O, wie will ich triumphieren

Bass aria from Mozart's Singspiel 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail'

"O, wie will ich triumphieren" (or, "Ha, wie will ich triumphieren"), is an aria for low bass from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio).

${ \override Staff.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \time 2/1 \clef bass d,1^D }$

It is well known for the extraordinary technical demands it makes on the singer, and is sometimes performed in recitals and featured in anthologies. It features coloratura, abrupt octave-leaps between the upper and lower registers, and extended low notes,^[1] including a drawn-out low D₂, one of the lowest notes demanded of any voice in opera.^[2]^[3] Mozart wrote it with one particular bass in mind: the very famous Ludwig Fischer.^[4]

Context

Osmin, the bad-tempered house-servant to Pasha Selim, has caught his hated enemies trying to rescue a noblewoman from captivity in the Pasha's harem. He taunts them, gleefully anticipating the pleasure of seeing them hanged.^[5]

References

^ "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" (PDF). Metopera.org. Retrieved 1 December 2017.^{[dead link]}
^ "Learn About Opera". Manitoba Opera. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
^ "New York chronicle". The New Criterion. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
^ Grout, Donald Jay; Hermine Weigel Williams (2003). "The Opera of Mozart and his Contemporaries". A Short History of Opera. Columbia University Press. p. 325. ISBN 0-231-11958-5. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
^ "The Abduction from the Seraglio, K. 384". Kennedy Center. Retrieved 1 December 2017.