No, no, che non sei capace k419

Concert aria: “No, no, che non sei capace,” K.419

One of many arias written by Mozart for favourite singers, “No, no, che non sei capace” is very different from Susanna’s little serenade in The Marriage of Figaro. The soprano he had mind was Aloisa Lange, who occupied a special place in the composer’s affections not only because she was his wife’s sister but also because he had been in love with Aloisa before he married Constanze. She must have been an uncommonly accomplished singer too. “No, no, che non sei capace” - one of three arias Mozart supplied to supplement a production of Anfossi’s Il curioso indiscreto at the Burgtheater in 1783 - makes extraordinary demands on the soprano voice, requiring it to rise to the E above top C not just once but several times and, what is more, to bounce around the leger lines with instrumental agility. The nearest thing to it is the Queen of the Night’s aria “Der Hölle Rache” in The Magic Flute where similarly brilliant coloratura is used to express anger: in the case of “No, no, che non sei capace” it is anger at being falsely accused of infidelity.