoven wrote under the guidance of the old master, which were repeatedly corrected by him between 1792 and 1802. The Recitativo is instrumentally rich and vibrant with passion, the Adagio is noble and sweet, in which we also note the integrative poetry of the orchestra; impetuous and lively in its various movements, the Finale is energetic. The text of the Recitativo is taken literally, with minor variations, from Metastasio’s Achille in Sciro (Act III, Scene III). The texts of the Adagio and Allegro assai, though having a Metastasian flavor, do not have a specific literary reference in any of the poet’s works.
(By Biamonti Giovanni, Catalogo cronologico e critico di tutte le opere di Beethoven, Torino, ILTE,1968)
Official Title: “Opus 65” Ah! perfido Szene und Arie für Sopran und Orchester
Composition and Publication: Composed in Prague in the first months of 1796; the oldest sketches may have been written in Vienna at the end of 1795. The autographed date of a copy reads “à Prague 1796”. The original edition appeared in parts and as a piano reduction in July 1805 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel in Leipzig.
Both the surviving sketches and the autograph fragment of the score were written on paper Beethoven had used in Vienna in 1795 before his trip to Prague, and he continued to use it in Prague in the early months of 1796. There, he transcribed the first sketches of the scene. The final transcription in fair copy was probably made in Prague, and the surviving copy was created locally on local paper (Johnson/Fischhof, vol. 1, p. 100f and 394-398).
On the second title page of this copy of the score, Beethoven wrote “composed and dedicated to the Signora Comtessa di Clari by L. Beethoven”. Even the sheet with a sketch from the “Fischhof” notebook bears the autograph note “pour Mademoiselle la Comtesse de Clari”. Josefine von Clary-Aldringen (1777-1828) was a talented singer. Beethoven met her in 1796 during his stay in Prague and for her, he also composed some mandolin works (see WoO 43 and 44). However, the dedication was not included in the original edition; Beethoven did not deliver the copy with the dedication to Josefine von Clary-Aldringen but kept it himself.
The original edition was first announced in Hoffmeister & Kühnel’s catalog on June 12, 1805: (VN/PN 410 = Op. 65). On June 26, Kühnel informed former partner Hoffmeister (who had retired from the publishing house in early 1805) about the “Nova”, including the “Seena di Beeth”. This was probably the piano reduction, which was published separately from the orchestral material, printed with the plates of the original edition (Herttrich/NGA X/3 p. 201). The author of this reduction cannot be determined.
Text: Pietro Metastasio (1689-1782), “Achille in Sciro”, Act III, Scene 3, Deidamia. The original edition only contained the Italian text; only later did a German version appear in later editions.
Regarding the Opus Number: The original edition of Op. 65 and subsequent editions, as well as Wh I (1817) and Wh II (1828), they don’t have an opus number. The Artaria publishing house, in a letter dated July 24, 1819, to Beethoven, tried to number the works consistently (BGA 1317), shortly thereafter listing Ah! perfido as Opus 65. This opus number was universally accepted much later (around 1840, in Peters editions). It appears as Op. 46 in Hofmeister/Index 1819 and in a later edition by Leibrock in Braunschweig.
First Performance: November 21, 1796, in Leipzig, in a concert by singer Josepha Duschek (1754-1824) from Prague. The announcement in Leipziger Zeitung on November 19 reads: “Montag den 21. November wird Mad. Duschek aus Prag auf dem Theater am Ranstädter Thore ein großes Vokalkonzert geben und darin […] ferner eine Italienische Scene, comp, für Mad. Duschek von Beethoven […] zur Aufführung bringen”. Beethoven himself made a dedication to Josephine von Clary-Aldringen (see above).
In Vienna, Op. 65 was performed at the Beethovenian Academy on December 22, 1808. According to the memory of Joseph August Röckel (1783-1870) (TDRIII p. 81 et seq.), Pauline Anna Milder (1785-1838) performed the scene and aria. She had been employed at the Theater an der Wien since 1803 and sang the role of Leonore in Fidelio in 1805, 1806, and 1814, which Beethoven composed for her. A dispute between Beethoven and her future husband, jeweler Peter Hauptmann, led to the cancellation of some performances with this singer. Josephine Killitschky (1790-1880), sister-in-law of Ignaz Schuppanzigh, replaced her (BGA 347, 348).
Sketches:
(1) GB-Lbl, Add. Ms. 29801 (“Kafka”), p. 105 et seq. Dating: late 1795 / early 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 398).
(2) D-B, Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven 28 (“Fischhof”), sheet 43v. Dating: late 1795 / early 1796 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 398).
Aria, T. 104-122, score: F-Pc (in: Pn), Ms 79. Date: early 1796, transcription: Johnson/Fischhof vol. 2 pages 100-103. 2 sheets; folio 1 recto sketches for the Unfinished Symphony in C major (Unfinished Works Unv 2), Bl. lv T. 104-122 of op. 65, folio 2r, sketches for a piece in A minor entitled “Bohemian Song”, folio 2v, sketches for the piece “Heidenröslein” (Unfinished Works Unv 23). Paper: horizontal format, 21×31 cm, double-spaced. Provenance: Charles Malherbe, Paris. – 1912 with its F-Pc estate. – From 1964 in F-Pn. Facsimile: Gallica. Descriptions: Herttrich/NGA X/3 p.200. – Johnson/Fischhof vol.1 p.394-398.
Score: A-Wn, Mus. Hs. 25446. Date: “1796”, copyist unknown.
Ah! perfido, spergiuro,
Barbaro traditor, tu parti?
E son questi gl’ultimi tuoi congedi?
Ove s’intese tirannia più crudel?
Va, scellerato! va, pur fuggi da me,
L’ira de’ numi non fuggirai.
Se v’è giustizia in ciel, se v’è pietà,
Congiureranno a gara tutti a punirti!
Ombra seguace, presente, ovunque vai,
Vedrò le mie vendette,
Io già le godo immaginando.
I fulmini ti veggo già balenar d’intorno.
Ah no! Fermate, vindici Dei!
Risparmiate quel cor, ferite il mio!
S’ei non è più qual era, son io qual fui,
Per lui vivea, voglio morir per lui!
Per pietà, non dirmi addio!
Di te priva che farò?
Tu lo sai, bell’idol mio!
Io d’affanno morirò.
Ah crudel! Tu vuoi ch’io mora!
Tu non hai pietà di me?
Perchè rendi a chi t’adora
Così barbara mercè?
Dite voi se in tanto affanno
Non son degna di pietà?
