“Ho un pensiero nel cervello” (Fragment) — Duet from *L’oca del Cairo* (K. 683)
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
“Ho un pensiero nel cervello” (K. 683) is an unfinished duet for soprano, tenor, and orchestra from Mozart’s abandoned comic opera L’oca del Cairo (K. 422), composed in 1783. Only a short fragment survives, but it offers a vivid glimpse of Mozart’s quicksilver buffa ensemble style at age 27.
What Is Known
The duet “Ho un pensiero nel cervello” belongs to the surviving materials for Mozart’s unfinished dramma giocoso L’oca del Cairo (K. 422), begun in 1783 and set aside later that year. The Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum catalogs the number separately as K. 683, while still linking it to the L’oca del Cairo project (hence the frequent appearance of the older opera number K. 422 alongside it). [1]
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In the Digitale Mozart-Edition libretto edition, the text is placed in Act I as a Duetto marked Allegretto vivo, beginning with Chichibio’s line “Ho un pensiero nel cervello…”. [2] Editorial commentary there notes that the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe prints the duet in an appendix rather than embedding it in the act, suggesting Mozart may ultimately have intended to cut the entire scene (and the duet with it) while shaping Act I. [3]
Musical Content
What survives points to a brisk, conversational buffa duet—an Allegretto vivo exchange built for rapid back-and-forth. The libretto’s immediate dramatic cue is comic “deduction”: Chichibio announces he has reached a conclusion (“onde fo la conclusione”) about Biondello’s plan, and Auretta answers with a competing idea (“Senti il mio ch’è ancor più bello”), a setup that naturally invites quick alternation and tight ensemble timing. [2] In this sense, the fragment sits squarely in Mozart’s Viennese operatic development of 1783—already thinking theatrically in numbers that depend less on lyrical display than on pace, character, and the friction of two voices set in motion together.
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum (Köchel Verzeichnis): entry for K. 683, “Ho un pensiero nel cervello” (duet fragment), linked to L’oca del Cairo.
[2] Digitale Mozart-Edition (Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg): *L’oca del Cairo* KV 422 libretto edition PDF, showing the duet text and tempo marking “Allegretto vivo”.
[3] Digitale Mozart-Edition: commentary page noting the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe prints the duet in an appendix and discussing possible intended deletion/cutting of the scene.