Beethoven’s Opus 82 includes two settings of Metastasio’s “L’amante impaziente” (The Impatient Lover). The first in buffa (comic) style has a German title of “Stille Frage” (Silent Question). The second is seriosa with a German title of “Liebes-Ungeduld” (Love’s Impatience).
The text of “L’amante impaziente” is suitable for interpretation either comically or seriously:
What is my sweetheart doing?
Why does she not come?
Does she desire to see me
Languish thus?
Oh, how slow the sun is
In its course!
Each moment
Seems like a day to me.
#Beethoven250 Day 235
“L’amante impatiente” / “Stille Frage” – Arietta buffa (Opus 82, No. 3), 1809
Roshan Abedi delivers one of the few live performances of this aria. Her seriosa version is the next video.
#Beethoven250 Day 235
“L’amante impatiente” / “Liebes-Ungeduld” – Arietta assai seriosa (Opus 82, No. 4), 1809
The last piano note is cut off at the end, but Roshan Abedi’s performance nicely complements her buffa version.
In The Beethoven Song Companion, Paul Reid sees a clear winner between the two versions of “L’amante impaziente”:
Judging by the relative success of Beethoven’s two settings, the text lends itself better to a comic approach After the exuberant first buffo setting, the composer here seems to be trying hard to make his setting sound serious, and the slower sections need sensitive treatment if they are not to become ponderous. (p. 201)