Those who have heard how Lablache sang--[See Page Image]
Quel che fa under his breath, and a little through his nose, with an indescribable side glance at Elvira, can have an idea of the comic ill-nature which Mozart meant to throw into this conclusion.
The characterisation, appropriate in every detail and inimitable in its rendering of Leporello's secret complacency,[156] can only be rightly appreciated with the Italian words; the German translation is most faulty where the musical treatment demanded the strictest accuracy; the mode of expression, too, is purely Italian, sometimes only comprehensible in conjunction with Italian pantomime. When indeed he extols "nella bionda la gentilezza, nella
bruna la costanza, nella bianca la dolcezza," the expression is universally applicable, and the _grande maestoso_ rises plainly before the minds of all; but when we come to--[See Page Image]
the proper effect cannot be rendered in German. In the streets of any town in Italy it may be observed how, when anything is to be described as small, the person describing it repeats the word eight or ten times with great rapidity, lowering the hand by degrees nearer and nearer to the ground; and the action could not possibly be better indicated than in this place by Mozart. There is a similar effect in the terzet (Act II., 2) where Leporello cannot contain his laughter--[See Page Image]
Se se-gui-ta-te ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, ri-do, and the silent internal chuckle of the Italian is musically expressed to perfection. More especially has the rapid utterance, one of the principal devices of opera buffa, a totally different signification in Italian and German. It is not natural to the German, and appears either exaggerated or vulgar; it should therefore be seldom and carefully employed as a means of characterisation. For an Italian, on the contrary, rapid speech, for which his language is so well adapted, is the natural expression of excitement, and the only question for him is whether he shall give vent to his feelings or exercise control over them. In Italian opera it is used without scruple, and without in itself aiming at making a comic impression; the circumstances, persons engaged, and manner employed give the character of the piece. In the part of Leporello the rapid parlando has a very different expression in different situations, and can always be justified on psychological grounds. But it is by no means exclusively the characteristic of comic persons. In the first finale (Act I., 13) Masetto's rapid outpouring of jealous rage, Zerlina's fear and distress, are not intended to move the