DISC ONE BAROQUE, CLASSICAL, AND BEL CANTO

01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.

George Frideric Handel, Serse (Xerxes), 1738: Ombra Mai fu Yoshikazu Mela (3:04)
Handel, Semele, 1743: Whereer You Walk - Ian Bostridge (4:51)
Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas, 1688: Thanks to these lonesome vales Camilla Tilling (3:15)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), 1786: Dove sono Kiri Te
Kanawa (5:08)
Mozart, La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), 1788: Ah, Perdona Al Primo Affetto Lucia
Popp & Frederica von Stade (3:08)
Gioachino Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution), 1816: Ecco,
ridente in cielo Richard Conrad (5:08)
Vincenzo Bellini, Beatrice di Tenda, 1833: Angiol di pace Richard Conrad, Joan Sutherland, &
Marilyn Horne (3:28)
Bellini, Norma, 1831: Casta diva Maria Callas (5:37)

Gaetano Donizetti, Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn), 1830:

09. Oh, amor! Mi inspira Patricia Kern (2:22)
10. Legger potessi in me! Beverly Sills (5:20)
11. Donizetti, Lelisir damore (The Elixir of Love), 1832: Una furtiva lagrima Tito Schipa (4:22)
12. Donizetti, Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart), 1835: Deh! Tu Di Un Umile Preghiera Beverly Sills (4:27)
13. Donizetti, Don Pasquale, 1843: Tornami a dir che mami Joan Sutherland & Richard Conrad (3:32)
Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, 1835:
14-17. Lucias Mad Scene Beverly Sills with William Bennett (flute) and Bruno Hoffmann (glass
harmonica) (21:20)
18 Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, 1926: Nessun dorma Luciano Pavarotti (2:59)

DISC TWO THE FRENCH ALBUM

01. Daniel Auber, La muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici), 1828: Ferme tes yeux Richard Conrad
(4:36)
02. Ambroise Thomas, Hamlet, 1868: A Vos Jeux, Mes Amis Joan Sutherland (8:52)
Georges Bizet, Les pcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), 1863:
03. Au fond du temple saint David Hobson & Teddy Tahu Rhodes (5:51)
04. Je crois entendre encore David Hobson (3:46)
05-06. O Dieu Brahma! Barbara Hendricks & John Aler (7:58)
07. Jules Massenet, Esclarmonde, 1889: Voici le divin moment Joan Sutherland & Giacomo Aragall
(6:44)
08. Massenet, Thas, 1894: Meditation Religieuse Renaud Capuon (violin) with Orchestre National
Bordeaux Aquitaine conducted by Yves Abel (5:49)
Jules Offenbach, Les contes dHoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), 1881:

09. Il tait une fois la cour dEisenach Plcido Domingo (5:30)

10-11. Epilogue Plcido Domingo, Huguette Tourangeau, Joan Sutherland, Gabriel Bacquier, Pedro di
Proenza & Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus (3:59)
Hector Berlioz, Les Troyens (The Trojans), 1863:
12. Blonde Cres Kenneth Tarver (4:43)
13. Nuit DIvresse et DExtase Infinie! Jon Vickers & Josephine Veasey (10:07)
14. Charles Gounod, Faust, 1859: O Dieu! Que De Bijoux Joan Sutherland (4:42)
15. Franois Boieldieu, Angela, 1825: Ma Fanchette est charmante Richard Conrad, Marilyn Horne, &
Joan Sutherland (4:13)

DISC THREE THE VERDI ALBUM

Giuseppe Verdi, La traviata (The Fallen Woman), 1853:
01. Prelude to Act I Bonn Classical Philharmonic Orchestra, Heribert Beissel (3:50)
02-03. Libiamo NeLieti Calici.Un Di Felice Joan Sutherland & Luciano Pavarotti (6:31)
04-06. Sempre libera Leontyne Price (11:09)
Verdi, Il trovatore (The Troubadour), 1853:
07-09. Che Piu TArresti? Leontyne Price (8:29)
Verdi, Rigoletto, 1851:
10. La donna e mobile Luciano Pavarotti (2:28)
11. Caro Nome Joan Sutherland (6:20)
Arrigo Boito, Mefistofele, 1868:
12. Lontano, lontano, lontano Mirella Freni & Luciano Pavarotti (2:52)
13-14. Forma Ideal, Purissima Luciano Pavarotti & Montserrat Caball (9:48)
Verdi, Ada, 1871:
15 O Patria mia Leontyne Price (5:16)
16-17. Finale (O terra, addio) Plcido Domingo & Katia Ricciarelli, with Elena Obraztsova (10:44)
Verdi, Otello, 1887:
18 Gia Nella Notte Leontyne Price & Plcido Domingo (11:08)

DISC FOUR ROMANTIC OPERA

1.
2.

3.

Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold (The Ring of the Nibelung: The Rhine
gold), 1869:
Vorspiel Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti (4:13)
Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle! Oda Balsborg, Hetty Plmacher, Irsa Malaniuk & Gustav Niedlinger
(2:25)
Giacomo Puccini, Tosca, 1900: E lucevan le stele Franco Corelli (3:25)

Bla Bartk, A Kkszakll Herceg Vra (Duke Bluebeards Castle), 1918:

4-5. Doors 4 & 5 - Gustv Belacek & Andrea Melth (10:53)

6
7

8
9

Camille Saint-Sans, Samson et Dalila, 1877: Mon coeur souvre a ta voix Elena Obraztsova &
Plcido Domingo (5:33)
Puccini, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), 1910: Che Faranno I Vecchi Miei
Gwynne Howell, Francis Egerton, Paul Crook, Robin Leggate, Jonathan Summers & Chorus of the
Royal Opera House (3:44)
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin, 1879: Tatyanas Letter Scene Lucia Popp (12:10)
Puccini, Madama Butterfly, 1904: Humming Chorus Wiener Philharmoniker, Vienna State Opera
Chorus, Herbert von Karajan (3:05)

Puccini, La rondine (The Swallow), 1917:

10 Chi il bel sogno di Doretta Angela Gheorghiu & London Voices (2:24)
11-14. Party scene from Act II [excerpts] Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, William Matteuzzi, Inva
Mula-Tchako, with Patrizia Biccire & London Voices (14:54)
15 Rossini, Semiramide, 1823: Bel raggio Lusinghier Joan Sutherland (6:42)
16 Benjamin Goddard, Jocelyn, 1888: Berceuse David Hobson (4:47)
17 Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Die Walkure (The Valkyrie), 1870: Hans Hotter & Wiener
Philharmoniker, Georg Solti (4:54)

DISC FIVE PRE-WAR OPERA

Giacomo Puccini, La boheme (The Bohemian Life), 1896:
O soave fanciulla Cheryl Barker & David Hobson (4:41)
Musettas Waltz Shu-Cheen Yu (2:31)
Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945:
3. Sea Interlude #1: Dawn Covent Garden Orchestra & Colin Davis
Erich Korngold, Die tote stadt (The Dead City), 1920:
4. Glck, das mir verblieb Dame Joan Hammond (3:45)
5. Prelude to Act II Leif Segerstam & The Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra (4:32)
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir John in Love, 1929
6-7. Act I Love Sequence Robert Tear & Wendy Eathorne (4:06)
8-11. Act II Letter Scene Felicity Palmer, Elizabeth Bainbridge & Helen Watts (7:57)
12-15. Orchestral Excerpts Meredith Davies & New Philharmonia Orchestra (6:50)
16. Richard Strauss, Salome, 1905:
Final Scene Cheryl Studer (4:42)
George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, 1935:
17. Overture Wayne Marshall (piano) with The London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle (4:19)
18. Summertime Harolyn Blackwell (3:29)
19. Oh, Im agoin out to the Blackfish banks Bruce Hubbard with The Glyndebourne Chorus (3:30)
20. My mans gone now Cynthia Clarey with The Glyndebourne Chorus (3:59)
21. Bess, you is my woman now Willard White & Cynthia Haymon (6:16
22. Oh deys so fresh an fine Camellia Johnson, with cast (5:02)
23. Theres a boat dats leavin soon for New York Damon Evans (4:27)
1.
2.

DISC SIX MODERN OPERA

In the church-way paths to glide:

And the owner of it blest.

And we fairies, that do run

1.
2.
3.
4.

Gyrgy Ligeti, Le grand macabre, 1977: Car-horn prelude Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka
Salonen (0:57)
Thomas Ads, The Tempest, 2004: Five Fathoms deep Cynthia Sieden (3:59)
Jake Heggie, Moby-Dick, 2010: Overture Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Sexton (3:54)
Ads, The Tempest, 2004: What was before Toby Spence & Kate Royal (8:31)

Meet me all by break of day.

Following darkness like a dream,

Trip away, make no stay,

From the presence of the sun,

OBERON

By the triple Hecates team,

Now are frolic:

And a mouse shall disturb

Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945:

5-6. Third and Fifth Sea Interludes Covent Garden Orchestra, Colin Davis (7:25)
7. Now the Great Bear and Pleiades Jon Vickers (4:08)

8.
9.

John Adams, Nixon in China, 1987:

Tropical storm Orchestra of St. Lukes, Edo de Waart (4:45)
I Am the Wife of Mao Tse-tung Trudy Ellen Craney (6:30)

Francis Poulenc, Dialogues des Carmlites (Dialogues of the Carmelites), 1957:

10-11. Final (guillotine) scene Denise Duval, Liliane Berton, Janine Fourrier, Gisle Desmoutiers (9:42)
Leonard Bernstein, Candide, 1956:
12. Life is Happiness Indeed Jerry Hadley, June Anderson (2:59)
13. Words, Words, Words (Martins Laughing Song) Adolphe Green (3:13)

(Exeunt all but Puck)

This hallowd house.

PUCK

That you have but slumberd here,

To sweep the dust behind the door.

Think but this, and all is mended,

I am sent with broom before,

If we shadows have offended,

PUCK (chasing the Fairies)

While these visions did appear.

Else the Puck a liar call;

Glimmering light,

If you pardon, we will mend.

Through the house give

Gentles, do not reprehend:

OBERON

If we be friends,

Sing, and dance it trippingly.

Give me your hands,

Sing this ditty, after me,

So, good night unto you all.

Every elf and fairy sprite

And Robin shall restore amends!

TITANIA

14. John Corigliano, The Ghosts of Versailles, 1994: Come Now, My Darling Sequence Teresa Stratas,
Hakan Hagegard, Rene Fleming, Stella Zambalis [live] (10:25)
15. Carlisle Floyd, Susannah, 1956: The trees on the mountain Cheryl Studer (5:04)
16. Britten, A Midsummer Nights Dream, 1960: Finale - James Bowman, Lillian Watson, Dexter Fletcher
(5:04)

First, rehearse your song by rote

To each word a warbling note.
TITANIA / OBERON
Hand in hand with fairy grace,
Will we sing and bless this place.
OBERON / TITANIA / FAIRIES
Now until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be;
And the issue there create
Ever shall be fortunate.
So shall all the couples three
Every true in loving be.
With this field-dew consecrate,
Every fairy take his gait;
And each several chamber bless,
Through this palace
With sweet peace;
Ever shall in safety rest,

Who made me love him, then left me alone.

DISC ONE BAROQUE, CLASSICAL, AND BEL CANTO

The coals in the hearth have turned gray and cere,

The blue flame just vanished and left them there.

01. George Frideric Handel, Serse (Xerxes), 1738

Like a false-hearted lover, just like my own,

Yoshikazu Mela (Serse), Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Shigeo Genda

Who made me love him, then left me alone.

Act I. The earnest young Xerxes sings to a tree, praising its beauty.
Come back, oh summer, come back, blue flame,

Ombra mai fu
Di Vegetabile,
Care ed amaile
Soave piu.

My heart wants warming, my baby a name.

Come back, oh lover, if just for a day,
Turn bleak December once more into May.
The road up ahead lies lonely and far

Never was made

A plant
more dear and loving
or gentle.

02. Handel, Semele, 1743

There's darkness around me and not even a star

Ian Bostridge (Jupiter), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Harry Bicket

To show me the way, or lighten my heart

Act II. The god Jupiter tells the maiden Semele of his love for her.

Come back, my lover, I fain would start.

Where'er you walk

Where'er you tread

The poor baby fox lies all cold in his lair

Cool gales shall fan the glade

the blushing flowers shall rise

His mother just vanished and left him there

Trees where you sit

and all things flourish

Like a false-hearted lover, just like my own

shall crowd into a shade

Where'er you turn your eyes

Who made me love him, then left me alone.

03. Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas, 1688
Come back, oh summer, come back, blue flame,

Camilla Tilling (Belinda), Le Concert dAstre, Emmanuelle Ham

My heart wants warming, my baby, a name.

Come back, oh lover, if just for a day,

Act II. At a sun-dappled picnic, Belinda and the citizens sing of the beauties of nature, while Dido and
Aeneas fall in love.

Turn bleak December once more into May.

Come back! Come back! Come back!
16. Britten, A Midsummer Nights Dream, 1960, after William Shakespeares play
James Bowman (Oberon), Lillian Watson (Titania), Dexter Fletcher (Puck), Trinity Boys Choir, City of
London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
Finale. After the petty misunderstandings of the humans have been sorted out, the fairies and sprites appear to
clear the stage and bring on the night.
COBWEB / MUSTARDSEED /

Whilst the screech-owl,

PEASEBLOSSOM / MOTH

Screeching loud, puts the wretch

Now the hungry lion roars

That lies in woe

And the wolf behowls the moon;

In remembrance of a shroud.

Whilst the heavy ploughing snores,

Now it is the time of night

All with weary task fordone.

That the graves all gaping wide

Now the wasted brands do glow,

Every one lets forth his sprite,

Thanks to these lovesome vales,

These desert hills and dales,
So fair the game, so rich the sport,
Diana's self might to these woods resort.
04. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), 1786
Kiri Te Kanawa (Countess), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Georg Solti
Act III. Countess Almaviva, miserable at her increasingly unhappy marriage, ponders the loss of her
happiness.
Dove sono i bei momenti
Di dolcezza e di piacer?
Dove andaro i giuramenti
Di quel labbro menzogner?
Perch mai, se in pianti e in pene
Per me tutto si cangi,
La memoria di quel bene
Dal mio sen non trapass?

Where are the lovely moments

Of sweetness and pleasure?
Where have the promises gone
That came from those lying lips?
Why, if all is changed for me
Into tears and pain,
Has the memory of that goodness
Not vanished from my breast?

Ah! se almen la mia costanza,

Nel languire amando ognor,
Mi portasse una speranza
Di cangiar l'ingrato cor!

Ah! if only, at least, my faithfulness,

Which still loves amidst its suffering,
Could bring me the hope
Of changing that ungrateful heart!

05. Mozart, La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), 1788

ROSINA / CHERUBINO
scene, uncomfortably.)

Love is eternal

(King Louis has woken up, and watches the

Though hours pass swiftly,

The birds are hushed,

To the North is the Village of Shy Glances

ROSINA / CHERUBINO

BEAUMARCHAIS

Your cheeks are flushed,

Lucia Popp (Servilia), Frederica von Stade (Annio), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Colin Davis
Act I. The beautiful Servilia and young patrician Annio celebrate their love.
ANNIO
Ah, perdona al primo affetto
Questo accento sconsigliato:
Colpa fu del labbro usato
A cos chiamarti ognor.
SERVILIA
Ah, tu fosti il primo oggetto,
Che finor fedel amai;
E tu l'ultimo sarai
Ch'abbia nido in questo cor.
ANNIO
Cari accenti del mio bene.
SERVILIA
Oh mia dolce, cara speme.
SERVILIA, ANNIO
Pi che ascolto i sensi tuoi,
In me cresce pi l'ardor.
Quando un'alma all'altra unita,
Qual piacere un cor risente!
Ah, si tronchi dalla vita
Tutto quel che non amor.

ANNIUS
Ah, forgive, my former love,
that thoughtless word;
it was the fault of lips
accustomed always to call you so.
SERVILIA
Ah, you were the first person
whom I ever truly loved;
and you will be the last
to be sheltered in my heart.
ANNIUS
Dear words of my beloved!
SERVILIA
O my sweet, dear hope!
SERVILIA and ANNIUS
The more I hear your words,
the greater grows my passion.
When one soul unites with another,
what joy a heart feels!
Ah, eliminate from life
all that is not love!

Come to the room I have made for thee.

Touching

Come now, my darling, come with me,

To the East is the Grove of Tender

BEAUMARCHAIS

BEAUMARCHAIS

Cool and safe.

My soul is closed to sweet pleasures

The earth is sweet and soft.

MARIE

Let us strew the bed with flowers,

MARIE
Rage, bitterness, and hate consume me.

MARIE
Yes, yes, my darling, Ill come with thee,

There we will spend the hours.

Oh, Beaumarchais, let me be,

ALL FOUR

MARIE

Let us strew the bed with flowers.

To the West is the River of Sighs

Come to the room that is made for me,

BEAUMARCHAIS

I am unworthy of paradise.
LOUIS
No,

And South, past the arching willow,

(appearing suddenly between them)

BEAUMARCHAIS
Is the Temple of Love.

06. Gioachino Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precuation), 1816
Richard Conrad (Count Almaviva), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Act I. Young Count Almaviva, disguised as a poor student, hires a band of musicians to serenade at the
window of the wealthy but petulant Rosina.
Ecco, ridente in cielo
spunta la bella aurora,
e tu non sorgi ancora
e puoi dormir cosi'?
Sorgi, mia dolce speme,
vieni, bell'idol mio;
rendi men crudo, oh Dio,
lo stral che mi feri'.
Oh sorte! gia' veggo
quel caro sembiante;
quest'anima amante
ottenne pieta'.

Lo in the smiling sky,

the lovely dawn is breaking,
and you are not awake,
and you are still asleep?
Arise, my sweetest love,
oh come, my treasured one,
soften the pain, oh God,

15. Carlisle Floyd, Susannah, 1956

Cheryl Studer (Susannah), Kent Nagano, Orchestre de lOpra de Lyon
Act II. Sweet, playful Susannah is the subject of lust to many of the men in her small Appalachian community.
The jealousy of the women, combined with the self-hatred of the men, leads the small, heavily Christian
community to turn against her, calling her a lecherous whore. Gradually, Susannah is accused of greater and
greater scenes by the people and their pious reverend. Alone at home, friendless in her brothers absence from
town, Susannah sings an old American folk song.

Like a false-hearted lover, just like my own,

that dearest vision:

The summer just vanished and left them there

Oh joy! Do I now see

The trees on the mountains are cold and bare

of the dart which pierces me.

(King Louis is asleep. As a fantastic stage unfolds

before them,

COUNTESS

In full colour (as opposed to the blues and grays of

My heart is closed to such pleasures.

Oh istante d'amore!
Oh dolce contento!
Soave momento
che eguale non ha!

on this soul in love!

Oh, moment of love!
Oh, moment divine!
Oh, sweet content

their existence),
Beaumarchais tells the ghosts his story).

has she taken pity

which is unequalled!

CHERUBINO
To the east is the Grove of Tender

COUNTESS

Touching.

That man is a saint, but even he cant help

Richard Conrad (Orombello), Marilyn Horne (Agnese) & Joan Sutherland (Beatrice)

me now.

COUNTESS

I am truly lost. Ah, Cherubino!

Rage, bitterness, and hate consume me.

I gave up my life for you.

Cherubino! Cherubino!

07. Vincenzo Bellini, Beatrice di Tenda, 1833

CHERUBINO
To the west is the River of Sighs.

Act II. Beatrice and Orombello, a married Duchess and a noble lord, have fallen in love but have been
chaste in the face of her marriage. The jealous Agnese conspired to implicate them in adultery, and both
have now been condemned to death. As they await their sentence, Agnese moved by their love
tearfully confesses the truth, allowing them to acknowledge their own freedom to God, even as it is too
late to save their lives.

BEAUMARCHAIS
Now we go back in time,

COUNTESS

Let it be Spain, twenty years before,

Oh, Cherubino, take me home, I am

Let it be Seville in the full bloom of spring!

unworthy of paradise.

