This concert aria is one of the few existing virtuoso works for double bass, and so it is probably better known by players of that instrument than it is by singers or opera fans. Full of double stops and fast scale work, it is notoriously difficult to play, and enormously effective when done well. However, it is also a charming work for the bass voice, which requires a graceful legato, wide range, and skillful ornamentation. It was written expressly for Franz Xavier Gerl, a member of Emmanuel Shikaneder's opera troupe and the singer who first performed the role of Sarastro in (The Magic Flute). He was apparently one of Mozart's favorites, having also sung the roles of Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro and the title role in Don Giovanni. Mozart writes skillfully for the soloists so that the two timbres are always audible and separate. The double bass acts as an obbligato, moving motivically, in sixteenth and thirty-second notes, while the voice remains legato and sustains longer phrases. The effect is of one line, at once simple and ornamented, that has a great deal of depth and texture. The aria itself is in two sections, one a 6/8 andante, and the other a 4/4 allegro.

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