La donna è mobile
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"La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle") is the cynical Duke of Mantua's canzone from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto (1851). Its reprise in the last act is chilling, as Rigoletto realizes from the sound of the Duke's lively voice coming from within the tavern (offstage), that the body in the sack is not that of the Duke after all (he had paid Sparafucile, an assassin, to kill him but was deceived, as he killed Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter, instead).
The aria is famous as a showcase for tenors. It has been recorded by Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and hundreds of others. The song can be found on many record labels, including ASV, Naxos Records, Nimbus Records, Parlophone, and Victor.
[edit] The Music
The almost comical-sounding theme of La donna è mobile is introduced immediately, and runs thus (transposed from the original key of B major):
The theme is repeated several times in the approximately two minutes it takes to perform the aria, but with the important -- and obvious -- omission of the last measure. This has the effect of driving the music forward as it creates the impression of being incomplete and unresolved, which it is, having left off not on the tonic or dominant but on the submediant. Once the Duke has finished singing, however, the theme is once again repeated; but this time including the last, and conclusive, measure and finally resolving to the tonic.
[edit] Libretto
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Original Italian
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English Translation
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Alternative Translation
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La donna è mobile Refrain È sempre misero Refrain |
Woman is flighty Refrain Always miserable Refrain |
Woman is flighty, (or fickle or erratic) Always miserable, (or wretched) |