(The Countess, now younger, is blindfolded and

CHERUBINO

playing

And south, past the arching willow, is the

Hide-and-seek with her lover.)

Temple of Love.
Come now, my darling, come with me.

COUNTESS

Come to the room I have made for thee.

Cherubino! Cherubino!

Let us strew the bed with flowers,

Where are you taking me, young

There we will spend the hours,

shepherd?

There we will spend the hours.

CHERUBINO

ROSINA

Look at the green here in the glade.

Yes, yes, my darling, Ill come with thee,

Feel the mild breeze and the scent of wild

Come to the room that is made for me.

thyme.

Let us strew the bed with flowers,

Hear the vixens shrill cry and the lambs

There we will spend the hours

complaint
Were in the garden of earthly delights.

BEAUMARCHAIS (to Marie)

OROMBELLO
(dalle torri)
Angiol di pace all'anima
La voce tua mi suona.
Segui, o pietoso, e inspirami
Virt di perdonar...
AGNESE
Egli... perdona!...

OROMBELLO
(locked in his cell)
Angel of peace to the soul,
Your voice sounds to me of pity, and inspires
my virtue to forgive.

BEATRICE
Con quel perdono, o misera,
Ricevi il mio perdono.
Salga con queste lagrime
A un Dio di pace e amor.

BEATRICE
With this forgiveness, o misery,
Receive my forgiveness.
Rise with these tears
To a God of peace and love.

AGNESE
Ah! la virt di vivere
Da te ricevo in dono...
Vivr, vivr per piangere
Finch si spezzi il cor.

AGNESE
Ah, the virtue of living!
Since you receive such a gift.
I will live, I will live to mourn,
Even as you break my heart.

AGNESE
He forgives!

08. Bellini, Norma, 1831

Look at the green here in the glade.

Maria Callas (Norma) the Coro & Orchestre Del Teatro Alla Scala, Tullo Serafin

COUNTESS

Feel the mild breeze and the scent of wild

I am not acquainted with these parts.

thyme.

Im lost in this land and frightened

Hear the vixens shrill cry, and the lambs

Act I. 50 B.C. Praying for victory against the invading Romans, the Druids gather in a mistletoe-strewn
grove as their high priestess, Norma, makes a plea to the Chaste Goddess. Unbeknownst to her people,
Norma has broken her vows to love the Roman Proconsul, Pollione, and bear him two children.

complaint,
CHERUBINO
To the north is the Village of Shy Glances

Were in th Garden of Earthly Delights.

NORMA and PRIESTESSES

Casta Diva, che inargenti
Queste sacre antiche piante,

NORMA and PRIESTESSES

Chaste goddess, who dost bathe in silver light
These ancient, hallowed trees,

Al noi volgi il bel sembiante,

Senza nube e senza vel!
Tempra, o Diva,
Tempra tu de' cori ardenti,
Tempra ancora lo zelo audace.
Spargi in terra quella pace
Che regnar tu fai nel ciel.
NORMA
Fine al rito.
E il sacro bosco
Sia disgombro dai profani.
Quando il Nume irato e fosco
Chiegga il sangue dei Romani,
Dal druidico delubro
La mia voce tuoner.

Turn thy fair face upon us,

Unveiled and unclouded...
Temper thou the burning hearts,
The excessive zeal of thy people.
Enfold the earth in that sweet peace
Which, through Thee, reigns in heaven....
NORMA
The holy rites are ended.
From the sacred wood
Let every unbeliever go.
When God, in his dark anger,
Shall demand the Romans' blood,
Then from the Druid temple
My voice will thunder forth.

09-10. Gaetano Donizetti, Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn), 1830

Patricia Kern (Mark Smeaton), Beverly Sills (Anne Boleyn), Shirley Verrett (Jane Seymour), the John Alldis
Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel
Act I. In the court of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn is despondent at the arrival of lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour,
who has clearly caught the Kings eye. Her courtier, Mark Smeaton, hopelessly in love with her, sings a
ballad to cheer her spirits.Anne, however, cannot focus.

Who beholds you thus pensive and silent, would

believe you
to be an innocent maiden who sighs for her first
love:
and forgetting the crown which covers your head,

Chi pensierosa e tacita starti cos ti mira, ti crede

ingenua vergine che il primo amor sospira: ed
obliato il serto
onde il tuo crin coperto, teco sospira, e
sembragli esser quel
primo amor.

(Anna becomes more thoughtful.

Smeton continues in a more animated voice)

(Anna diviene pi pensosa.

Smeton prosegue con voce pi animata)

Ah! Do not desire to constrain

your face to feigned joy:
your sorrow is as lovely
as your smile.
Thus is the dawn still beautiful
when girded with clouds,
the melancholy moon
is lovely in its pallor.

Deh! non voler costringere

a finta gioia il viso:
bella la tua mestizia,
siccome il tuo sorriso.
Cinta di nubi ancora
bella cos l'aurora,
la luna malinconica
bella nel suo pallor.

(A harp is given to Smeton. He plays for a while

then sings the following ballad.)

(Un'arpa recata a Smeton. Egli preludia un

momento, indi canta la seguente romanza.)

SMEATON:
Oh! love, inspire me.

SMETON:
Oh! amor, mi inspira.

CANDIDE / PAQUETTE
Though of noble birth were not,
Were delighted with our lot.
CANDIDE / CUNEGONDE / PAQUETTE
Were innocent and unambitious,

Thats why life is so delicious!

We have everything we need.
ALL
Life is happiness indeed!
Indeed!

13. Adolph Green (Martin), London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein

Act II. Despite travels from Spain to South America, having witnessed all his most beloved friends killed or sold
or raped, Candide still expresses remarkable optimism. This is not a trade shared by his current travelling
companion, an old grump named Martin.
MARTIN
Free will. Humanity. Love.
Huh! Hah! Ha, ha!
Words, words, words, words.
I have no words
To describe the vanity of life,
The insane inanity of life.
I have no words, but ha!
Mid grime and slime,
Why waste our time
Spouting some Spinoza monograph
Even one short Shakespeare epitaph,
They make me laugh but wait!
It just occurred to me,
A word that may just possibly
Apply to all of us,
Trapped on this ball of dust.
Two tiny syllables,
But spiny syllables.
One simple word: absurd. Ha! Absurd.
Dont make me laugh.
It hurts to laugh.
Dont make me laugh,
Dont make me titter!
All wheat is chaff,

All pills are bitter.

Nothing to trust in
This worst of all possible worlds.
All ends in dust in
This worst of all possible worlds.
Any questions? Dont ask me now,
Theyre useless anyhow.
Were you in my position, friend,
Were you a humble sweeper,
Your thoughts on mans condition, friend,
Would be a little deeper.
If every blessed day, my friend,
Brought dung and bone and spittle
For you to clear away, my friend,
twould change your life a little.
Yes, dung and bone and spittle
And mud and trash
And blood and ash
And souvenirs of lust
And every sort of residue
In process of reduction
To the final state of dust.
Youd laugh along with me, my friend,
Youd laugh until youd bust!
Ha!

14. John Corigliano, The Ghosts of Versailles, 1994

Teresa Stratas (Marie Antoinette), Hakan Hagegard (Beumarchais), Rene Fleming (Countess Almaviva),
Stella Zambalis (Cherubino), James Courtney (Louis XVI), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine
Act I. In the faded court of Versailles, the ghosts of Marie Antoinette and her court live out their eternity in
boredom. The poet Beaumarchais, hopelessly in love with the Queen (who is tired of her boring, older
husband), conjures up a play a third in his Figaro trilogy in the aims of convincing her to love him. As he tells
the story of how the much older Countess recalled her final rendezvous with her young lover, Cherubino,
Beaumarchais attempts to woo the Queen for himself.

(Incroyablement calme, Blanche merge de la

foule stupfaite et monte au supplice)

resumes her journey to the scaffold, with a

gentle smile to Blanche.)
O pia, o dulcis Virgo Ma...

BLANCHE
Deo Patri sit gloria
Et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit ac Paraclito
In saeculorum saecula.
In saeculorum...
(La foule se disperse lentement)

ANNA:
(sorge commossa)

ANNA:
(rises, moved)

Cessa... deh! cessa...

CeaseAlas! Cease

BLANCHE
Deo Patri sit gloria
Et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit ac Paraclito
In saeculorum saecula,
In saeculorum...

SMETON:
Regina! oh ciel!

SMEATON:
My Queen! Oh heavens!

CORO:
(Ella turbata, oppressa.)

CHORUS:
(She is troubled, oppressed.)

(The crowd begins to disperse.)

ANNA:
(Come, innocente giovine,
come m'ha scosso il core!
Son calde ancor le ceneri
del mio primiero amore!
Ah! non avessi il petto
aperto ad altro affetto,
io non sarei s misera,
nel vano mio splendor.)

ANNA:
(How that innocent boy,
how he has shaken my heart!
The ashes of my first love
are still warm!
Ah! if my heart was not open
to another attachment,
I would not be so unhappy
in this vain splendour of mine.)

ANNA:
Legger potessi in me!
Non v'ha sguardo a cui sia dato
penetrar nel mesto core;
mi condanna
il crudo fato
non intesa a sospirar.
Ah! se mai
di regio soglio
ti seduce lo splendore,
ti rammenta il mio cordoglio,
non lasciarti lusingar.

ANNA:
Could you but read it within me!
To no gaze has it been granted
to penetrate this sad heart;
An incomprehensible
cruel fate condemns me
to sigh in sorrow.
Ah! if ever the splendour
of the royal throne
seduces you,
remember my pain
dont let yourself be dazzled.

GIOVANNA:
(Alzar gli occhi in lei non oso.
Non ardisco favellar.)

JANE:
(I dare not raise my eyes to her,
nor can I make bold to speak)

CORO:
(Qualche istante di riposo
possa il sonno a lei recar.)

CHORUS:
(A few moments of rest
might give her some sleep.)

(Incredibly calm, Blanche steps forward,

amid the stupefaction of the crowd, and
mounts the scaffold.)

Leonard Bernstein, Candide, 1956

12 Jerry Hadley (Candide), June Anderson (Cunegonde), Kurt Ollmann (Maximillian), Della Jones
(Paquette), London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Act I. In the highly class-bound European country of Westphalia live a quartet of eager young things.
Maximillian, best friends with every mirror; Cunegonde, so rich and beautiful her favourite pastime is crushing
roses, to ensure nothing competes with her; Paquette, the serving girl who is proud to be linked to so many
great men and women through the social network of sexually-transmitted diseases; and Candide, an
illegitimate boy living in the palace who sees every day with nave and unchecked optimism, coddled by their
tutor Dr. Pangloss, who insists by apparent logic that they must exist in the best of all possible worlds.
CANDIDE
Life is happiness indeed:
Mares to ride and books to read.
Though of noble birth Im not,
Im delighted with my lot.
Though Ive no distinctive features
And Ive no official mother,
I love all my fellow creatures
And the creatures love each other!
MAXIMILIAN
Life is absolute perfection,
As is true of my complexion,
Every time I look and see me,
Im reminded life is dreamy.
Although I do get tired
Being endlessly admired,
People will go on about me
How could they go on without me?
If the talk at times is vicious,
Thats the price you pay when youre
delicious!

will sigh with you, and he would feel that he was

that first love.

Life is pleasant, life is simple

Oh my God, is that a pimple?
No, its just the odd reflection,
Life and I are still perfection!
I am everything I need!
Life is happiness indeed!
CUNEGONDE
Life is happiness indeed:
I have everything I need.
I am rich and unattached,
And my beauty is unmatched.
With the rose my only rival,
I admit to some frustration;
What a pity its survival
Is of limited duration!
CANDIDE / CUNEGONDE / PAQUETTE
Life is happiness indeed,
CANDIDE / CUNEGONDE
Horses to ride and books to read.

(Anna parte accompagnata da Seymour e dalle

ancelle. La scena si sgombra,e non rimane dei
lumi che una lampada, la quale rischiara la
sala.)

(Anna leaves, accompanied by Seymour and by

the maids. The stage empties and there remains
no light but one lamp stand to light the room.)

and I shall taste eternal joy.

thoughtless and heartless, red and blind,

a grain of sand in heaven's eye

of history I sucked and pissed,

I cut my teeth upon the land

counter-revolutionary elements)

on revolution. Let me be

(The people express their bitterness against

and when I walked my feet were bound

11. Donizetti, LElisir DAmore (The Elixir of Love), 1832

Tito Schipa (Nemorino), Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Carlo Sabajno
Act II. After having taken a sham potion in the hopes of making Adina fall in love with him, Nemorinos
plans seem to have failed. However, when the other women of the town begin showing interest in him
(when rumour spreads that Nemorino is about to receive a large inheritance), he is elated by only one thing:
in the moment he ignored Adina, Nemorino saw a single tear in the corner of her eye
Una furtiva lagrima
negli occhi suoi spunt...
quelle festose giovani
invidiar sembr...
Che pi cercando io vo?
M'ama, lo vedo.
Un solo istante i palpiti
del suo bel cor sentir!..
Co' suoi sospir confondere
per poco i miei sospir!...
Cielo, si pu morir;
di pi non chiedo.

A sullen and secretive tear

That started there in her eye...
Those socialising bright young things
Seemed to provoke its envy...
What more searching need I do?
She loves me, that I see.
For just one moment the beating
Of her hot pulse could be felt!..
With her sighing confounding
Momentarily my sighs!...
Oh God, I shall expire;
I can't ask for more.

12. Donizetti, Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart), 1835

Beverly Sills (Maria) with Patricia Kern (Anna), the John Alldis Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Aldo
Ceccato
Act II. At the site of her intended execution, Mary calls the people together (including her loyal lady-inwaiting Anna) for a final prayer.

MARIA (and Anna, Citizens)

Deh! Tu di un'umile preghiera il suono
Odi, o benefico Dio di piet.
All'ombra accoglimi del tuo perdono,
Altro ricovero il cor non ha.
Ah! s ... Dio!
Fra l'ali accoglimi del tuo perdono,
Altro ricovero il cor non ha.
vano il pianto, il ciel m'aita.
Scorda l'incauto della tua vita.
Tolta al dolore, tolta agli affanni,
D'eterno amore mi pascer.

MARIA
I pray, a humble prayer of the soul.
Hear, o beneficent God of mercy.
Receive me in the shade of your pardon,
The heart has no other shelter.
Ah! Yes, God!
Between your wings take my pleas of
forgiveness,
The heart has no other shelter.
It is in vain to cry,
Heaven aid me.
Forget the incautiousness of my life.
Take away the pain, remove anxieties.
Feed me only on the eternal love.

Francis Poulenc, Dialogues des Carmelites (Dialogues of the Carmelites), 1957

10-11. Denise Duval (Sister Blanche), Liliane Berton (Sister Constance), Janine Fourrier (Mother Jeanne),
Gisle Desmoutiers (Sister Mathilde), Chorus & Orchestra of the Opra Paris, Pierre Dervaux
Act III. In 1794, a convent of Carmelite nuns at Compiegne have after much internal dispute refused en
masse to renounce their vocation despite the French Revolution.One by one, the nuns slowly mount the scaffold
joined lastly by the conflicted Blanche and fall to the guillotine, defiantly singing a Catholic hymn.

(Prieure monte l'chafaud la premire. A

mesure qu'elles disparaissent, une une, le
choeur se fait plus menu)
LA PRIEURE, MRE JEANNE, SOEUR
MATHILDE, CONSTANCE, CARMLITES
Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita
dulcedo et spes nostra, salve, et spes nostra,
salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae; ad te
suspiramus gementes et flentes. in
hac lacrimarum, lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo
Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes
oculos ad nos converte. Et Jesum benedictum
fructum ventris tui nobis post hoc exsilium
ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo
Maria, o dulcis Virgo Maria.
(Constance, la dernire des carmlites, monte
l'chafaud. Blanche, le visage dpouill de
toute crainte, se fraye un passage dans la
foule o elle se confond)
CONSTANCE
O clemens...
(Constance l'aperoit et son visage s'irradie
de
bonheur. Elle s'arrte un court instant.
Reprenant sa marche l'chafaud, elle sourit
doucement Blanche)
O pia, o dulcis Virgo Ma...

(The Prioress is the first to mount the

scaffold. As each nun in turn disappears, the
voices of the chorus become fewer and
fewer.)
PRIORESS, MOTHER JEANNE, SISTER
MATHILDE, CONSTANCE, CARMELITES
Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules fi
lii Hevae;
ad te suspiramus gementes et fl
entes in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia ergo advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos
converte.
Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria, o
dulcis Virgo Maria.
(Constance, the last of the Carmelites,
ascends the scaffold. Blanche, her face free
from every vestige of fear, makes her way
through the crowd in which she had been
lost.)
CONSTANCE
O clemens...
(Constance catches sight of her friend and
her face becomes radiant with happiness.
She stops short for a brief moment, then

05-06. Third and Fifth Sea Interludes Covent Garden Orchestra, Colin Davis
07. Jon Vickers (tenor), Jonathan Summers (Balstrode), John Dobson (Boles), Covent Garden Chorus &
Orchestra, Colin Davis
Act I. The loner Peter ponders the skies. The recent death of one of his apprentices had made him somewhat of
an outcast, but it doesnt take much gossip among the drinking, seemingly merry local people to make him
even more of a pariah.
PETER
Now the great Bear and Pleiades
where earth moves
Are drawing up the clouds
of human grief
Breathing solemnity in the deep night.
Who can decipher
In storm or starlight
The written character
of a friendly fate
As the sky turns, the world for us to
change?
But if the horoscopes
bewildering
Like a flashing turmoil
of a shoal of herring,
Who can turn skies back and begin again?
CHORUS
Hes mad or drunk,
Whys that man here?
NIECES
His song alone would sour the beer.
CHORUS
His tempers up.
O, chuck him out
NIECES

I wouldnt mind if he didnt howl.

CHORUS
He looks as though hes nearly drowned.
BOLES
(staggers up to Grimes)
Youve sold your soul, Grimes.
BALSTRODE
Come away.
BOLES
Satans got a hold of him.
BALSTRODE
Leave him alone, you drunkard.
BOLES
Ill hold the gospel light before
The cataract that blinds his eyes.
PETER
Get out.
BOLES
His exercise is not with men
But killing boys!
AUNTIE
For Gods sake, help me keep te peace?
Dyou wane me up at the next Assize?
BALSTRODE
For peace sake, someone start a song!

ANNA, FAMIGLIARI
Distendi un velo su' corsi affanni,
Benigno il cielo ti perdon.
MARIA
Dio! ah! s!
D'eterno amore mi pascer.
Mi perdon.
ANNA, FAMIGLIARI
O Dio! Piet! Ah, piet!
Beningno il cielo ti perdon.

ANNA, CITIZENS
Stretch out a veil to course over your troubles.
Kind Heaven has forgiven you.
MARIA
God! Yes!
I am forgiven.
ANNA, CITIZENS
Oh God, have mercy!

13. Donizetti, Don Pasquale, 1843

Joan Sutherland (Norina), Richard Conrad (Ernesto), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonygne
Act II. After a riotous series of events, young lovers Ernesto and Norina are at last together, although their
refusals to be outdone by one another are never far behind.
Tornami a dir che m'ami,
dimmi che mia/mio tu sei;
quando tuo ben mi chiami
la vita addoppi in me.
La voce tua s cara
rinfranca il core oppresso:
sicuro/sicura a te dappresso,
tremo lontan da te.

Tell me again that you love me.

Tell me again that youre mine.
When you call me your treasure,
Life is twice as precious.
Your voice is so dear.
It soothes my anguished heart.
How safe I feel when I am near you,
But how I worry when were apart.

