from Act II of the Italian opera
La Clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto: Pietro Metastasio
Role: Sextus (Sesto), Titus's friend who is in love with Vitellia
Voice Part: mezzo-soprano Fach: lyric mezzo
Setting: The Imperial garden
Synopsis: Before signing Sextus's death warrant, the emporer questions him to find some reason that he can pardon him. Sextus will not tell him the name of his accomplice, Vitellia, for the emporer has agreed to marry her. Instead, in this aria, Sextus reminds Titus of how Sextus used to love him and Sextus feels tortured that he betrayed Titus at all.