“Quel destrier che all’albergo è vicino” (doubtful, lost), K. 633
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
Mozart’s aria “Quel destrier che all’albergo è vicino” (K. 633) is a lost and doubtfully authentic stage aria, traditionally placed in 1765 during the Mozart family’s travels between London and The Hague, when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was about nine. No music survives, and the title is known chiefly from later documentary mentions.
What Is Known
“Quel destrier che all’albergo è vicino” (K. 633) is described in catalogues as an aria for voice and orchestra, but it is lost and its attribution to Mozart is doubtful.[1]
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The title matches an aria sung by the character Licida in Metastasio’s libretto L’Olimpiade (Act I), a text that had already been set by many composers in the eighteenth century.[2] A later letter by Constanze Mozart (13 February 1799) mentions a now-lost London “Capricci” booklet (dated December 1764) that reportedly contained “short compositions” and an aria with this title—evidence that the name circulated in Mozart family documents, even if the music itself does not survive.[3]
Musical Content
Because no score or fragment is known to survive, K. 633 cannot be described musically (key, vocal range, structure, and orchestration are all unverified). What can be said is textual: Metastasio’s stanza is a vivid simile—“the horse near the stable” that quickens its pace—suggesting a naturally kinetic aria text well suited to virtuoso, forward-driving musical settings.[4]
[1] French Wikipedia – Catalogue Köchel entry noting K. 633 as ‘douteux, perdu’ (doubtful, lost) and dating (London).
[2] Metastasio Collection (Western University) – listing of the aria text “Quel destrier, che all’albergo è vicino” (Licida, Act I) from *L’Olimpiade*.
[3] Digital Mozart Edition – Constanze Mozart to Breitkopf & Härtel, 13 Feb 1799: mentions a London ‘Capricci’ booklet containing an aria titled “Quel destrier che all’albergo è vicino”.
[4] Padova University Press PDF – quotation and discussion of Metastasio’s text beginning “Quel destrier, che all’albergo è vicino” in the context of Licida’s character in *L’Olimpiade*.