14-17. Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, 1835

Beverly Sills (Lucia), Piero Cappuccilli (Enrico), Justino Diaz (Raimondo), Patricia Kern (Alisa), Ambrosian
Opera Chorus, William Bennett (flute), Bruno Hoffmann (glass harmonica), London Symphony Orchestra,
Thomas Schippers

John Adams, Nixon in China, 1987

08. Carolann Page (Pat Nixon), Orchestra of St. Lukes, Edo de Waart
09. Trudy Ellen Craney (Madame Mao), Orchestra and Chorus of St. Lukes, Edo de Waart
Act II. On their famous diplomatic trip to China, Richard and Pat Nixon are taken to see a Chinese political play.
The subject matter quickly gets out of hand, with a seeming parody of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
portraying a dominating West. Pat can no longer stand the ruthlessly obvious anti-revolutionary propaganda
piece. While a tropical storm brews outside, Madame Mao leads the people in song.
I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung

whose wreaths are heavy round my neck

who raised the weak above the strong.

I speak according to the book.

When I appear the people hang

When did the Chinese people last

upon my words, and for his sake

expose its daughters? At the breast

Act III. Having been forcibly married by her brother to an older man, Lucia has lost her true love, Edgardo.
On her wedding night, Lucia goes mad, brutally killing her brideroom. She descends, garbed in white, blood
across her body, to the horror of her brother Enrico and the guests of the Lammermoor hall.
Although originally written with a glass harmonica line in the orchestra, most performances omit this, as
the muted sounds of the instrument dos not travel well in vast opera houses. This recording is one of the
few to adhere to Donizettis original scoring.

(Lucia enters, garbed simply in white, her

hair

(Lucia entra in succinta e bianca veste, ha le

chiome scarmigliate, ed il suo volto, coperto

LUCIA
Ogni piacer pi grato,

LUCIA
Every rare pleasure

NORMANNO, RAIMONDO e CORO

Ambi in s crudo stato
di lei, Signore, di lei piet.

NORMANNO, RAIMONDO and CHORUS

What a cruel plight!
Take pity on her, Lord.

LUCIA
Il dolce suono
mi colp di sua voce!...Ah, quella voce
m' qui nel cor discesa!
Edgardo, io ti son resa,
Edgardo, ah, Edgardo mio!
S, ti son resa,
fuggita io son da' tuoi nemici.
Un gelo mi serpeggia nel sen!
Trema ogni fibra!...Vacilla il pi!
Presso la fonte meco t'assidi alquanto.
Ohim! Sorge il tremendo
fantasma, e ne separa! Ohim!
Ohim! Edgardo! Edgardo! Ah!
Il fantasma ne separa!
Qui ricovriamo, Edgardo, a pi dell'ara.
Sparsa di rose!...Un'armonia celeste,
di', non ascolti? Ah! L'inno
suona di nozze! Il rito
per noi s'appresta!...Oh me felice!
Edgardo, Edgardo, oh me felice!
Oh, gioia che si sente e non si dice!
Ardon gli incensi...splendon
le sacre faci, splendon intorno!
Ecco il Ministro! Porgimi
la destra...Oh, lieto giorno!
Alfin son tua, alfin sei mio,
a me ti dona un Dio.

LUCIA
I was stirred
by the sweet sound of his voice! Ah, that
voice
won this heart of mine!
Edgardo, I am yours again,
Edgardo, ah, my Edgardo!
Yes, I am yours again,
I escaped from your enemies.
An icy shiver creeps in my bosom.
Every nerve quivers! My step falters!
Sit with me a while near the fountain.
Alas! The terrible spectre rises
and parts us! Alas!
Alas! Edgardo! Edgardo! Ah!
The spectre...parts us!
Here let us hide, Edgardo, at the foot of the
altar.
it is strewn with roses! Celestial harmony,
do you not hear it? Ah, strains
of our wedding-hymn! The ceremony
awaits us.Oh, how happy I am!
Edgardo, Edgardo, how happy I am!
Oh, joy that I feel but cannot express!
The incense is burning - the sacred
torches are glowing all around!
Here is the minister! Give me
your hand...Oh, happy day!
At last I am yours, at last you are mine,
God has given you to me.

CORO
Oh giusto cielo!
Par dalla tomba uscita!

CHORUS
Oh, merciful Heaven!
She looks as if she has risen from the grave!

RAIMONDO
Eccola!

RAIMONDO
Here she comes!

di uno squallore di morte, la rende simile ad

uno spettro. Il di lei sguardo impietrito, i
moti convulsi, e fino un sorriso amaro,
manifestano non solo una spaventevole
demenza, ma anche i segni di un'imminente
fine.)

dishevelled, a pallor of death on her face,

giving her a ghostly appearance. Her stony
stare, convulsive movements and bitter smile
disclose not only a violent insanity, but also
that death for her is imminent.)

Toby Spence (Ferdinand), Kate Royal (Miranda), Simon Keenlyside (Prospero), Orchestra of the Royal Opera
House, Thomas Ads
Act II. Ferdinand, a young nobleman aboard the wrecked ship, has washed up on the island and been chained
up by the spirits. Miranda sent into exile with her father as a small child has never met another man. The
two quickly fall in love, to the dismay of her father..

FERDINAND, then MIRANDA,

then PROSPERO unseen.
FERDINAND:
What was before
Is no more
My fathers gone
I live on
Bound and tied
Till I die
Trees and stones
To be my home
Lost like a dream
All thats been
Nothing left
But this grief
Only she
Comforts me
In this night
She is the light
(MIRANDA enters.)
MIRANDA:
How can I offer
What Id give?
How can I ask for
What Id have?
Do you love me?
Why do I weep?
Love is strong
I am weak
FERDINAND:
As soon as I saw you
My heart flew to serve you
As if it had waited
My whole life to love you
(PROSPERO enters unseen.)

Whats your name?

MIRANDA:
Miranda
Ive disobeyed
Father said not to say
FERDINAND:
Admired Miranda
Wonder of my life
My wife
(MIRANDA frees FERDINAND.)
MIRANDA and FERDINAND:
High on the headland
Low in the dry sand
Deep in the woodland
There well lie
Or on a rock face
Near where the waves break
Hearing the tide race
You and I
Oh will you have me
Tell me you love me
If you are with me
I am entire
My lover smiling
Blessed asylum
Bountiful island
All I desire
PROSPERO:
Miranda
Ive lost her
I cannot rule their minds
My child has conquered me
A stronger power than mine
Has set the young man free

Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945

You'll be forgettin',
There'll be no frettin',
Jes' nothin' but smiles.
Come along wid me, dat's de place,
Bess,
Don't be a fool, come along, come along.
There's a boat dat's leavin' soon for New
York.
Come wid me,
dat's where we belong, sister,
dat's where we belong!
Come on, Bess!
BESS
You low crawlin' hound!
Get away from my door,
I tells you, leave it, you rattlesnake,
Dat's what you is, rattlesnake!

SPORTING LIFE
(hands her a second paper, she knocks it
out of his hand)
Don't want take a second shot, eh!
All right, Ill leave it here
maybe you'll change yo' mind.
(He tosses the paper on the doorstep. She
runs suddenly into room and slams the
door behind her. Sporting Life smiles,
lights a cigarette, blows smoke rings and
starts
sauntering away. After a long, arduous
moment, Bess looks around and realizes
her predicament. She reaches for the paper,
and then watching him go gives chase,
as the music rises to the swell of far distant
New York City.)

DISC SIX MODERN OPERA

01. Gyrgy Ligeti, Le grand macabre, 1977

I shall share with you.

Life for us will be
a gentle smile from heaven.
(Enrico enters.)
Shed bitter tears
on my earthly garment,
while in Heaven above
I will pray for you.
Only when you join me,
will Heaven be blissful for me,
ah yes, for me,
etc.

mi fia con te diviso,

Del ciel clemente un riso
la vita a noi sar!
(Entra Enrico.)
Spargi d'amaro pianto
il mio terrestre velo,
mentre lass nel cielo
io pregher per te.
Al giunger tuo soltanto,
fia bello il ciel per me,
ah s, per me,
ecc.

RAIMONDO and CHORUS

It is impossible
to hold back the tears,
etc.

RAIMONDO e CORO
Pi raffrenare il pianto
possibile non ,
ecc.

ENRICO
Remorse will bring me
days of bitter weeping,
etc.

ENRICO
Giorni d'amaro pianto
serba il rimorso a me,
ecc.

LUCIA
Ah! shed bitter tears,
etc.

LUCIA
Ah! spargi d'amaro pianto,
ecc.

Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen

Prelude, set to 12 car-horns at different pitches.

18. Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, 1926

02. Thomas Ads, The Tempest, 2004

Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf), John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta

Cynthia Sieden (Ariel), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Thomas Ads

Act III. The icy Princess Turandot has avoided marriage by setting three impossible riddles to her suitors, but
the Unknown Prince, Calaf, has answered them all. He offers her one last way uot: if she can learn his name
by dawn, he will die rather than marrying her. The lovelorn Prince spends the night in the palace gardens,
waiting for dawn.

Act I. The exiled magician Prospero lives on an island with his daughter and several spirits. When his cruel
brother, the new Duke of Milan, sails nearby, Prospero commands Ariel to conjure a great tempest and
wreck their ship.
Five fathoms deep
Your father lies
These are pearls
That were his eyes
Nothing of him
That was mortal
Is the same.
His bones are coral

He has suffered
A sea change
Into something
Rich and strange
Sea-nymphs hourly
Ring his knell.
I can hear them
Ding dong bell.

03. Jake Heggie, Moby-Dick, 2010

Overture Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Sexton.
04. Ads, The Tempest, 2004

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!

Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapr!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dir
quando la luce splender!
Ed il mio bacio scioglier il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun sapr!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)

Nobody shall sleep!...

Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light
shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that
makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must,

Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincer!
vincer, vincer

alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win!
I will win! I will win!

DISC TWO THE FRENCH ALBUM

01. Daniel Auber, La muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici), 1828
Richard Conrad (Maisanello), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Act I. The Neapolitan Maisanello is attempting an uprising against Spanish rule. As the city falls to the
horrors of revolution, Maisanello takes refuge and lets his sister, the mute Fenella, rest.

Ferme tes yeux, la fatigue taccable:

Repose en paix, je veillerai sur toi.
Du pauvre seul ami fidle,
Descends ma voix qui tappelle
Sommeil, descends du haut des cieux!
De son coeur bannis les alarmes:
: Quun songe heureux sche les larmes
Qui tombent encore de ses yeux.
Descends, toi par qui lon oublie
Sur sa paupire appesantie.
De ton coeur bannis les alarmes
Quun songe heureux sche les larmes
Qui tombent encore de ses yeux.

Close your eyes, fatigue overtakes you:

Lie there in peace, I shall watch over you.
Sleep, the poor mans only faithful friend,
Descend at the call of my voice,
Descend from the heights of the skies!
Banish alarms from her heart
Let happy dreams dry up the tears
That still fall from her eyes.
You who bring forgetfulness,
descend upon her heavy eyelids.
Banish alarms from her heart:
Let happy dreams dry up the tears
That still fall from her eyes.

Act II. After a tempestuous storm, which has taken the lives of some citizens and left Porgy at risk of going to
jail for defending Bess, Catfish Row comes alive with the activity of street vendors calling.
STRAWBERRY WOMAN
Oh dey's so fresh an' fine,
An' dey's jus' off de vine,
Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry.
Oh, dey's so fresh an' fine
An' dey's jus' offen de vine,
Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry.
PETER
Here come de honey man,
yes mam, this de honey man.
WOMAN
Oh, honey man, honey man!
PETER
(not hearing her, keeps walking)
You got honey in the comb.
Yes mam, I got honey in the comb.
WOMAN
Hey there! I wants some honey!
PETER
An is yo honey cheap?
ANNIE
Peter, honey man!
PETER
Yes mam, my honey very cheap,
here come de honey man.

ANNIE
Gawd amighty, Is jus
wasting my breath on you,
cause you ain never goin to hear no how.
CRAB MAN
Im talkin' about devil crabs,
I'm talkin' about de food I sells,
She crab, she crab, devil crab.
PORGY
On yo' way, brother.
CRAB MAN
Devil crab!
MARIA
Hey, crab man!
CRAB MAN
Im talkin' about de food I sell.
When I done talkin' about de food I sell,
talkin' about devil crab.
Now I's talkin' about yo' pocketbook,
Im talkin' about devil crabs,
she crab, she crab,
devil crab... Im talkin about de food I sells.
PORGY
Now de time, oh Gawd, now de time.

02. Ambroise Thomas, Hamlet, 1868

Joan Sutherland (Ophlie), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Franceso Molinari-Pradelli
Act IV. Manipulated by her father and brother, and rejected by the insane Hamlet, Ophelia wanders in a
budding grove, garlanded with flowers, attempting to play with the locals, inching ever closer to suicide.

A vos jeux, mes amis,

permettez-moi de grace de prendre part!
Nul n'a suivi ma trace!
J'ai quitte le palais
aux premiers feux du jour...
Des larmes de la nuit
la terre etait mouillee:
Et l'alouette, avant l'aube eveillee,
planait dans l'air.

At your game, my friends,

would you permit me to take part!
No one has followed my path!
I left the palace
at the first fires of the day...
Of the tears of night,
the earth was damp:
And the lark, high in the trees,
hovers in the air.

23. Damon Evans (Sportin Life), Cynthia Haymon (Bess), London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle
Act III. Seemingly abandoned again, with Porgy in jail and her former protector Crown dead, Bess is tempted by
the pusher Sportin Life, who offers her drugs and riches. Any port in a storm for easily-swayed, desperate Bess..
SPORTING LIFE
There's a boat dat's leavin' soon for New
York,
Come wid me, dat's where we belong,
sister.
You an' me kin live dat high life in New
York.
Come wid me, dere you can't go wrong,
sister.

Ill buy you de swellest mansion

Up on upper Fi'th Avenue,
An' through Harlem well go struttin',
Well go a-struttin',
An' dere'll be nuttin'
Too good for you.
Ill dress you in silks and satins
In de latest Paris styles.
All de blues you'll be forgettin',

21. Willard White (Porgy), Cynthia Haymon (Bess), Damon Evans (Sportin Life), London Philharmonic,
Simon Rattle
Having taken refuge with the crippled Porgy, Bess a low woman who has lived a life on the arm of drug
dealers and gamblers has fallen in love with him.

PORGY
Bess, you is my woman now,
you is, you is!
An' you mus' laugh an' sing an' dance
for two instead of one.
Want no wrinkle on yo' brow, nohow,
because de sorrow of de past is all done
done.
Oh, Bess, my Bess!
De real happiness is jes' begun.

PORGY
Bess, you is my woman now an' forever.
Dis life is jes' begun,
Bess, we two is one now an' forever.
Oh, Bess, don' min' dose women.
You got yo' Porgy, you loves yo' Porgy,
I knows you means it, I seen it in yo' eyes,
Bess.
We'll go swingin' through de years asingin'

BESS
Porgy, l's yo' woman now,
I is, I is!
An' I ain' never goin' nowhere
'less you shares de fun.
Dere's no wrinkle on my brow, nohow,
but I ain' goin'! You hear me sayin',
if you ain' goin', wid you I'm stayin'.
Porgy, l's yo' woman now! I's yours
forever,
Mornin' time an' evenin' time
an' summer time an winter time.

BESS
Mornin' time an' evenin' time
an' summer time an' winter time.

PORGY
Mornin' time an' evenin' time
an' summer time an' winter time,
Bess, you got yo' man.
BESS
Porgy, l's yo' woman now
I is, I is!
An' I ain' never goin' nowhere...
etc.

PORGY
(humming)
Hmm...
Mornin' time an' evenin' time
an' summer time an' winter time.
BESS
(humming)
Hmm...
Oh, my Porgy, my man Porgy,
From dis minute I'm tellin' you,
I keep dis vow:
Porgy, I's yo' woman now.
PORGY
My Bess, my Bess,
From dis minute I'm tellin' you,
I keep dis vow:
Oh, my Bessie, we's happy now,
We is one now.

22. Camellia Johnson (Strawberry Woman), Mervin Wallace (Peter, the Honey Man), Paula Ingram
(Annie), Colenton Freeman (Crab Man), Marietta Simpson (Maria), Willard White (Porgy), the
Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

Mais vous, pourquoi vous parler bas?

Ne me reconnaissez pas?
Hamlet est mon epoux..
et je suis Ophelie!
Un doux serment nous lie.
Il m'a donne son couer
en echange du mien...
Et si quelqu'un dit
qu'il me fuit e m'oublie,
n'en croyez rien!
Non, Hamlet est mon epoux
e moi je suis Ophelie.
S'il trahissait sa foi,
j'en perdrais la raison!

But you, why do you speak so softly?

Do you not recognize me?
Hamlet is my bridegroom...
and I am Ophelia!
A sweet oath binds us.
He gave me his heart
in exchange for mine...
And if anyone says
that he has left me and forgotten me,
I do not believe it!
No, Hamlet is my bridegroom
and I am Ophelia.
If he should betray me now,
I would lose my reason!

Partagez-vous mes fleurs!

A toi cette humble branche
de romarin sauvage.
A toi cette pervenche

Share my flowers!
For you, this humble branch
of wild rosemary.
For your, this periwin

Et maintenant ecoutez ma chanson!

And now, listen to my song!

Pale et blonde dors sous l'eau profonde

La Willis au regard de feu!
Que Dieu garde celui
qui s'attarde dans la nuit,
au bord du Lac bleu!
Heureuse l'epouse aux bras de l'epoux!
Mon ame et jalouse d'un bonheur si doux!
Nymphe au regard de feu, helas!
tu dors sous les eaux du Lac bleu!
La sirene passe et vous entraine
sous l'azur du Lac endormi.
L'air se voile, adieu! blanche etoile!
adieu ciel, adieu doux ami!

Pale and fair, sleeping under the water,

La Willis, with their firey gaze!
May God protect anyone
who loiters at night
by the shores of the blue lake!
Happy wife in the arms of her groom!
My soul is jealous of such a sweet happiness!
Nymph with the firey gaze, alas!
you sleep under the waters of the blue lake!
The Siren passes and drags you
under the blue of the sleepy lake.
The air is veiled, goodbye, white stars,
goodbye sky, goodbye sweet friend!

Heureuse l'epouse aux bras de l'epoux!

Mon ame et jalouse d'un bonheur si doux!

Happy wife in the arms of her groom!

My soul is jealous of such a sweet happiness!

Sous les flots endormi,

ah, pour toujours, adieu, mon doux ami!
Ah, cher epoux, ah, cher amant!
Ah, doux aveu!, ah, tendre serment!
Bonheur supreme!
Ah, cruel, je t'aime!
Ah, cruel, tu voix mes pleurs!
Pour toi je meurs!

Under the sleepy tide,

ah, forever, goodbye my sweet friend!
Ah, dearest groom, dearest love!
Ah, sweet vow, tender oath!
Happiness supreme!
Ah, cruel one, I love you!
Ah, cruel one, you see my tears!
For you I die!

