Robert Peters wrote:

>Well, after all the Wagner wars let us also honour all the other kingbees
>of opera.  So, what is the greatest aria of them all? Here is my choice:
>Donna Elvira's "Ah chi mi dice mai" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni".  For me
>this is the greatest aria of them all in the greatest opera of them all
>(yes, Satoshi, to ME greater than the whole Ring) by the greatest opera
>composer of them all.  Elvira's whole tortured and torn soul is in the
>lovely and passionate tune, love and hate are brilliantly interwoven.
>(And the singer of my choice for this is Te Kanawa under Maazel.)

I like "Ah chi mi dice mai" very much, although I've always detected a
note of parody there--the jaunty string figure after the first quatrain,
the full stop before "Gli vo cavare il cor." I think there's a similar
sense of parody in "Ah!  Fuggi il traditor," with the broad Handelian
rhythm.  For me, Elvira's full depth isn't revealed until Act II, where
her music (in the trio, "Mi tradi," and the final scenes) is at last
entirely free from traditional seria gestures.

If I had to pick a greatest aria (pretty impossible), I'd go with "Dove
sono" from Le Nozze di Figaro.  Simple, but incredibly beautiful, and a
perfect expression of melancholy, longing, and hope.  Te Kanawa is great
on this one too.  Honorable mention to "Eri tu" from Un Ballo in Maschera
(an amazing kaleidoscope of emotions--just listen to Gobbi or Bruson), and
a dark horse, "Per pieta" from Cosi fan Tutte (Schwarzkopf is my favorite
here).

I'd throw in a separate category for buffa arias, since they're so
different, and give top place to (what else?) "Largo al factotum" from The
Barber of Seville.  It may have been knocked about for centuries, but when
you go back and listen to the original, it's as fresh as ever.  Honorable
mention to Leporello's "Madamina, il catalogo e questo," with a special
star for Giuseppe Taddei's version.

Peter Goldstein