Georges Bizet, Les pcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), 1863

03. David Hobson (Nadir), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Zurga), Sinfonia Australis, Thomas Woods

Act I. Best friends Nadir and Zurga agree to remain as close as brothers their whole lives, and they recall
their last voyage to Candi, and a beautiful priestess they caught sight of.
NADIR
Au fond du temple saint,
Par de fleurs et d'or,
Une femme apparat!
Je crois la voir encore!
ZURGA
Une femme apparat!
Je crois la voir encore!
NADIR
La foule prosterne
La regarde, etonne,
Et murmure tous bas:
Voyez, c'est la desse!
Qui dans l'ombre se dresse
Et vers nous tend les bras!
ZURGA
Son voile se soulve!
vision! rve!
La foule est genoux!
NADIR ET ZURGA
Oui, c'est elle!
C'est la desse plus charmante et plus belle!
Oui, c'est elle!
C'est la desse qui descend parmi nous!
Son voile se soulve et la foule est genoux!
NADIR
Mais travers la foule
Elle s'ouvre un passage!
ZURGA
Son long voile dj
Nous cache son visage!
NADIR
Mon regard, hlas!
La cherche en vain!
ZURGA
Elle fuit!
NADIR
Elle fuit!
Mais dans mon me soudain
Quelle trange ardeur s'allume!
ZURGA
Quel feu nouveau me consume!
NADIR
Ta main repousse ma main!
ZURGA
Ta main repousse ma main!
NADIR

NADIR
At the back of the holy temple,
adorned with flowers and with gold,
a woman appeared!
I seem to see her still!
ZURGA
a woman appeared!
I seem to see her still!
NADIR
The prostrate crowd
gaze at her, astonished,
and murmur very low:
Look, it is the goddess!
who stands in the shadow
and stretches her arms towards us!
ZURGA
Her veil is lifted!
Oh what a vision! Oh what a dream!
The crowd is on its knees!
NADIR ET ZURGA
Yes, it is she!
It is the most charming and the most beautiful
goddess!
Yes, it is she!
It is the goddess who comes down amongst us!
Her veil is lifted and the crowd is on its knees!
NADIR
But she opens a way
through the crowd!
ZURGA
Her long veil already
hides her face from us!
NADIR
My eyes, alas!
seek her in vain!
ZURGA
She flees!
NADIR
She flees!
But in my spirit
what strange fervour lights up!
ZURGA
What new fire consumes me!
NADIR
Your hand pushes my hand away!
ZURGA
Your hand pushes my hand away!
NADIR

Oh, yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma is good lookin',

So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry.
One of these mornin's you goin' to rise up singin',
Then you'll spread yo' wings an' you'll take the sky.
But till that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you
With Daddy an' Mammy standin' by.

19. Bruce Hubbard (Jake), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle
20. Cynthia Clarey (Serena), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle
Act II. Jake and his men set off for another day at sea. Meanwhile, after the death of her husband, Robbins, in a
brawl, neighbourhood woman Serena is filled with mourning.
JAKE
Oh, I'm a-goin' out to the Blackfish banks
no matter what de wedder say,
An' when I say I'm goin' I means goin',
an' I'm leavin' at de break o' day.
JAKE AND MEN
lt take a long pull to get there, huh!
But I'll anchor in the Promise' Lan'.
JAKE
An`Lawdy, if I meet Mister Hurricane
an` Hurricane tell me no,
I`ll take ole Mister Hurricane by the pants
an` I throw him in de jailhouse do`.

SERENA
My man's gone now,
ain't no use a-listenin'
For his tired foot-steps
climbin' up de stairs.
Ole Man Sorrow's
come to keep me comp'ny,
Whisperin' beside me
When I say my prayers.
Ain't dat I min' workin'.
Work an' me is travellers,
Journeyin' togedder
to de promise land.
But Ole Man Sorrow's
marchin' all de way wid me
Tellin' me I'm ole now

JAKE AND MEN

lt take a long pull to get there, huh!
But I'll anchor in the Promise' Lan'.
JAKE
I got a blister on my settin' down place,
I got a blister in my han',
But I'm goin' row dis li
ttle boat, trust me Gawd,
Till I anchor in de Promise' Lan'.
JAKE AND MEN
lt take a long pull to get there, huh!
But I'll anchor in de Promise' Lan'.
In de Promise' Lan

since I lose my man.

ALL
Since she lose her man.
SERENA
Since I lose my man.
Ole Man Sorrow
sittin' by de fireplace,
Lyin' all night long
By me in de bed.
Tellin' me de same thing
mornin', noon an' eb'nin',
That I'm all alone now
since my man is dead.

SALOME
Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geksst,
Jochanaan. Ah! Ich habe ihn geksst,
deinen Mund,
es war ein bitterer Geschmack auf
deinenLippen.
Hat es nach Blut geschmeckt?
Nein? Doch es schmeckte vielleicht nach
Liebe. Sie sagen, dass die Liebe bitter
schmecke. Allein was tut's? Was tut's?
Ich habe deinen Mund geksst,
Jochanaan.
Ich habe ihn geksst, deinen Mund.

SALOME
Ah! I have kissed thy mouth, John.
Ah! I have kissed they mouth.
There was a bitter taste on thy lips.
Was it the taste of blood?
No! But perchance it is the taste of love.
They say that love hath a bitter taste.
But what of that? What of that?
I have kissed thy mouth, John.
I have kissed thy mouth.
(A moonbeam falls on Salome, covering her
with light.)

De nos curs l'amour s'empare

Et nous change en ennemis!
ZURGA
Non, que rien ne nous spare!
NADIR
Non, rien!
ZURGA ET NADIR
Jurons de rester amis!
Oh oui, jurons de rester amis!
Oui, c'est elle! C'est la desse!
En ce jour qui vient nous unir,
Et fidle ma promesse,
Comme un frre je veux te chrir!
C'est elle, c'est la desse
Qui vient en ce jour nous unir!
Oui, partageons le mme sort,
Soyons unis jusqu' la mort!

Love seizes our hearts

and changes us into enemies!
ZURGA
No, let nothing separate us!
NADIR
No, nothing!
ZURGA ET NADIR
Let us swear to remain friends!
Oh yes, let us swear to remain friends!
Yes, it is she! She is a goddess!
who comes on this day to unite us,
and faithful to my promise,
I want to cherish you as a brother!
It is she! She is a goddess!
who comes on this day to unite us.
Yes, let us share the same fate,
Let us be united until death!

HEROD
HERODES
zu den Soldaten
Man tte dieses Weib!

Kill that woman!

(The soldiers rush forward and crush her

04. David Hobson (Nadir)

05-06. John Aler (Nadir), Barbara Hendricks (Lela), Jean-Philippe Courtis (Nourabad), Chorus & Orchestra
of Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson

beneath their shields.)

George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, 1935

17. Wayne Marshall (piano), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle
18. Harolyn Blackwell (Clara), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle
Act I. After the ragtime overture, Clara a young mother appears, rocking her baby to sleep in the shabby,
downtrodden Catfish Row, while her husband Jake and the other men return from a day at sea to play poker
into the early hours.
(Catfish Row. A Summer Evening. Catfish Row is quiet.
Jasbo Brown is at the piano, playing a low-down blues
while half a dozen couples dance in a slow, almost
hypnotic rhythm.)
GROUP
Da-doo-da. Da-doo-da.
Wa, wa, wa, wa. Da-doo-da. Da-doo-da.
(Lights find another group on stage, in the center of
which Clara sits with her baby in her arms, rocking it
back and forth.)
CLARA
Summertime and the livin' is easy,
Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high.

Act I. When the priestess, Lla, arrives on the island, Nadir reluctantly listens to his heart, breaking his vow
to Zurga in his desire to pursue her love. On the moonlit beach, before he sleeps, Nadir watches the light in
the temple. While she prays, Lla is interrupted by Nadir, and the pair declare their renewed passion.
Although the fishermen below are calling to the priestess to protect them, Lla torn between her sacred
oath and her secular desires pledges to sing for Nadir alone.
NADIR
Je crois entendre encore,
Cach sous les palmiers,
Sa voix tendre et sonore
Comme un chant de ramier!
O nuit enchanteresse!
Divin ravissement!
O souvenir charmant!
Folle ivresse! doux rve!
Aux clarts des toiles,
Je crois encore la voir,
Entr'ouvrir ses longs voiles
Aux vents tides du soir!
(Il s'entend sur une natte et s'endort.)

NADIR
I seem to hear her still
hidden under those palms,
her voice tender and echoing
like the song of a wood pigeon!
Oh enchanting night!
Divine enchantment!
O charming memory!
Mad intoxication! Sweet dream!
In the light of the stars
I seem to see her still,
parting her long veils
to the warm winds of the evening!
(He stretches out on a mat and falls asleep)

CHUR
(dans la coulisse)
Le ciel est bleu!
La mer est immobile et claire!
Le ciel est bleu!
(Lla, amene par Nourabad, parat sur le
rocher qui domine la mer.)

CHOIR
(offstage)
The sky is blue!
The sea is motionless and clear!
The sky is blue!
(Leila, led by Nourabad, appears on the rock
that dominates the sea.)

NOURABAD
Toi, reste l, debout sur ce roc solitaire!
(Les fakirs s'accropissent aux pieds de Lla, et
s'allument un bcher de branches et d'herbes
sches dont Nourabad attise la flamme, aprs
avoir trac du bout de sa baguette un cercle
magique dans l'air.)
Aux lueurs du brasier en feu,
Aux vapeurs de l'encense qui monte jusqu'
Dieu,
Chante, chante, nous t'coutons!
NADIR
( demi endormi)
Adieu, doux rve! Adieu!
LLA
(debout sur la roche)
O Dieu Brahma!
O matre souverain du monde!
CHUR
(dans la coulisse)
O Dieu Brahma!
LLA
Blanche Siva!
Reine la chevelure blonde!
CHUR
Blanche Siva!
LLA
Esprits de l'air, esprits de l'onde . . .
NADIR
(se rveillant)
Ciel! . . .
LLA
. . . Des rochers, des prs, des bois! . . .
NADIR
. . . Encore cette voix!
LLA
. . . coutez ma voix!
CHUR
Esprits de l'air, Esprits de l'onde,
Esprits des boix!
LLA
Dans le ciel sans voile,
Parsem d'toiles,
Au sein de la nuit
Trasparent et pur,
Comme dans un rve,
Pench sur la grve,
Mon regard, oui, mon regard vous suit
travers la nuit!
Ma voix vous implore,

NOURABAD
You remain there, standing on that solitary rock!
(The fakirs squat at the feet of Leila
and light a fire of branches and dried grasses
whose flame Nourabad stirs, after drawing a
magic circle in the air with his wand.)
In the light of the burning brazier,
In the smoke of the incense that mounts up to
god,
Sing, sing, we are listening to you!
NADIR
(half asleep)
Farewell, sweet dream, farewell!
LLA
(standing on the rock)
O god Brahma,
O sovereign master of the world!
CHOIR
(offstage)
O god Brahma!
LLA
Pale Shiva!
Queen with golden hair!
CHOIR
Pale Shiva!
LLA
Spirits of the air, spirits of the wave
NADIR
(waking up)
Heavens!
LLA
of the rocks, of the meadows, of the woods!
NADIR
That voice again!
LLA
Listen to my voice!
CHOIR
Spirits of the air, spirits of the wave
Spirits of the woods!
LLA
In the sky without cloud,
Strewn with stars,
in the bosom of the night
transparent and pure,
as if in a dream,
Over the shore,
my gaze, yes, my gaze follows you
across the night!
My voice implores you,

MRS PAGE
Come Mistress Quickly, go in with us.

MRS FORD
Shape it.

MRS FORD
Come Mistress Qucikly, a word with
you.

MRS PAGE
To the forge with it.

MRS PAGE / MRS FORD

I would not have things cool.
MRS QUICKLY (passing by)
A noble knight there was indeed,
He mounted on his milk-white steed
MRS FORD
Look who comes younder?
MRS PAGE
Mistress Quickly.
MRS FORD
She shall be our messenger.
MRS PAGE
Trust me, shell fit it.
MRS QUICKLY
He rode, he rode himself alone,
Until he came to lovely Joan.
(The women rush to the entering Mrs
Quickly,
And show her their letters.)

MRS PAGE / MRS FORD

You shall be our messenger
To this paltry knight.
MRS QUICKLY
Sigh no more, ladies,
Ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever.
MRS QUICKLY / MRS PAGE / MRS
FORD
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe,
Into hey, nonny nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no more
Of dumps so dull and heavy,
The fraud of men was ever so
Since summer first was leafy.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into hey, nonny, nonny!

12-15. New Philharmonia Orchestra, Meredith Davies

Orchestral excerpts from Acts III and IV, including Vaughan Williams original Fantasia on Greensleeves.
16. Richard Strauss, Salome, 1905, from a German translation of Oscar Wildes play
Cheryl Studer (Salome), Horst Hiestermann (Herod), Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Finale. Young temptress Salome has fallen for her step-fathers prisoner, John the Baptist. After John spurns
her, and in the ultimate display of petulance, Salome demands his head. On being handed the Christians head
on a silver platter, the demented girl kisses the head, thrusting it between her legs to pleasure herself, until
Herod sends his soldiers in to crush her to death with their shields. This scene, and the operas stunning musical
palette, caused extreme disgust amongst society when it first premiered, and kept it from some of the stages of
the better opera houses for years, as a matter of taste.

Thine own true knight, by day or

night,
Or any kind of light, with all his might,
For thee to fight John Falstaff.
John Falstaff! What a Herod of Jewry is
this!
O wicked, wicked world! Have I
scaped love letters
In the holiday time of my beauty,
And am I now a subject for them?
What hath this Flemish drunkard
picked
Out of my conversation, that he dares
In this manner to assay me?
How shall I be revenged on him?
For revenged I will be,
As sure as his guts are made of
pudding.
MRS FORD (entering)
What ho, gossip Page, gossip Page.
MRS PAGE
Mistress Ford, you look very ill!
MRS FORD
O, Mistress Page, give me some counsel.
MRS PAGE
Whats the matter, what is it?
MRS FORD
If I could but go to Hell for an eternal
moment,
I could be knighted.

For love admits not reason his

counsellor.
You are not young, no more am I,
Go then, theres sympathy.
You are merry, so am I,
Ha ha, then theres more sympathy.
You love sack and so do I,
Would you desire better sympathy?
Let it suffice thee, Mistress Ford/Page,
That I love thee.
Thine own true knight, by day or
knight,
Or any kind of light, with all his might,
For thee to fight John Falstaff.
MRS FORD
Did you ever see the like?
MRS PAGE
The very same.
MRS FORD
The very hand.
MRS PAGE
The very words.
MRS FORD
What doth he think of us?
MRS PAGE
Nay, I know not.
MRS PAGE / MRS FORD
Lets be revenged on him!

Mon cur vous adore,

Mon chant lger,
Comme un oiseau semble voltiger!
CHUR
Ah! chante, chante encore!
Oui, que ta voix sonore,
Ah! que ton chant lger,
Loin de nous, chasse tout danger!
LLA
Ah!
NADIR
(Il s'est gliss jusqu'au pied du rocher.)
Lla! Lla!
(Lla se penche vers lui et carte son voile un
instant.)
Ne redoute plus rien! Me voici! Je suis l!
Prt donner mes jours, mon sang pour te
dfendre!
CHUR
Ah! chante, chante, encore! etc
LLA
Pour toi, pour toi que j'adore,
Ah! je chante encore!
Je chante pour toi que j'adore!
Il est l! Il m'coute! Ah!
NADIR
Ah! Chante, chante encore!
O toi que j'adore,
Ne crains nul danger!
Je viens pour te protger!
Ne crains rien, je suis l!
Lla, ne crains rien!
Lla, je suis l!

My heart adores you,

my airy song
seems to flutter like a bird!
CHOIR
Ah! sing, sing again!
Yes, that your echoing voice
Ah! that your airy song,
may chase all danger far from us!
LLA
Ah!
NADIR
(He slid up to the foot of the rock)
Leila! Leila!
(Leila leans towards him and lifts her veil for a
moment.)
Fear nothing any more! Here I am! I am here,
ready to give my life, my blood to defend you!
CHOIR
Ah! sing, sing again! Etc
LLA
For you, for you whom I adore,
Ah! I sing again!
I sing for you whom I adore!
He is there! He hears me! Ah!
NADIR
Ah! Sing, sing again!
O you whom I adore,
Fear no danger!
I come to protect you!
Fear nothing, I am here!
Leila, fear nothing!
Leila, I am here!

07. Jules Massenet, Esclarmonde, 1889

MRS PAGE
What? Thou liest? Sir Alice Ford?

MRS FORD
Lets appoint him a meeting.

Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Giacomo Aragall (Roland), John Alldis Choir, National Philharmonic
Orchestra, Richard Bonynge

MRS FORD
Listen, listen, perceive how I might be
knighted.

MRS PAGE
And lead him on.

Act II. The sorceress Esclarmonde, in love with the human knight Roland, has lured him to an enchanted
island so that they can share their love outside of the gaze of her domineering father.

MRS FORD
And give him hope.

Sutherland, who famously never really recalled what the operas plot was about, called Esclarmonde the
most erotic score she had ever sung.

(Mrs. Ford pulls a letter from her pocket

and begins reading.
Startled, Mrs. Page does the same with
her own.)
MRS FORD / MRS PAGE (in canon)
Ask me no reason why I love you,

MRS PAGE
With fine-baited delay.
MRS FORD
And bring him to punishment.
Come, to the forge with it.

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Voici le divin moment
O celle qui s'est donne
Sans craindre la destine...
Va s'unir son amant!
C'est l'heure... C'est l'heure de l'hymne!

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Here is the divine moment
Where one that is given
Without fear of destiny
Will unite with her lover!
Its time! The time of Hymen!

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Ah, come! I love you!
This is the divine moment!

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Ah! viens!
C'est le divin moment!

ESCLARMODNE
Yes, I am the beautiful and desirous she!

ESCLARMONDE
Oui, je suis belle et dsirable!

SPIRITS
(Invisible choir)
Hymen! Hymen! Hymen!

LES ESPRITS
(Choeur invisible)
Hymen! Hymen! Hymne!

ESCLARMONDE
Come, dear lover!

ESCLARMONDE
Viens! cher amant!

slowly disperse and, out of the darkness, in shadowy outlines, the following scene gradually
emerges:
A bleak, deserted quay in Bruges, late in the evening. Parallel with the footlights, a branch of
the canal crossed by a low, arched bridge. Behind the canal and bridge, the other bank of the
quay becomes visible, skirted by a row of characteristic old houses and an old convent with
dark zvalls and iron-barred windows. In the centre of this gloomy building is a belfry with a
clock, the big dial of which remains indistinct for the present. Beneath this clock arc two
apertures in the tower, through which, later on, the clockwork figures emerge and vanish
again. On the front bank L. stands the solitary house in which Marietta lives; the door is locked.
Benches and lighted gas-lamps. On the R. old trees, behind which the path is meant to lead to
the church. A clouded sky; moonlight alternating with autumn mists. Chimes have begun to
peal before the picture becomes quite distinct.
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir John in Love, 1929 (after William Shakespeares The Merry Wives of Windsor)
06-07. Robert Tear (Fenton), Wendy Eathorne (Anne), New Philharmonia Orchestra, Meredith Davies

08. Massenet, Thas, 1894

Meditation Religieuse - Renaud Capuon (violin), Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Yves Abel
Act II. The courtesan Thas is being pursued by the monk Athanal, who wants to convince her that her
secular life is one of wickedness, and she must follow his religious ways. Left alone in her lavish suite, Thas
ponders the possibility of a different life.
(The music returns in the final scene of the opera, when the lovestruck Athanal rushes to her bedside to
tell her he has realized that human love is more important than oppressive religion, only to realize he is too
late Thas is dying and, convinced at last of his earlier claims, has given her mind and heart to God.)
Jules Offenbach, Les contes dHoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), 1881
09. Plcido Domingo (Hoffmann), Pedro di Proenza (Nathanil), Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus, LOrchestre de
la Suisse Romande, Richard Bonynge
Prologue. The storyteller Hoffmann delights his bar mates with the tale of the rat king Kleinzach, although
Hoffmanns own thoughts are with his apparent true love, Stella.
HOFFMANN
Va pour Kleinzach!
Il tait une fois la cour d'Eisenach!...
Un petit avorton qui se nommait Kleinzach!
Il tait coiff d'un colbac,
Et ses jambes, ses jambes faisient clic clac!
clic clac! clic clac!
Voil, voil Kleinzach!
Il avait une bosse en guise d'estomac;
Ses pieds ramifis semblaient sortir d'un sac;
Son nez tait noir de tabac,
Et sa tte, sa tte faisient cric crac!
cric crac! cric crac!

HOFFMANN
There once was a time at the court of
Eisenach.
A little freak who they called Kleinzach!
He wore a busby
And his legs went: click-clack!
Click-clack! Click-clack!
That's, that's Kleinzach!
He had a lump instead of a stomach,
His splayed feet seemed to emerge from a
sack.
His nose was black with tobacco,
And his head went: crick-crack!
(chorus)

Quant aux traits, aux traits de sa figure...

Quant aux traits, aux traits de sa figure...
Ah! sa figure tait charmante!

As for the features, the features of the face...

Ah! the face was charming!
I see her, beautiful, beautiful as the day!

Act I. Anne Page has been promised by her father to one unpleasant man, and by her mother to another. Her
true love is seen by both of them as of little practical value as a husband.
ANNE
Weep eyes, break heart.
(Fenton rushes on, they embrace.)
My love and I must part.
Cruel fates true love do soonest sever,
FENTON
O, I shall see thee never, never.
Have you seen but a bright lily grow
O, happy is the maid whose life takes
Before rude hands have touched it?
end
Havse you marked but the fall of the
Ere it knows parents frown or loss of
snow
friend.
Before the soil hath smutched it?
Weep eyes, break heart.
Have you felt the wool of the beaver?
My love and I must part.
Or swans down ever?
Or have smelt of the bud of the briar?
FENTON (off-stage)
Or the nard in the fire?
Do but look on her eyes, they do light
Or have tasted the bag of the bee?
All that loves world compriseth,
Do but look on her hair, it is bright
ANNE
As loves star when it riseth.
Come, o come, my lifes delight.
Let me not in languor pine.
ANNE
It is my love! And thus we meet
FENTON
O so white, o so soft, o so sweet is she!
ANNE / FENTON
And thus we greet.
08-11. Felicity Palmer (Mrs. Page), Elizabeth Bainbridge (Mrs. Ford), Helen Watts (Mrs. Quickly), New
Philharmonia Orchestra, Meredith Davies
Act II. The portly knight Sir John Falstaff has written letters to two village housewives, convinced that he
is a desirable enough creature that at least one of them will betray her husband for a rendezvous with
him. Unfortunately, each of the women is the others confidante, and they quickly unravel his scheme.
MRS PAGE (reading her letter)

Covent Garden Orchestra, Colin Davis

Act I. The first of six sea interludes that appear throughout Brittens grim opera, in which an anti-social,
possibly homosexual fisherman is made an outcast by the townsfolk after the death of a young apprentice in
his care.
Erich Korngold, Die tote stadt (The Dead City), 1920:
04. Dame Joan Hammond (Marietta), Philharmonia Orchestra, Walter Susskind
Act I. In Bruges, the widower Paul has not been able to let go of his wifes memory. When he takes on a new
student, Marietta, who bears a striking resemblance to his wife, he falls quickly in love. Here, she sings him a
song of letting go of ones past.

Glck, das mir verblieb,

rck zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Abend sinkt im Hag
bist mir Licht und Tag.
Bange pochet Herz an Herz
Hoffnung schwingt sich himmelwrts.
Wie wahr, ein traurig Lied.
Das Lied vom treuen Lieb,
das sterben muss.

Joy, that near to me remains,

Come to me, my true love.
Night sinks into the grove
You are my light and day.
Anxiously beats heart on heart
Hope itself soars heavenward.
How true, a sad song.
The song of true love,
that must die.

Ich kenne das Lied.

Ich hrt es oft in jungen,
in schneren Tagen.
Es hat noch eine Strophe-wei ich sie noch?

I know the song.

I heard it often in younger,
in better days.
It has yet another verse-Do I know it still?

Naht auch Sorge trb,

rck zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Neig dein bla Gesicht
Sterben trennt uns nicht.
Mut du einmal von mir gehn,
glaub, es gibt ein Auferstehn.

Though sorrow becomes dark,

Come to me, my true love.
Lean (to me) your pale face
Death will not separate us.
If you must leave me one day,
Believe, there is an afterlife.

05. Katrina Dalayman (Marietta), Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra, Leif Segerstam
Act II. After saying goodbye to Marietta, Paul has fallen asleep, dreaming of his wife Marie. When Act II opens,
we do not know: is he dreaming? Or awake? What is real? And what is but a fantasy?
The curtain rises: at first the stage is shrouded in thick gauzes, from which, in the foreground,
the figure of Paul, in exactly the same position as at the end of Picture 1, becomes visible. At the
same time the phantasm of Marie is heard behind the scenes repeating her last words: "Look
and acknowledge." Gradually the picture fades away and vanishes. After an interlude which
reproduces the impressions awakened by the dead city of Bruges in Paul's mind, the gauzes

Je la vois, belle,
belle comme le jour o courant aprs elle
Je quittai comme un fou la maison paternelle
Et m'enfuis travers les vallons et les bois!...
Ses cheveux, ses cheveux en torsades
sombres
Sur son col lgant jetaient leurs chaudes
ombres,
Ses yeux, ses yeux envelopps d'azur
Promenaient autour d'elle un regard frais et
pur,
Et comme notre char emportait sans secousse
Nos coeurs et nos amours, sa voix vibrante et
douce. Aux cieux qui l'coutaient
jetait ce chant vainqueur,
Aux cieux qui l'coutaient
Jetait ce chant vainqueur
Dont l'ternelle cho
Rsonne dans mon coeur!
NATHANIL
O bizarre cervelle!...
Qui diable peints-tu l? Kleinzach?
HOFFMANN
Kleinzach? Je parle d'elle!...
NATHANIL
Qui?
HOFFMANN
Non! personne! rien!
Mon esprit se troublait! rien!
Et Kleinzach vaut mieux, tout difforme qu'il
est!
Quand il avait trop bu de genivre ou de
rack,
Il fallait voir flotter les deux pans de son frac,
Comme des herbes dans un lac,
Et le monstre, le monstre faisait flic flac!
flic flac!flic flac!
Voil, voil Kleinzach!
Flic flac!
flic flac!
/ Voil, voil Kleinzach!

When running after her,

I left, like a madman, my father's house,
And fled through the valleys and the woods.
Her hair, her hair with it's dark curls,
On her elegant collar cast it's ardent
shadows.
Her eyes, her azure-colored eyes,
Looked around, with fresh and pure
expression.
And as our carriage gently carried away,
Our hearts and our loves, her sweet and
vibrant voice,
To the heavens that listened to her, offered
this triumphant song.
Whose eternal echo resounds in my heart!

NATHANIL
Oh bizarre thoughts! Who the devil are you
describing? Kleinzach?
HOFFMANN
Kleinzach? I am talking of her!
NATHANIL
About whom?
HOFFMANN
No! nobody! nothing! my thoughts were
confused!
Nothing! And Kleinzach was worth more,
deformed as he is!
When he had drunk too much, gin or arrack,
You should have seen flapping the two tails
of his frock.
Like grass in a lake!
And the monster went: flick-flack!
Flick-flack!
Flick-flack!
That's, that's Kleinzach!
Flick-flack!
Flick-flack!
That's, that's Kleinzach!

10-11. Plcido Domingo (Hoffmann), Huguette Tourangeau (Nicklausse), Joan Sutherland (Stella), Gabriel
Bacquier (Lindorf), Pedro di Proenza (Nathanil), Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus, LOrchestre de la Suisse
Romande, Richard Bonynge

Epilogue. After having told his three tales of lost love, Hoffmann falls into a drunken stupor. Stella, arriving
at last after her opera performance to find her suitor an inebriated mess, is led away by Hoffmanns
nemesis, Luthor. It is clear that today, at least Hoffmann has chosen bitterness and nostalgia over the
fickleness of human love.

I can feel the tears in my eyes.

Je sens pleurer mes yeux

Your love promises the stars.

Ton amour promet les cieux.

HOFFMANN

HOFFMANN

And he can see tears in hers.

Il faudra donc te rsigner.

I can see tears in his eyes

Il voit pleurer ses yeux.

Her love promises the stars.

Je vois pleurer ses yeux,

him.

Son amour promet les cieux.

The insinuating poison that intoxicates

Subtil poison dont il est ivre.

Is the phantom of the past,

Fantme de pass,

Alas! Still pursuing you

Hlas! Il te suit encore,

NICKLAUSSE

NICKLAUSSE

Oh, you poet!

Ah, poete!

This way love, that way, folly.

Ici lamour, ici la folie.

For I am a woman and a flirt!

Car je suis femme et coquette!

Have triumphed over love.

Sur lamour llont emport.

Gold and jewels, such irony,

Or et bijoux, quelle ironie,

This is the way I lean.

Et je penche de ce ct.

This way is love, that way, folly.

Ici lamour, ici le folle,

STELLA

STELLA

For a gift of great value.

Pour un cadeau tres prcieux.

Takes her charms away from you

Prend de toi ses charmes

Tonight your heavenly idol

Ton idole dans les cieux ce soir

Poor Hoffmann, dry your eyes,

Pauvre Hoffmann, seche tes larmes,

Poor Hoffmann, you must resign yourself.

Pauvre Hoffmann, il faut te rsigner.

LINDORF

LINDORF

I dont believe in your tears.

Je ne peux croire a tes larmes.

It si finished! Leave me, I beg you,

Cen est fait! Loin de moi, je timplore,

Oh, I can feel the tears in my eyes.

Ah, je sens pleurer mes yeux.

In vain you rely on your charms.

Tu comptes en vain sur tes charmes.

From now my heart is frozen!

Mon Coeur est a jamais glac!

You insinuating poison, intoxicating me,

Subtil poison dont je suis ivre,

Phantom, spectre of the past;

Fantme, spectre du pass;

Farewell! I will not follow you,

Adieu! Je ne veux pas te suivre,

HOFFMANN

HOFFMANN

RODOLFO
And when we come back?

RODOLFO
E al ritorno?

MIM
I'd be near you!

MIM
Vi star vicina!

MIM
Curioso!
RODOLFO
Dammi il braccio, o mia piccina...
MIM
Obbedisco, signor!

MIM
Who knows?
RODOLFO
Give me your arm, my dear...
MIM
Your servant, sir...

MIM
I love you.

MIM
Io t'amo.

RODOLFO
Tell me you love me!

RODOLFO
Che m'ami...di'...

RODOLFO e MIM
(mentre escono)
Amor! Amor! Amor!

RODOLFO and MIM

(as they go out)
Beloved! My love! My love!

02. Shu-Cheen Yu (Musetta), Queensland Orchestra, Brett Kelly

Act II. At the bar, Rodolfo and Mimi are celebrating their love. But Rodolfos friend Marcello has bigger fish to
fry: his on-again, off-again love Musetta is performing, and taunting him at the same time.
Quando men vo soletta per la via,
La gente sosta e mira
E la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me
Da capo a pie'...
Ed assaporo allor la bramosia
Sottil, che da gli occhi traspira
E dai palesi vezzi intender sa
Alle occulte belt.
Cos l'effluvio del deso tutta m'aggira,
Felice mi fa!
E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi
Da me tanto rifuggi?
So ben:
le angoscie tue non le vuoi dir,
Ma ti senti morir!

When walking alone on the streets,

People stop and stare
And examine my beauty
From head to toe...
And then I savor the cravings
which from their eyes transpires
And from the obvious charms they perceive
The hidden beauties.
So the scent of desire is all around me,
It makes me happy!
And you who know, who remembers and
yearns,
You shrink from me?
I know why this is:
You do not want to tell me of your anguish,
But you feel like dying!

03. Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945:

RODOLFO
O soave fanciulla, o dolce viso,
di mite circonfuso alba lunar,
in te ravviso il sogno
ch'io vorrei sempre sognar!

RODOLFO
Oh! lovely girl! Oh, sweet face
bathed in the soft moonlight.
I see in you the dream
I'd dream forever!

MIM
(Ah, tu sol comandi, amor!... )

MIM
(Ah! Love, you rule alone!...)

RODOLFO
Fremon gi nell'anima
le dolcezze estreme.

RODOLFO
Already I taste in spirit
the heights of tenderness!

MIM
(Tu sol comandi, amore!)

MIM
(You rule alone, o Love!)

RODOLFO
Fremon nell'anima
dolcezze estreme, ecc.
Nel bacio freme amor!

RODOLFO
Already I taste in spirit
the heights of tenderness!
Love trembles in our kiss!

LINDORF

LINDORF

Ton idole a vend uses charmes,

Your idol has sold her charms,

Car elle est femme et coquette!

For she is a woman and a flirt.

Pauvre Hoffmann!

Poor Hoffmann!

NICKLAUSSE

NICKLAUSSE

Vous tes venue trop tard, madame.

You have come too late, madam.

Hoffmann ne vous aime plus.

Hoffmann no longer loves you.

Voila le conseiller Lindorf qui vous attend!

There is Councillor Lindorf waiting for

you.
(Stella gradually exits with Lindorf, but she
never takes her eyes off Hoffmann. The bar

ETUDIANTS

busies again.)

Jusquau matin,
Remplis, remplis mon verre!

STUDENTS

Jusquau matin,

Until morning breaks,

MIM
(Oh! come dolci scendono
le sue lusinghe al core...
Tu sol comandi, amor!)
(Rodolfo la bacia.)
No, per piet!

MIM
(How sweet his praises
enter my heart...
Love, you alone rule!)
(Rodolfo kisses her.)
No, please!

Remplis le pot dtain!

RODOLFO
Sei mia!

RODOLFO
You're mine!

Hector Berlioz, Les Troyens (The Trojans), 1863

MIM
V'aspettan gli amici...

MIM
Your friends are waiting.

RODOLFO
Gi mi mandi via?

RODOLFO
You send me away already?

MIM
Vorrei dir...ma non oso.

MIM
I daren't say what I'd like...

RODOLFO
Di'.

RODOLFO
Tell me.

MIM
Se venissi con voi?

MIM
If I came with you?

RODOLFO
Che? Mim!
Sarebbe cos dolce restar qui.
C' freddo fuori.

RODOLFO
What? Mim!
It would be so fine to stay here.
Outside it's cold.

Fill up my glass!
Until morning breaks,
Fill the pewter pots!

12. Kenneth Tarver (Iopas), London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis

Act IV. Queen Dido asks her courtier, Iopas, to sing an ode to the god of the fields.

(Un harpiste thbain vient se placer auprs

dIopas et accompagne son chant. Le
costume du harpiste est le religieux
gyptien.)
blonde Crs,
Quand nos gurets
Tu rends leur parure
De frache verdure,
Que dheureux tu fais!
Du vieux laboureur,
Du jeune pasteur,
La reconnaissance
Bnit labondance
Que tu leur promets.

(A Theban harpist stands close to Iopas to

accompany him. The harpist is attired as an
Egyptian priest.)
Oh, fair Ceres!
When to our fallow fields
You restore their crown
Of fresh greenery
How happy you make us!
The gratitude
Of the aged farm-hand,
Of the young shepherd,
Gives thanks for the abundance
That you pledge to them.
Oh, fair Ceres!

 blonde Crs,
Quand nos gurets
Tu rends leur parure
De frache verdure,
Que dheureux tu fais!
Le timide oiseau,
Le foltre agneau,
Des vents de la plaine
La suave haleine,
Chantent tes bienfaits.

When to our fallow fields

You restore their crown
Of fresh greenery
How happy you make us!
The shy bird,
The playful lamb,
The soft breath
Of the prairie winds,
All praise your virtues.
Fruitful Ceres

Fconde Crs
Quand nos gurets
Tu rends leur parure
De frache verdure,
Que dheureux tu fais!

When to our fallow fields

You restore their crown
Of fresh greenery
How happy you make us!

En droulant son long fil d'or,

Enfant, permette qu'il s'achve.
Dors, dors, le jour peine a lui.
Vierge Sainte, veillez sur lui.
Sous l'aile du Seigneur loin du bruit de la
foule
Et comme un flot sacr qui doucement
s'coule
Nous avons vu les jours passer aprs les
jours
Sans jamais nous lasser d'implorer son
secours.

Through dream land's happy isles to bear thee!

Sleep, love, it is not yet the dawn,
Angels guard thee, sweet love, til morn!
Far from the noisy throng, by song birds lulled
to rest,
Where rock the branches high by breezes soft
carres'd;
Softly the days go on, by sorrow all unharm'd,
Thus may life be to thee a sweet existence
charmd.

17. Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Die Walkre, 1870

Hans Hotter (Wotan), Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti

13. Jon Vickers (Aeneas) & Josephine Veasey (Dido), Pierre Thau (Mercury), Orchestra of the Royal Opera
House, Colin Davis
Act IV. On a pure, moonlit night, as lovers around the city embrace, Dido and Aeneas give in to their love
only Aeneas knows that he is being haunted by the god, Mercury, reminding him of the prophecy made at
the end of the Trojan War: Aeneas fate is not in Carthage, but as the founder of a faraway empire in Italy.

DIDO, AENEAS
Endlessly intoxicating night of ecstasy!
Golden Phoebe, etc.

DIDON, NE
Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie!
Blonde Phoeb, etc.

AENEAS
On such a night, headlong in joyous love,
Troilus came to the foot of Troys walls
To await the lovely Cressida.

NE
Par une telle nuit, fou d'amour et de joie,
Trolus vint attendre aux pieds des murs de Troie
La belle Cressida.

DIDO
On such a night, crowned with golden laburnum,
Your mother Venus followed the fair Anchises
To the groves of Mount Ida.

DIDON
Par une telle nuit, le front ceint de cytise,
Votre mre Vnus suivit le bel Anchise
Aux bosquets de l'Ida.

DIDO, AENEAS
Endlessly intoxicating night of ecstasy!
Golden Phoebe, and you, great stars of her court,
Shine upon us your blessed light;
Heavenly flowers, smile upon eternal love!

DIDON, NE
Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie!
Blonde Phoeb, grands astres de sa cour,
Versez sur nous votre lueur bnie;
Fleurs des cieux, souriez l'immortel amour!

(Moonshine)

(Clair de lune)

Act III. Having been betrayed by his most beloved daughter, Brunnhilde, the god Wotan surrounds her
with a ring of magical fire, which can only be broken by a great warrior. And so ends the second opera
in Wagners great four-opera cycle.
WOTAN
Loge, hr'! Lausche hieher!
Wie zuerst ich dich fand,
als feurige Glut,
wie dann einst du mir schwandest,
als schweifende Lohe;
wie ich dich band,
bann ich dich heut'!
Herauf, wabernde Lohe,
umlodre mir feurig den Fels!
Loge! Loge! Hieher!
Wer meines Speeres
Spitze frchtet,
durchschreite das Feuer nie!

WOTAN
Loge, listen! Harken here!
As I found you first,
a fiery blaze,
as once you vanished from me,
a random fire;
as I allied with you, so today I conjure you!
Arise, magic flame,
girdle the rock with fire for me!
Loge! Loge! Come here!
Whosoever fears
the tip of my spear
shall never pass through the fire!

DISC FIVE PRE-WAR OPERA

Giacomo Puccini, La boheme (The Bohemian Life), 1896:
01. Cheryl Barker (Mimi), David Hobson (Rodolfo), Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Julian Smith
Act I. After a tentative meeting, Mimi and Rodolfo have finally admitted their love for each other. Now,
with Rodolfos bohemian friends, they prepare to go out for the evening, happy with each other at last.

Sono troppo felice!

il mio sogno, capisci?
MAGDA / RUGGERO
Tremo e piango... mia vita... mio amore!

For I am too happy!

Its my dream, do you understand?
Yet I tremble and weep.
MAGDA / RUGGERO
My life, my love!

15. Rossini, Semiramide, 1823

NE
Par une telle nuit la pudique Diane
Laissa tomber enfin son voile diaphane
Aux yeux d'Endymion.

AENEAS
On such a night, chaste Diana
Finally shed her diaphanous veil,
In the sight of Endymion.

DIDON
Par une telle nuit le fils de Cythre
Accueillit froidement la tendresse enivre
De la reine Didon!

DIDO
On such a night the son of Cythera
Received coldly the rapturous tenderness
Of Queen Dido!

NE
Et dans la mme nuit hlas! l'injuste reine,
Accusant son amant, obtint de lui sans peine
Le plus tendre pardon.

AENEAS
And on the same night, alas! the unjust queen,
Accusing her lover, obtained from him with ease,
The sweetest of forgiveness.

DIDON, NE
nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie, etc.

DIDO, AENEAS
Endlessly intoxicating night of ecstasy, etc.

(Au moment o les deux amants qu'on ne voit plus

finissent leur duo dans la coulisse, Mercure parat
subitement dans un rayon de la lune non loin d'une
colonne tronque o sont appendues les armes d'ne.
S'approchant de la colonne il frappe de son caduce
deux coups sur le bouclier qui rend un son lugubre et
prolong.)

(Just as the two lovers, now out of sight, come to the

end of their song, Mercury suddenly appears, bathed
in a ray of moonlight, close to a broken column on
which hang Aeneas weapons. Approaching the
column, he strikes the shield twice with his staff,
giving forth a prolonged and lugubrious sound.)

Joan Sutherland (Semiramide), Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Act I. Having fallen in love with Arsace, and believing he loves her too, the widowed Queen of Babylon,
Semiramide, rejoices in his impending arrival.
Bel raggio lusinghier di speme e di piacer
Al fin per me brill: Arsace ritorn.
S, a me verr.
Questalma che sinor gem, trem, langu,
Ah! come respir!
Ogni mio duol spar.
Dal cor, dal mio pensier si dilegu il terror.
Si, bel raggio lusinghier di speme e di
piacer
Al fin per me brill:
La calma a questo cor Arsace render;
Arsace ritorn. Qui a me verr.
Dolce pensiero di quellistante,
A te sorride lamante cor, si.
Come pi caro, dopo il tormento,
E il bel momento di pace e amor!

A beautiful ray of hope and delight

Has finally shined for me. Arsace has
returned.
Yes, he will come to me.
My heart, which was moaning, worrying,
languishing,
Oh! How it breathes now.
My suffering has vanished.
Fear has disappeared from my heart and my
mind.
Arsace will restore the serenity of my heart.
He will come to me.
Sweet thought of that foming moment,
My loving heart, smiles at you.
How dearer, after suffering,
Is the hour of peace and love!

MERCURE
(d'une voix grave, et tendant le bras du ct de la mer)
Italie! Italie! Italie!

MERCURY
(in a solemn voice, extending his arm out to sea.)
Italy! Italy! Italy!

16. Benjamin Goddard, Jocelyn, 1888

14. Charles Gounod, Faust, 1859

David Hobson (tenor), Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Marco Guidarini

Joan Sutherland (Marguerite), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Fleeing the horrors of the French Revolution, a seminarian is asked to watch over a young child by a man
who is killed by soldiers. The seminarian and the child take shelter in a mountain refuge, where he sings
the child to sleep.
Cachs dans cet asile o Dieu nous a
conduits,
Unis par le malheur, durant les longues nuits
Nous reposons tous deux endormis sous les
voiles
Ou prions aux regards de tremblantes
toiles.

Beneath the quiv'ring leaves, where shelter

comes at last,
All sadness sinks to rest, or glides into the past;
Her sweet eyes prison'd now, in their soft silken
bars,
O! my love, calm she sleeps beneath the
trembling stars.

Oh ne t'veille pas encor

Pour qu'un bel ange de ton rve

Ah! wake not yet from thy repose,

A fair dream spirit hovers near thee,
Weaving a web of gold and rose,

Act III. The chaste maiden Marguerite has refused Fausts arm out of sheer modesty. Faust, in an unholy
pact with the demon Mephistopheles, arranges to have a decorated box of exquisite jewelry left on her
doorstep. The seemingly virtuous Marguerite is quickly tempted.

Ah! je ris de me voir

si belle en ce miroir,
Ah! je ris de me voir
si belle en ce miroir,
Est-ce toi, Marguerite, est-ce toi?
Rponds-moi, rponds-moi,
Rponds, rponds, rponds vite!
Non! Non! ce nest plus toi!
Non...non, ce nest plus ton visage;

Ah, I laugh to see myself

so beautiful in this mirror,
Ah, I laugh to see myself
so beautiful in this mirror,
Is it you, Marguerite, it is you?
Answer me, answer me,
Respond, respond, respond quickly!
No No! its no longer you!
No...no, its no longer your face;

Cest la fille dun roi;

Ce nest plus toi,
Quon salut au passage!
Ah sil tait ici!
Sil me voyait ainsi!
Comme une demoiselle
Il me trouverait belle, Ah!
Comme une demoiselle,
Il me trouverait belle!
Achevons la mtamorphose,
Il me tarde encor dessayer
Le bracelet it le collier!
Dieu! cest comme une main,
Qui sur mon bras se pose! ah! ah!
Ah! je ris
de me voir si belle dans ce miroir!

Its the daughter of a king,

Its no longer you, etc.
One must bow to her as she passes!
Ah if only he were here!
If he should see me thus
Like a lady
He would find me so beautiful, Ah!
Like a lady,
He would find me beautiful!
Lets complete the metamorphosis,
I am late yet in trying on
The bracelet and the necklace!
God! its like a hand
Which is placed on my arm! Ah, ah!
Ah, I laugh
to see myself so beautiful in this mirror!

State attendi!
Non lasciamo scoprire!
Sugli amori fiori e fronde!
Per le Muse una ghirlanda!
Al poeta una corona!
Sian sorpresi nel momento
del pi dolce giuramento!
Intrecciamo i quattro cuori
con i fiori!...
Soffochiamo i quattro amori
con i fiori!

FANCHETTE
Monsieur Frontin boasts
As is proper to you
On how well serves
My beauty.

FANCHETTE
Monsieur Frontin me vante
Tant il a de bon te
Je sis ben sa servante
Ainsi que ma beaut

THIBAUT
My Fanchette is charming
in her simplicity
And her piquant wealth
is better than the most amazing beauty.

THIBAUT
Ma Fanchette est charmante
Dans sa simplicit
Et sa mine piquante
Vaut mieux que la beaut

FRONTIN
Your Fanchette is charming
in her simplicity
And her piquant wealth
is better than the most amazing beauty.

FRONTIN
Ta Fanchette est charmante
Dans sa simplicit
Et sa mine piquante
Vaut mieux que la beaut

Truly, it delights me.

What colour, what freshness!
THIBAUT

Quiet! Watch!
To the poet the crown!
To the muses the garland!
Dont let them find us!
Flowers and branches for these passions!
Lets surprise them in the moment
Of their sweetest vows,
For love, branches and flowers!
Lets smother these four loves
With flowers!
(The two pairs of lovers kiss, as the party builds
around them.)
(Later, Magda having had a confrontation
with her possessor, Rambaldo, watches as the
first rays of dawn illuminate the crushed
flowers, upset glasses, and the infinite sadness
of what is left of a party. As the street comes
alive with the sounds of day, a lone voice is
heard singing.)

15. Franois Boieldieu, Angela, 1825

Richard Conrad (Thibaut), Marilyn Horne (Frontin), Joan Sutherland (Fanchette), London Symphony
Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
A mysterious opera, co-written by a lady long before this was fashionable, Angela has fallen from fashion
and has not been staged in over a hundred years. The plot is shrouded in the hazes of memory, so who
knows whats going on here

FRONTIN

FRONTIN
Vraiment elle m'enchante
Quel teint, quelle fraicheur
THIBAUT
Allons v'la quall'en chante
J'nons ti pas du malheur

13. VOCE LONTANA

Nella trepida luce d'un mattin
m'apparisti ricinta di rose...
E ti vidi leggera camminar
seminando di petali il ciel.
Mi vuoi dir
chi sei tu?
- Son l'aurora che nasce per fugar
ogni incanto di notte lunar!
- Nel amor non fidar!
(Ruggero s'avvicina)

DISTANT GIRLS VOICE

In the wavering light of morning
You appeared, garlanded with roses,
And I saw you lightly treading,
Strewing heaven with petals.
Will you tell me who you are?
I am the dawn, which is born only to dispel
Any magic of the moonlit night!
Do not trust in love!
(Ruggero appears, with Magdas shawl.)

RUGGERO
Paulette!...
I nostri amici
son gi partiti... Sai,
l'alba... Vuoi che andiamo?
MAGDA
Un momento!...
RUGGERO
Che hai?...
MAGDA
(l'abbraccia)
Niente... niente... Ti amo!...
Ma tu non sai... Tu non sai!...
Vedi, ho tanta paura!...

Come let us sing,

RUGGERO
Paulette!
Our friends have already left.
Do you know, its dawn?
Would you like to leave?
MAGDA
Just a moment!
RUGGERO
What is it?
MAGDA
(as if waking from a dream)
Nothingnothing. I love you!
But you dont know you dont know.
See, Im afraid!

RUGGERO
Piccola ignota t'arresta!
No, questo istante non muore!
A me ti porta il clamor d'una festa
ch' una festa di baci!
N pi altro domando alla vita
che godere l'ebbrezza infinita
che soltanto il tuo bacio pu dar!

Stop, my little stranger!

No, this moment will never die,
The clamour of a feast
Brought you to me,
A feast of love and kisses!
And I wish for nothing more from life
Than to enjoy the unending joy
That your kiss can give me.

LISETTE
Dimmi le dolci parole
che la divina tua musa ricama
per colorire di grazia la trama
di gioconde canzoni.
Le tue ardenti fantasie
io raccoglier sapr nel mio cuor.
E saranno poesie tutte mie,
che, gelosa asconder.

LISETTE
Say to me the sweet words
That your divine muse embroiders
To give a graceful colouring to the stories
Of joyful songs.
Are they not the words
Which my heart was singing?
Say them again!
Ah, say them again!

PRUNIER
Ogni tuo bacio una strofa
ogni tuo sguardo una facile rima.
Tu sei la sola - perch sei la prima che ha parlato al mio core.

PRUNIER
Your every kiss is a strophe,
Your every glance is a happy rhyme.
You are the only one,
Because you are the first
Who has spoken to my heart.

MAGDA
Fa che quest'ora si eterni!
Vedi io son tutta tua,
e per sempre!... Per sempre con te!
RUGGERO
Deve quest'ora segnar
un avvenire d'amore!
E per sempre! Per sempre con me!
LISETTE
Le mie virt sono poche,
ma, se io son tutta tua,
e per sempre!... Per sempre sar!

MAGDA
Let this hour last foever!
See, I am yours and for ever,
I am yours! Always with you!
RUGGERO
This moment must usher in
A future of love, and for ever,
For ever with you!
LISETTE
Ah! My strengths are few,
I give them to you,
And I shall be happy for ever!

PRUNIER
Le tue virt le raccolgo,
l'anima mia en ravvolge,
pi poeta sar!

PRUNIER
I take your strengths
And I shall be more of a poet!

LA FOLLA
Guarda! Fermo!
Vedi l!
l'amor che non ragiona!
l'amor che non nasconde!
Fate piano!... Fate piano!...

THE CROWD
(cautiously advancing, little by little filling up
the room and the balcony)
Look! Do you see over there!
Love like this is heedless!
It doesnt hide!

But not of misfortune.

FANCHETTE
Ah! le maudit Frontin!
FRONTIN
Ce soir au bosquet?

FANCHETTE
Ah, Frontin the accursed!
FRONTIN

FANCHETTE

Tonight at the grove?

Ce soir au bosquet!
FANCHETTE
THIBAUT

Tonight, at the grove!

Hein?
THIBAUT
Huh?

DISC THREE THE VERDI ALBUM

Giuseppe Verdi, La traviata (The Fallen Woman), 1853
Act I excerpts:
1-3 Joan Sutherland (Violetta), Luciano Pavarotti (Alfredo), Bonn Classical Philharmonic Orchestra,
Heribert Beissel
4-6 Leontyne Price (Violetta), Ryland Davies (Alfredo), London Symphony Orchestra, Fausto Cleva
The operas prelude prepares us for the third act, in an abandoned home once the centre of waltzes and
general gaiety. Gradully, wistful memories carry the old building back to its earlier, decadent days.
We meet the courtesan Violetta, who lives a giddy, carefree lifestyle of champagne, gambling, and parties,
thanks to her many gentlemen friends. A young man, Alfredo, is hopelessly in love with her, and finally gets
the chance to meet her on this night. She encourages him to be frivolous, but he tells her that we all should
desire that beautiful day when we find love. He tells her that, in her current life, no-one truly loves her.
Except him. Violetta spurns Alfredo jovially.
Later, as the party moves on, Violetta is left alone. She begins to wonder about the young mans words, as
he is heard singing in the distance, but ultimately convinces herself of the freedom of her current existence.
2. ALFREDO
Drink from the joyful glass,
resplendent with beauty,
drink to the spirit of pleasure
which enchants the fleeting moment.
Drink to the thrilling sweetness
brought to us by love,
for these fair eyes, irresistibly,
(indicating Violetta)
pierce us to the heart.

ALFREDO
Libiamo, ne' lieti calici
che la bellezza infiora,
e la fuggevol ora
s'inebrii a volutt.
Libiam ne' dolci fremiti
che suscita l'amore,
poich quell'occhio al core
(indicando Violetta)
onnipotente va.

ALFREDO (a Violetta)
Quando non s'ami ancora.

ALFREDO (to Violetta)

For those who don't know love.

VIOLETTA (ad Alfredo)

La vita nel tripudio.

VIOLETTA (to Alfredo)

Life is only pleasure.

TUTTI
Ah! godiamo, la tazza e il cantico
la notte abbella e il riso;
in questo paradiso
ne scopra il nuovo d.

ALL
Ah! Be carefree - for wine and song
with laughter, embellish the night.
The new day breaking will find us still
in this happy paradise.

VIOLETTA (s'alza)
Tra voi sapr dividere
il tempo mio giocondo;
tutto follia nel mondo
ci che non piacer.
Godiam, fugace e rapido
il gaudio dell'amore,
un fior che nasce e muore,
n pi si pu goder.
Godiam, c'invita un fervido
accento lusinghier.

VIOLETTA (rising)
I shall divide my gaiety
among you all;
Everything in life is folly,
except for pleasure.
Let us be joyful, for love
is a fleeting and short-lived joy.
A flower which blossoms and fades,
whose beauty is soon lost forever.
Be joyful - a caressing voice
invites us warmly to joy.

TUTTI
Ah! Libiam, amor fra i calici
pi caldi baci avr.

ALL
Drink - for wine
will warm the kisses of love.

Libiamo amore, amor fra i calici

pi caldi baci avr.

Drink - for wine

will warm the kisses of love.

VIOLETTA
VIOLETTA
Speak not of love to one who knows not what Nol dite a chi l'ignora.
it is.
ALFREDO
Such is my destiny.
ALL
Be carefree - for wine and song
with laughter, embellish the night.
The next day breaking will find us still
in this happy paradise.

3. ALFREDO
One day you passed before me,
happy and light as air,
and ever since that day,
even without knowing it, I loved you with that love which is the very breath

ALFREDO
il mio destin cos.
TUTTI
Godiamo, la tazza e il cantico
la notte abbella e il riso;
in questo paradiso
ne scopra il nuovo d.

ALFREDO
Un d felice, eterea,
mi balenaste innante,
e da quel d tremante
vissi d'ignoto amor,
di quell'amor ch' palpito

CROWD
Will you tell me what still torments you
When love is laughing happily?
When our hearts beat
As one in our breasts,
When we are both aflame
With a single kiss!

LA FOLLA
Vuoi tu dirmi che cosa pi tormenta
quando ride giocondo amor?
Quando lo stesso petto
chiude lo stesso cuor,
quando un bacio
brucia d'uguale ardor!...

MAGDA and RUGGERO

(in the distance)
How your heart beats!
Its the springtime of love!

MAGDA E RUGGERO
(in lontananza)
Come batte il tuo cuor!
O primavera d'amor!...

SOME OF THE CROWD

O subtle perfume
Of an April night!
The air is quite full
Of the languor of springtime!
Flowers and love blossom
In the warmth of springtime!

LA FOLLA
O profumo sottil
d'una notte d'April!
L'aria tutta piena
di primavera e languor!...
Sboccian fiori ed amor
di primavera al tepor!...

(from the garden)

Sweetness! Madness! Enchantment!
Dream! For ever for ever! Eternally!

Incanto! - Sogno!
Per sempre! - Per sempre!
Eternamente!...

MAGDA
My heart is conquered!

MAGDA
Il mio cuore conquiso!

RUGGERO
(toasting Magda)
I drink to your fresh smile,
I drink to your deep glance,
To your mouth which has uttered my name!

12. RUGGERO
(guardando Magda)
Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso,
bevo al tuo sguardo profondo,
alla tua bocca che disse il mio nome!

MAGDA
My dream is coming true!
If I could only hope
That this moment would never die,
That your arms, your love, would be
My haven, I would be too happy,
And I would wish no more from life
Than to enjoy the unending ecstasy
That your kiss can give me.

MAGDA
il mio sogno che si avvera!...
Ah! se potessi sperare
che questo istante non muore,
che il mio rifugio saran le tue braccia,
la salvezza il tuo amore,
sarei troppo felice
n pi altro vorrei dalla vita!...
Oh! godere la gioia infinita
che soltanto il tuo bacio pu dar!...

RUGGERO
I have given you my heart,
O my sweet, my tender love!
Guard my gift jealously,
So that it will live for ever in you!

RUGGERO
T'ho donato il mio cuore,
o mio tenero, dolce mio amore!
Custodisci gelosa il mio dono
perch viva sempre in te!

RUGGERO

dun bacio cos ardente

mai ridir potr?...

of such flaming a kiss

ever describe?

TUTTI
Deliziosa!

ALL
Delicious!

MAGDA
Ah! Mio sogno!...
Ah! Mia vita!..

MAGDA
Ah! my dream!
Ah! my life!

TUTTI
squisita!...

ALL
Exquisite!

MAGDA
Che importa la ricchezza
se alfine rifiorita
la felicit!

MAGDA
Who cares about riches
if finally flourishes happiness?
Oh, golden dream!

11. Angela Gheorghiu (Magda), Roberto Alagna (Ruggero), William Matteuzzi (Prunier), Inva Mula-Tchako
(Lisette) with Patrizia Biccire (Female Voice), London Voices, London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
Act II (excerpts). The second act takes place at a crowded student bar. Disguised as a simple working girl,
Pauletta, Magda develops a mutual attraction with a young man named Ruggero, while her confidante Lisette
dates the impish Prunier. As the nights goes on, the party becomes more raucous. Magdas protector,
Rambaldo, believes she is like a swallow: she will always fly toward the sun, and comfort. Instead, she
determines to start a new life with Ruggero, even if it means deceiving him about her past.
11. MAGDA, RUGGERO
Nella dolce carezza della danza
chiudo gli occhi per sognar.
Tutto oramai lontano,
niente mi pu turbar...
e il passato
sembrami dileguar!...

MAGDA, RUGGERO
In the soft caress of the dance
I close my eyes to dream.
Everything now is far away,
Nothing can trouble me,
And the past
Seems to vanish!

LA FOLLA
(danzando)
Vuoi tu dirmi che cosa pi tormenta
quando ride giocondo amor?
Quando lo stesso cuor,
quando un bacio
brucia d'uguale ardor!
Baci lievi e tremanti,
baci folli e vibranti,
sono vita per gli amanti!...
Dammi nel bacio la vita
e vivi per baciar!...

THE CROWD
(dancing)
Will you tell me what still torments you
When love is laughing happily?
When our hearts beat
As one in our breasts,
When we are both aflame
With a single kiss!
Kisses, lights and trembling,
Kisses wild and vibrant,
Are life itself to lovers!
Give me lfie through your kisses,
And live only to kiss!

VOCE DE MAGDA, RUGGERO

Dolcezza!... - Ebbrezza!

VOICES OF MAGDA and RUGGERO

of the universe itself mysterious and noble,

both cross and ecstasy of the heart.

dell'universo intero,
misterioso, altero,
croce e delizia al cor.

VIOLETTA
Ah, if this is true, then leave me I offer you only friendship:
I cannot love, nor can I accept
so heroic a love from you.
I am simple and frank.
You must find another.
It won't be hard, then,
for you to forget me.

VIOLETTA
Ah, se ci ver, fuggitemi.
Solo amistade io v'offro:
amar non so, n soffro
un cos eroico amore.
Io sono franca, ingenua;
altra cercar dovete;
non arduo troverete
dimenticarmi allor.

ALFREDO
Love mysterious and noble,
both cross and ecstasy of the heart.

ALFREDO
Ah, amore misterioso, altero,
croce e delizia al cor.

VIOLETTA
It won't be hard, then, for you to forget me.

VIOLETTA
Non arduo troverete dimenticarmi allor.

4. VIOLETTA (alone)
How strange! How strange! His words
are burned upon my heart!
Would a real love be a tragedy for me?
What decision are you taking, oh my soul?
No man has ever made me fall in love. What
joy,
such as I have never known - loving, being
loved!
And can I scorn it
for the arid nonsense of my present life?

VIOLETTA (sola)
strano! strano! In core
scolpiti ho quegli accenti!
Saria per me sventura un serio amore?
Che risolvi, o turbata anima mia?
Null'uomo ancora t'accendeva - O gioia
ch'io non conobbi, esser amata amando!
E sdegnarla poss'io
per l'aride follie del viver mio?

Ah, perhaps he is the one

whom my soul,
lonely in the tumult, loved
to imagine in secrecy!
Watchful though I never knew it,
he came here while I lay sick,
awakening a new fever,
the fever of love,
of love which is the very breath
of the universe itself Mysterious and noble,
both cross and ecstasy of the heart.
Folly! All is folly! This is mad delirium!
A poor woman, alone,
lost in this

Ah, fors' lui che l'anima

solinga ne' tumulti
godea sovente pingere
de' suoi colori occulti!
Lui che modesto e vigile
all'egre soglie ascese,
e nuova febbre accese,
destandomi all'amor.
A quell'amor ch' palpito
dell'universo intero,
misterioso, altero,
croce e delizia al cor!
Follie! follie! Delirio vano questo!
Povera donna, sola,
abbandonata in questo

VIOLETTA
Ah! Dee volar il mio pensier.
Ah! il mio pensier. Il mio pensier.

VIOLETTA
Oh! My thoughts have to seek new joys.
Oh! My thoughts. My thoughts.

ALFREDO
Amor palpito
dell'universo -

ALFREDO
Love is the very breath
of the universe itself.

VIOLETTA
Follie! follie! Ah s! Gioir, gioir!
Sempre libera degg'io
folleggiare di gioia in gioia,
vo' che scorra il viver mio
pei sentieri del piacer.
Nasca il giorno, o il giorno muoia,
sempre lieta ne' ritrovi,
a diletti sempre nuovi,
dee volare il mio pensier.

VIOLETTA
Folly! Folly! Ah yes! From joy to joy,
forever free, I must pass
madly from joy to joy.
My life's course shall be
forever in the paths of pleasure.
Whether it be dawn or dusk,
I must always live. Ah!
Gaily in the world's gay places,
ever seeking newer joys, etc.

ALFREDO
Misterioso, misterioso, altero,
croce, croce e delizia,
croce e delizia, delizia al cor.

ALFREDO
Mysterious and noble,
both cross and ecstasy,
cross and ecstasy of the heart.

VIOLETTA
Oh amore.

VIOLETTA
Love.

ALFREDO
...dell'universo intero -

ALFREDO
...of the universe itself -

VIOLETTA
Oh!

VIOLETTA
Oh!

ALFREDO (sotto al balcone)

Amore, amor palpito...

ALFREDO (outdoors, under the balcony)

Love is the very breath...

popoloso deserto
che appellano Parigi.
Che spero or pi?
Che far degg'io? Gioire,
di volutt ne' vortici perir.
Gioir, gioir!
Sempre libera degg'io
folleggiare di gioia in gioia,
vo' che scorra il viver mio
pei sentieri del piacer.
Nasca il giorno, o il giorno muoia,
sempre lieta ne' ritrovi,
a diletti sempre nuovi
dee volare il mio pensier.

crowded desert
which is known to men as Paris.
What can I hope for?
What should I do? Revel
in the whirlpool of earthly pleasures.
Revel in joy! Ah!
Forever free, I must pass
madly from joy to joy.
My life's course shall be
forever in the paths of pleasure.
Whether it be dawn or dusk,
I must always live. Ah!
Gaily in the world's gay places,
ever seeking newer joys.

in tears before
you,
your protection I
implore,
I implore.
Imagine: I am all
alone here!
No one
understands me!
I can think no
more,
and must perish
in silence!
I wait for you,
I wait for you!
Speak the word
to revive my
heart's fondest

hopes
or shatter this
oppressive
dream
with, alas, the
scorn,
alas, the scorn I
have deserved!
(She goes swiftly
to the table,
hurriedly
finishes the letter
and signs and
seals it.)

read over,
I swoon from
shame and fear,
but his honour is
my guarantee
and in that I put
my trust!
(She goes to the
window and
draws aside the
curtains. The
room is
immediately
flooded with a
rosy dawnlight.)

Finished! It's too

frightening to

09. Puccini, Madama Butterfly, 1904

Wiener Philharmoniker, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Herbert von Karajan
Act II. Long abandoned by her American naval husband, Cio-Cio continues to believe he will come back
for her and their young child. When, at last, Pinkertons ship docks in port, Butterfly prepares the house for
his return, ignoring the ominous warnings of her friends and confidantes. The household settles in for the
night, a sleepless night awaiting his return.

Puccini, La rondine (The Swallow), 1917

10. Angela Gheorghiu (Magda), London Voices, London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
Act I. In Puccinis most intimate, drawing-room opera, the courtesan Magda hosts a party where the
guests discuss their theories on love. The poet Prunier improvises a song about a maid, Doretta, who
rejects a king because she places value on true love. Ever the centre of the party, Magda takes up the song:
MAGDA
La conquista mi tenta,
e la semplice istoria!...
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta
pot indovinar?
Il suo mistero come mai fin?
Ahim! Un giorno uno studente
in bocca la baci
e fu quel bacio
rivelazione:
fu la passione!...
Folle amore!
Folle ebbrezza!
Chi la sottile carezza

MAGDA
Who could ever guess Doretta's beautiful
dream?
Her mystery how come it's never
how come it's never ending
Alas! One day a student
kisses her on the lips
and it was such a kiss
a revelation:
It was passion!
Crazy love!
Crazy intoxication!
Who could this subtle caress

you would never

have known my
shame,
never!'
(She puts the
letter aside.)
O yes, I swore to
lock within my
breast
this avowal of a
mad and ardent
passion.
Alas, I have not
the strength to
subdue my heart!
Come what may,
I am prepared!
I will confess all!
Courage!
He shall know
all!
(She writes.)
'Why, oh why
did you visit us?
Buried in this
remote
countryside,
I should never
have known you,
nor should I have
known this
torment.
The turbulence of
a youthful heart,
calmed by time,
who knows? most likely I
would have
found another,
have proved a
faithful wife
and virtuous
mother...'
(She becomes lost
in thought, then
rises suddenly.)

Another! No, not

to any other in
the world
would I have
given my heart!
It is decreed on
high,
It is the will of
heaven: I am
yours!
My whole life
has been a
pledge
of this inevitable
encounter;
I know this: God
sent you to me,
you are my
keeper till the
grave!
You appeared
before me in my
dreams;
as yet unseen,
you were already
dear,
your wondrous
gaze filled me
with longing,
your voice
resounded in my
heart
long ago ... no, it
was no dream!
As soon as you
arrived, I
recognized you,
I almost swooned,
began to blaze
with passion,
and to myself I
said: 'Tis he!
'Tis he!
I know it! I have
heard you ...
Have you not
spoken to me in
the silence
when I visited

the poor
or sought in
prayer some
solace
for the anguish of
my soul?
And just this
very moment,
was it not you,
dear vision,
that flamed in
the limpid
darkness,
stooped gently at
my bedside
and with joy and
love
whispered words
of hope?
(She returns to
the table and sits
down again to
write.)
'Who are you'?
My guardian
angel
or a wily
tempter?
Put my doubts at
rest.
Maybe this is all
an empty dream,
the
self?deception of
an inexperienced
soul,
and something
quite different is
to be ...'
(She rises again
and paces
pensively to and
fro.)
But so be it! My
fate
henceforth I
entrust to you;

7-9. Giuseppe Verdi, Il trovatore (The Troubadour), 1853

Leontyne Price (Leonora), Laura Londi (soprano), Royal Opera House Orchestra, Arturo Basile
Act I. The noble lady Leonora confesses to her confidante, Ines, that she loves the troubadour Manrico.
Leonora is unaware that Count di Luna, who has been courting her, is the sworn enemy of her new love.
Il giardino del palazzo. Sulla destra
marmorea
scalinata che mette negli appartamenti.
Dense nubi coprono la luna. Leonora ed Ines
passeggiano.
INES
Che pi t'arresti?
L'ora tarda; vieni;
di te la regal donna chiese;
l'udisti.
LEONORA
Un'altra notte ancora senza vederlo!
INES
Perigliosa fiamma tu nutri!
Oh come, dove la primiera favilla
in te s'apprese?
LEONORA
Ne' tornei. V'apparve,
bruno le vesti ed il cimier,

The garden of the palace. At the right, a

marble stair leads up to the private
apartments. Thick clouds conceal the moon.
Leonora and Ines are strolling.
INES
Why stay here any longer?
It's late; come;
the queen asked about you;
you heard her.
LEONORA
Yet another night without seeing him!
INES
You're nursing a dangerous flame!
Oh how, where did its first spark
strike you?
LEONORA
At the tourney. There appeared,
in black armour and black helmet,

Io scudo bruno e di stemma ignudo,

sconosciuto guerrier,
che dell'agone gli onori ottenne.
Al vincitor sul crine il serto io posi.
Civil guerra intanto arse - nol vidi pi!
Come d'aurato sogno
fuggente immago! ed era volta
lunga stagion, ma poi...

with black shield and without crest,

an unknown warrior,
who won the honours of the arena.
On the victor's head I placed the crown.
Then civil war raged - I saw him no more!
Like the fleeting image
of a golden dream! and a long
time passed, but then...

INES
Che avvenne?

INES
What happened?

LEONORA
Ascolta!
Tacea la notte placida
e bella in ciel sereno;
la luna il viso argenteo
mostrava lieto e pieno!
Quando suonar per l'aere,
infino allor s muto,

LEONORA
Listen!
The serene night was silent
and, lovely in the calm sky,
the moon happily revealed
its silvery and full face!
When, resounding in the air
which till then had been so quiet,

LEONORA
Forget him! Ah, you've spoken a word
that my soul cannot understand.
With such love that words
can scarcely tell,
of a love that only I know,
my heart is intoxicated.
My fate can be fulfilled
only at his side.
If I can't live for him,
then for him I'll die.

LEONORA
Obliarlo! Ah! tu parlasti detto
che intender l'alma non sa.
Di tale amor che dirsi
mal pu dalla parola,
d'amor che intendo io sola,
il cor s'inebri.
Il mio destino compiersi
non pu che a lui d'appresso.
S'io non vivr per esso,
per esso morir,

INES
Give way to a friend's advice,
do give way!

INES
Cedi al consiglio dell'amist,
cedi!

LEONORA
What are you saying? Enough!

LEONORA
Che dici? Oh basti!

INES
A sad, but vague presentiment
is stirred in me by this mysterious man!
Try to forget him.

INES
Dubbio, ma tristo presentimento
in me risvegli quest'uomo arcano!
Tenta obbliarlo.

LEONORA
Needlessly...

LEONORA
Invano!

INES
What you've told me has filled
my soul with anguish! I fear...

INES
Quanto narrasti di turbamento
m'ha piena l'alma! Io temo...

the earth seemed like heaven!

To my heart, etc.

la terra un ciel sembr!

Al cor, ecc.

sweet and sad were heard

the sounds of a lute,
and a troubadour
sang some melancholy verses.
Verses, beseeching and humble,
like a man praying to God:
and in them was repeated a name,
my name!
I ran eagerly to the balcony...
There he was; it was he!
I felt a joy that only the angels
are allowed to feel!
To my heart, my ecstatic eyes,

dolci s'udiro e flebili

gli accordi d'un liuto,
e versi melanconici
un trovator cant.
Versi di prece ed umile,
qual d'uom che prega Iddio:
in quella ripeteasi un nome,
il nome mio!
Corsi al veron sollecita...
Egli era, egli era desso!
Gioia provai che agl'angeli
solo provar concesso!
Al cor, al guardo estatico

VARIOUS MINERS
Far away, over yonder!

I MINATORI
(dal tavolo)
l lontano.. -

{breaking into a despairing sob) :

Dear old home beside the river!

(prorompendo come in un singhiozzo)

"O mia casa, al rivo accanto...

TUTTI
(sommessamente)
... Chi ti rivedr?"
Il canto si spegne angosciosamente. Silenzio.
Larkens, al canto nostalgico, si scosso dai suo
torpore doloroso, e si alzato. Alle ultime
parole del coro scoppia in pianto. Jake
Wallace entra nella stanza, assiste alla scena
senza prendervi parte)

A.LL (softly) :
Shall I ever see you more?
(The song dies away in an anguished silence.
Larkens, roused from his mournful lethargy by
the homesick song, has risen.
At the last chords of the chorus he bursts out
weeping aloud.)

08. Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin, 1879

Lucia Popp (Tatyana), Mnchner Rundfunkorchester, Stefan Soltesz

Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto, 1851

Act I. Tatyana, a spirited but nave bookworm, has fallen for Eugene Onegin, a city boy visiting the area,
who is flirtatious and bored in the country. Unable to sleep, Tatyana pours out her feelings in a letter to
Onegin, begging him to respond, and that she will never feel this way about anyone else.

(Tatyana rises in a
state of great
agitation with an
expression of
determination on
her face.)
TATYANA
Let me perish,
but first
let me summon,
in dazzling hope,
bliss as yet
unknown.
Life's sweetness
is known to me!
I drink the magic
potion of desire!
I am beset by
visions!
Everywhere,
everywhere I
look,

I see my fatal
tempter!
Wherever I look,
I see him!

(She writes, then

pauses and reads
it over.)
'I write to you, and then?
What more is
there to say?
Now, I know, it
is within your
power
to punish me
with disdain!
But if you
nourish one
grain of pity
for my unhappy
lot,
you will not
abandon me.
At first I wished
to remain silent;
then, believe me,

(She goes to the

writing table, sits
down, writes,
then pauses.)
No, that's all
wrong!
I'll begin again!
(she tears up the
unfinished letter)
Ah, what's the
matter with me!
I'm all on fire!
I don't know
how to begin!

pi!"
(Ma gi la canzone nostalgica ha preso tutte
quelle anime avide e rudi: le teste si
sollevano, gli orecchi sono tesi: il giuoco
langue. Quelli
del piano superiore si affacciano ad
osservare: nel silenzio, il tintinnio dei gettoni
adagio adagio si spegne. Jake Wallace, il
cantastorie, appare
sulla porta cantando e accompagnandosi sul
banjo).
JAKE WALLACE
(entrando)
"La mia mamma...
(Si ferm stupito del silenzio che l'accoglie.
Tutti i minatori, col viso proteso verso di lui,
gli fanno cenno con le mari di continuare),
... che far
s' io non torno,
s' io non torno?
Quanto pianger!"
ALCUNI MINATORI
(dal tavolo del giuoco)
Al telaio tesser
lino e duolo
pel lenzuolo
che la coprir... "
ALCUNI MINATORI
(dal ballatoio della sala superiore)
E il mio cane dopo tanto...
JAKE WALLACE
Il mio cane...
ALTRI MINATORI
(di sopra)
il mio cane
mi ravviser?..."
(Una nostalgia quasi disperata si
impadronisce di tutti. Qualcuno, che ha
cominciato ad accompagnare la canzone
battendo col pugno
dei colpi sordi sul tavolo, si interrompe)
HARRY

Do they wonder
When I'll come again?"
(The homesick refrain has caught hold of all
these rough grasping souls: heads are raised,
ears strained they gradually leave off
gambling. Those on the upper floor crowd out
to hear better: in the silence the soft tinkling of
the counters dies away: Jake Wallace, the
minstrel, appears in the doorway singing and
accompanying himself on his banjo.)
JAKE
"My old mother
(He stops, amazed at the silence which greets
him. All the miners, their faces turned towards
him, sign to him to continue.)
- How she'll fret
For her sonny.
For her sonny.
How she'll weep for him !"
SOME MINERS (from the card table) :
I can see her at her loom
Weaving linen
For the winding sheet
To cover her
JAKE
How are my old folk out yonder?
Do they wonder when I'll come again?
SOME MINERS (from the balcony of the floor
above) :
And my dear old faithful dog.
JAKE
Will he know me?
MINERS (from above) :
And my dog Tray,
Will he know me still?
(A desperate homesickness overcomes them all.
Someone who has started accompanying the
song with muffled fist-thumps
on the table, stops short.)
HARRY

10. Luciano Pavarotti (Duke), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge

Act III. The charismatic but licentious Duke has wooed Gilda in disguise. She is unaware that he is a cad,
and is currently on his way to seduce yet another lady. His joyful song plays out over the final scenes, as
the lives of Gilda and her hunchbacked father, Rigoletto, are destroyed.
La donna mobile
qual piuma al vento,
muta daccento
e di pensier.
Sempre un amabile
leggiadro viso,
in pianto o in riso
menzognero.
La donna mobile, ecc.
sempre misero
chi a lei saffida,
chi le confida
mal cauto il cor!
Pur mai non sentesi
felice appieno
Chi su quel seno
Non liba amor!

Women are as fickle

as feathers in the wind,
simple in speech,
and simple in mind.
always the loveable,
sweet, laughing face,
but laughing or crying,
the face is false for sure.
Women are as fickle, etc.
If you rely on her
you will regret it,
and if you trust her
you are undone!
Yet none can call himself
fully contented
Who has not tasted
Love in her arms!

11. Joan Sutherland (Gilda), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Act I. Gilda, having just been wooed for the first time by the penniless but poetic student Gualtier Mald
(actually the Duke in disguise) reflects on her fortunes.
GILDA (sola)
Gualtier Mald...nome di lui s amato,
ti scolpisci nel core innamorato!
Caro nome che il mio cor
festi primo palpitar,
le delizie dellamor
mi di sempre rammentar!
Col pensier il mio desir
a te sempre voler,
e fin lultimo mio sospir,
caro nome, tuo sar.
Col pensier, ecc.
(Sale al terrazzo con una lanterna.)
Gualtier Mald!

GILDA (alone)
Walter Mald...name of the man I love,
be thou engraved upon my lovesick heart!
Beloved name, the first to move
the pulse of love within my heart,
thou shalt remind me ever
of the delights of love!
In my thoughts, my desire
will ever fly to thee,
and my last breath of life
shall be, beloved name, of thee.
In my thoughts, etc.
(Taking a lantern, she walks up the steps to the
terrace.)
Walter Mald!

Arrigo Boito, Mefistofele, 1868

Boito was a renowned artist of his day, working across various fields. He wrote the libretti for three of
Verdis most celebrated operas Simon Boccanegra, Otello and Falstaff (as well as being instrumental in

coaxing the elderly Verdi out of retirement to write the latter two). Mefistofele was Boitos only
completed opera.
12. Mirella Freni (Margareta), Luciano Pavarotti (Faust), National Philharmonic Orchestra, Oliviero de
Fabritiis
Act III. Faust has made a deal with the devil, Mefistofeles, to have the world at his fingertips until, at lifes
end, his soul will be taken. Restored to youth, Faust has infatuated Margareta, an unsophisticated village
girl, but his worthless ways have ultimately corrupted her. She poisoned her own mother and drowned her
illegitimate baby, fathered by Faust. When he finds her, Margareta is locked in a dismal cell, completely
mad.

Lontano, lontano, Inntano

Sui flutti d'un ampio, ocekno
Fra i roridi effluvi del mar,
Fra Talghe, fra i fior, fru le palme,
II porto deir intime calme,
Uazzurra isoletta m'appar.
M'appare sul cielo sereno
Ricinta d'un arcobaleno
Speech i ante il sorriso del sol.
La fuga dei liber! amanti
Speranti, migranti, raggianti
Dirige a quel Tisola il volo,
A queir isola il vol.
Lontano, lontano, lontano, lontano.

Away from strife and commotion,

Oer waves of a widespreading ocean,
'Mid perfumes exhaled by the sea,
'Mid palm-trees and flowers in profusion.
The portal of peace and seclusion.
The blue isle seems waiting for me.
There skies in their beauty transcendent
Seem girt with a rainbow resplendent,
Reflecting the sun's loving smile.
The flight of all hearts that are loving,
And hopeful, and moving, and roving
Is tamed toward that life-giving island.
That life-giving isle.
Away to that island far distant !

13-14. Luciano Pavarotti (Faust), Montserrat Caball (Helen of Troy), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Mefistofeles), Della
Jones (Pantalis), Robin Leggate (Nereus), the London Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic
Orchestra, Oliviero de Fabritiis
Act IV. Mefistofele transports Faust back in time to Ancient Greece. On the banks of a magnificent river,
Faust seduces the most beautiful woman in history, Helen of Troy, in a passionate outpouring of love and
devotion, while her followers luxuriate in the moonlight.As their declarations grow more passionate,
ecstasy takes over, and we watch as Helen and her time slip away into dust, and Fausts youth dissipates
leaving him an old man in a study once more.

FAUST (Inchinato davanti ad Elena.)

Forma ideal purissima
Delia Bellezza eterna!
Un uom ti si prostema
Innamorato al suol.
Volgi vr me la cruna
Di tua pupilla bruna,
Vaga come la luna,
Araente come il sole.
Un uom ti si prosterna.

FAUST (kneeling before Helen.)

Form of ideal purity,
Beauty's eternal essence!
I kneel here in thy presence,
With loving adoration.
Upon me turn the tender gleaming
Of thy brown eyes beaming.
Like the morn, radiant seeming.
Sunlike, with ardor glowing.
HELEN

ELENA

SAMSON
By my kisses I want to dry your tears,
And take you away from your hearts agonies!
Dalila! Dalila! I love you!

SAMSON
Par mes baisers je veux scher tes larmes,
Et te de ton Coeur loigner les alarmes!
Dalila! Dalila! Je taime!

DELILAH
Like one sees the blades
Of wheat that wave
In the light wind,
So trembles my heart,
Ready to be consoled,
By your voice that is so dear to me!
The arrow is less rapid
In bringing death,
Than your love is
By flying into your arms!

DALILA
Ainsi qu'on voit des bls
les pis onduler
sous la brise lgre,
ainsi frmit mon coeur,
prt se consoler,
ta voix qui m'est chre!
La flche est moins rapide
porter le trpas,
que ne l'est ton amante
voler dans tes bras!

SAMSON
Dalila! Dalila! I love you!

SAMSON
Dalila! Dalila! Je t'aime!

My heart opens to your voice

Like the flowers open
To the kisses of the dawn!
But, oh my beloved,
To better dry my tears,
Let your voice speak again!
Tell me that you are returning
To Delilah forever!
Repeat to my tenderness
The promises of old times,
Those promises that I loved!
|: Ah! respond to my tenderness!
Fill me with ecstasy! :|

Mon cur s'ouvre ta voix,

comme s'ouvrent les fleurs
aux baisers de l'aurore!
Mais, mon bienaim,
pour mieux scher mes pleurs,
que ta voix parle encore!
Dis-moi qu' Dalila
tu reviens pour jamais.
Redis ma tendresse
les serments d'autrefois,
ces serments que j'aimais!
|: Ah! rponds ma tendresse!
Verse-moi, verse-moi l'ivresse! :

07. Puccini, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), 1910
Gwynne Howell (Jack), Francis Egerton (Nick), Paul Crook (Harry), Robin Leggate (Joe), Jonathan Summers
(Sonora), Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Zubin Mehta
Act I. A mining camp in the American Wild West. When one of the men, Jake, starts singing an old ballad
from home, the rough miners clutching faded letters from their loved ones, break down as they
remember lives back home.
JAKE WALLACE
(di fuori cantando)
"Che faranno i vecchi miei l lontano,
l lontano, che faran laggi?
Tristi e soli i vecchi miei
piangeranno, penseranno ch'io non torni

JAKE (singing in the distance) :

"I am thinking of my folk
In the homestead,
Way back yonder.
Are they sitting lone and sad,
Are they weeping?

BLUEBEARD
Judith, love me, ask no questions.
Look, my castle gleams and brightens.
Judith, open now the Fifth Door.
(With a sudden movement ]udith runs to
the Fifth Door and flings it open.
A lofty verandah is revealed and
unbounded vistas are beyond. The light
pours out in a glittering cascade. Dazzled
by the radiance, ]udith shields her eyes
with her hand.)
JUDITH
Ah!
BLUEBEARD
Now behold my spacious kingdom.
Gaze ye down the dwindling vistas.
Is it not a noble country?
JUDITH
(stares fixedly out, distracted)
Fair and spacious is your country.
BLUEBEARD
Silken meadows, velvet forests,
Tranquil streams of winding silver.
Lofty mountains blue and hazy!
JUDITH
Fair and spacious is your country.
BLUEBEARD
All is thine forever, Judith.
Here both dawn and twilight flourish.
Here sun, moon, and stars have dwelling.
They shall be thy deathless playmates.
JUDITH
Yonder cloud throws blood-red shadows.
What do these grim clouds portend?
BLUEBEARD
See, how my poor castle glitters.
Thy pure blessed hands have done this.
Yea, thy hands are blessed, Judith.
(He opens his arms.)
Come now, place them on my heart.

JUDITH
(She does not move.)
Two doors are still not open.
BLUEBEARD
Those two doors must stay unopened.
Now my house shall ring with music.
Come, my love, I yearn to kiss thee.
JUDITH
Let the last two doors be opened.
BLUEBEARD
Judith, Judith, I must kiss thee.
Come, I'm waiting. Judith, love me!
JUDITH
Let the last two doors be opened!
BLUEBEARD
(He lets his arms fall to his side in a gesture
of resignation.)
Child, you begged for... prayed for
sunlight...
See how the sun hath filled my house!
JUDITH
Two more doors. Not one of your
Great doors must stay shut fast against me.
BLUEBEARD
Child, beware, beware my castle.
Careful, it will shine no longer.
JUDITH
Though I perish I fear nothing,
Dearest Bluebeard.
BLUEBEARD
Judith, Judith!
JUDITH
Open, open those two doorways,
Bluebeard, Bluebeard,
Mighty Bluebeard!
BLUEBEARD
Why so stubborn, why so stubborn,
Judith? Judith?
JUDITH
Open, open!

PANTALIS
Ah ! quivi I'amor li aduna!
FAUST
La tranquillo immagine
Delia fanciuila blanda
Ch' amai la fra le nebbie
Duna perdu ta ianda
Gia disvani,
Conquiso mha un piu sublime sguardo,
Un piu fulgurato viso
e tremo ed ardo !
Adoro e tremo ed ardo !
Conquiso m'ha piu sublime amor.
MEFISTOFELES
Oh, stupor ! Prodigio !
Quivi I'amour iiaduna !
CORETIDI / NEREUS
Quivi Tamor liaduna;
O stupor ! Celeste coppia !
Sembran Endimione e Luna
Celeste coppia \ li aduna qui Tamor !
MEFISTOFELES
Zitti lassii ! Quivi Pamor, etc.
ELENA.
O incantesimo parla I quel maeico soffio
Cotanto bea Ik tua dolce loquela d'amore ?
II suon tu in serti al suon quasi
Alito deco d'estasi pteni.
bimmi come faro a parlar lidioma soave ?
FAUST
Frugo nel cor e ti rispondo:

06 Camille Saint-Sans, Samson et Dalila, 1877

Elena Obraztsova (Dalila) & Plcido Domingo (Samson), Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim
Act II. Delilah has been sent to seduce the strongman Samson, that he may ultimately be destroyed. Aware
of her grim task, complicated by her own growing feelings, Delilah creates the perfect evening of romance
psychologically drawing Samson into her web, by seeming to open up at last to his tenderness.
DALILA

Dal tuo respiro pendo e me chiamo beata

Che unica fra tutte le troadi e le argive ninfe
Spargo i voluttuosi fascini su cotanto amante
Dal suo respire pendo

DELILAH

ELENA
E mi rispondi : Ave !
FAUST
Come augello a richiamo,
Frughi nel cor e mi rispondi: t'amo!
ELENA / FAUST

Over your sweet accents, happy am I still to

linger.
How amid all these maidens, those lovely
nymphs of Troy and Argos,
Have my charms thus captured such love,
expressed in words so tender?
PANTALIS
Ah, love, bring them here together!
FAUST
Now the tranquil memories
Of that fair, pliant maiden,
I loved, in that lost region
Where skies with mists are laden,
Has disappeared; enslaved am I
By eyes with passion burning,
By beauty far more resplendent,
By charms transcendent!
Trembling, for love I am yearning'^
Conquered by love far more sublime.
MEFISTOFELES
Oh, amazing! Amazing!
Love brought them here together!
CHORUS / NEREUS
Love here brought tl.em together!
All are 'mazed! Celestial couple!
Like Endymion and fair Luna!
Celestial couple, both hither led by love!
MEFISTOFELES
Silence, you, there! Love brought them, etc
HELEN
Enchanting words fill me!
Tell me, this magical cadence that so enhances
The charm of your amorous confession?
Tone sweetly follows tone like
The sound of an echo full of emotion,
Tell me how I may learn to speak that sweet
idiom of love?
FAUST
I search my heart and reply:
ELENA
And I respond! I greet thee!
FAUST

T' amo I T'amo!

Amore ! misterio celeste, profondo !
Gik il tempo dilegua, cancellasi il mondo!
GiA lore dai tetri mortali contate
Ramingan serene per plaghe beatel
ELENA
E brividi ignoti mi cercan le vene
FAUST AND ELENA
E'un aura dicantici esala il mio core.
Guardandoct inviso cantiamo I'amore,
Cantiamo Tamore.
FAUST
Guardandoci inviso!
ELENA
Cantiam amor!
Ah! I'amore, Tamore del rio! Tamore sorriso.

As calls the bird to his mate,

Ask of thy heart, and reply : " I love thee !
HELEN / FAUST
I love thee yes, I love thee.
This love is a mystery, profound and celestiaL
Time is no more, the world is drowned!
At last, when the hours of this earth-life are
numbered
We'll roam thro' fair regions by cares
unencumber'd
HELEN
A tremor unknown thro' my veins now is
stealing !
FAUST / HELEN
A breath too of poesy my heart is exhaling
On each other gazing, to love we are singing,
Of love ever singing.
FAUST
On each other gazing.

FAUST
Ah! Lamore visione!
FAUST / ELENA
Ah! lamore, cauzone, lamore canzonesia
Sempre nel tardo tuturo sommerso
Sia restre mo suo verso.
Ab ' cantiamo I'amor lamor, mister,
CORETIDI
Poesia liberat'alza pe'cieli ;
voli di folgore! impeti d'aquila ;
Spinganti airultime reggie del sol,
Alle reggie del sol. Spingnanti a vol !
Ah! Ah!

HELEN
We sing of love.
Ah, yes I love is a passionate fever, its smile
lives forever.
FAUST
Ah, yes ! love is a vision.
FAUST / ELENA
Ah! A poem Elysian, a blissful condition,
And be it hereafter in mansions eternaL
Sung as the poem supernal;
We'll sing there of love, etc

FAUST. ({Dreamily.)
There together we'll live.

ELENA
E avrem per nido le grotte delle ninfe
E per guanciale

HELEN. (Dreamily.)
Down in Arcadia, lies a calm, placid valley.

FAUST
Ivi insieme vivrem.

CHORUS.
Free as the eagle, soar through the sky,
Swift a thunderbolt, soaring so mightily
On to the ultimate realms of the sun.
And we sing of the sun. Yes ! swift in its
flight ! Ah ! Ah !

ELENA
Glace in Arcadia una placida valle

Act III. Sentenced to death for fighting against a Fascist government, Mario Caravadossi knows all hope is
lost. His only fond memory is his all-too-brief love affair with the actress, Floria Tosca.
E lucevan le stelle
ed olezzava la terra
stridea l'uscio dell'orto
e un passo sfiorava la rena.
Entrava ella, fragrante,
mi cadea fra le braccia.
Oh! dolce baci, o languide carezze,
mentr'io fremente
le belle forme disciogliea dai veli!
Svani per sempre il sogno mio d'amore
L'ora e fuggita
e muoio disperato!
E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!
tanto la vita!

The stars seemed to shimmer

The sweet scents of the garden,
The creaking gate seemed to whisper,
And a footstep skimmed over the sand.
Then she came in, so fragrant,
And fell into my arms!
Oh! sweet kisses, oh, languorous caresses,
While I, trembling, was searching
For her features, concealed by her mantle.
My dream of love faded away, for good!
Everything's gone now.
I'm dying hopeless, desperate!
And never before have I loved life like this!
And never before have I loved life like this!

Bla Bartk, A Kkszakll Herceg Vra (Duke Bluebeards Castle), 1918

04-05. Gustav Belacek (Bluebeard) & Andrea Melath (Judith), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Marin
Alsop
Bluebeard has brought his new bride, Judith, back to his castle. Against his wishes, she has opened
three of the seven doors that open on to his hallway. With each door, a new stream of coloured light
emerges. Behind the first: a torture chamber stained red; behind the second, an orange armory; behind the
third, the golden treasury. Bluebeard continues to press, but Judith continues to open. Behind the fourth
door, the bluish-green of a garden of secret beauty. Behind the fifth, most ominous of doors yet, a stunning
white light, a window onto Bluebeards vast kingdom: sunlit, but blood has watered the garden and cast
shadows over the kingdom.
BLUEBEARD
Judith, open now the Fourth Door.
Bring the sunshine, open, open.
JUDITH
(She suddenly turns to the Fourth Door
and opens it. Branches heavy with blossom
crowd out through the aperture. They are
suffused with a bluish-green light. This
new beam of light stretches across the floor
beside the others.)
Ah! What lovely flowets! Sweet, fragrant
garden,
Hidden under rocks and boulders!
BLUEBEARD
'Tis my castle's secret garden.
JUDITH
Ah, tender flowers!
Giant lilies, tall as men!
Cool silky, exquisite roses,

Red carnations gleaming with light!

Never have I seen such beauty.
BLUEBEARD
Ev'ry flower nods to greet thee.
Thou hast made them bud and blossom.
Thou hast made them swiftly wither,
Only to revive in glory!
JUDITH
(She suddenly stoops down.)
(frightened)
Your white rose is flushed with blood
spots.
All the soil around is blood-soaked!
BLUEBEARD
'Tis thine eyes that open the flowers.
Praising thee they sing at daybreak.
JUDITH
(rises and turns to Bluebeard)
Who has bled to feed your garden?

FLOSSHILDE
Lugt, wer uns belauscht!

FLOSSHILDE
See who's spying on us!

WOGLINDE UND WELLGUNDE

Pfui! Der Garstige!

WOGLINDE AND WELLGUNDE

Ugh! How frightful!

FLOSSHILDE
Htet das Gold!
Vater warnte
vor solchem Feind.

FLOSSHILDE
Guard the gold!
Father warned us
of such a foe

ALBERICH
Ihr, da oben!

ALBERICH
You up there!

WOGLINDE, WELLGUNDE, FLOSSHILDE

Was willst du dort unten?

WOGLINDE, WELLGUNDE, FLOSSHILDE

What do you want, down there?

ALBERICH
Str' ich eu'r Spiel,
wenn staunend ich still hier steh'?
Tauchtet ihr nieder,
mit euch tollte
und neckte der Niblung sich gern!

ALBERICH
Do I spoil your sport
by standing still here, staring?
If you'd dive down,
the Nibelung
would freely frisk and frolic with you.

WOGLINDE
Mit uns will er spielen?

WOGLINDE
Does he want to play with us?

WELLGUNDE
Ist ihm das Spott?

WELLGUNDE
Is he in jest?

ALBERICH
Wie scheint im Schimmer
ihr hell und schn!
Wie gern umschlnge
der Schlanken eine mein Arm,
schlpfte hold sie herab!

ALBERICH
How brightly you shine
in the shimmering light!
My arms would love to enfold
one of yours slim forms
if you'd but slipdown here.

FLOSSHILDE
Nun lach' ich der Furcht:
der Feind ist verliebt!

FLOSSHILDE
Now I laugh at my fears:
our foe is in love.

WELLGUNDE
Der lsterne Kauz!

WELLGUNDE
Lascivious beast!

WOGLINDE
Lasst ihn uns kennen!

WOGLINDE
We'll teach him!

ALBERICH
Die neigt sich herab.

ALBERICH
She's coming down.

WOGLINDE
Nun nahe dich mir!

WOGLINDE
Come close to me, then!

03. Giacomo Puccini, Tosca, 1900

Franco Corelli (Mario), National Academy of St. Cecilia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

FAUST
Le tue morbid e chiome.
ELENA
Ei fior del prato

HELEN.
Well have for shelter the grottos of the
nymphs.
And for a pillow
FAUST.
Thy own soft, wavy tresses

(Si perdono mormorando fra I cespughi)

CORETIDI. Ah!

HELEN.
And meadow flowers.
(They disappear, murmuring together, among
the trees.)
CHORUS
Ah!

Verdi, Ada, 1871

15 Leontyne Price (Ada), Rome Opera House Orchestra, Oliviero de Fabritiis
Act III. Caught between her love for the Egyptian Radames whom, if she marries, will ask her to leave
behind her native Ethiopia forever - and her loyalty to her father, the enslaved Ethiopian king who hopes
for his daughter to find out the information he needs to regain his footing, Ada bemoans her situation.
AIDA [entra cautamente coperta da un velo]
Qui Radams verr Che vorr
dirmi?
Io tremo Ah! se tu vieni
A recarmi, o crudel, l'ultimo addio,
Del Nilo i cupi vortici
Mi daran tomba e pace forse e oblio.
O cieli azzurri o dolci aure native
Dove sereno il mio mattin brill
O verdi colli o profumate rive
O patria mia, mai pi ti rivedr!
O fresche valli o queto asil beato
Che un d promesso dall'amor mi fu
Ahime! d'amore il sogno dileguato
O patria mia, non ti vedr mai pi!

AIDA [veiled, enters cautiously]

He will ere long be here! What would he
tell me?
I tremble! Ah, if thou comest
To bid me, harsh man, farewell for ever,
Then, Nilus, thy dark and rushing stream
Hides me forever; peace shall I find there
and oblivion!
O skies cerulean, breezes soft blowing,
Where brightly calmness saw life's blithe
morn unfold,
Sweet sloping verdure by streams so softly
flowing,
Thee my native land ne'er more shall I
behold!
O blessed vales, wherein all cares were
banish'd,
That once did promise love, I bid adieu,
Ah me! of love the sweetest dream has
vanish'd,
O native land, ne'er more shall I see you!

16-17. Plcido Domingo (Radams), Katia Ricciarelli (Ada), Elena Obraztsova (Amneris), Milan Teatro alla
Scala Chorus and Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Act IV. Betraying his country and his betrothed, Amneris, Radames is locked in a tomb alongside Ada. Realising
their death is imminent, the two embrace and bid farewell to life on earth. Noted for being one of the most
poignantly subdued finales in the often-grand 19th century opera canon, the lovers duet is set in counterpoint
by the religious followers praying to their Egyptian gods, and Amneris, mourning for the man she sent to death,
but also knowing that he could never love her, as his heart was taken by another.

RADAMES
To perish! so pure and lovely!
To die, thine own self dooming,
In all thy beauty blooming,
Fade thus forever!
Thou whom the heav'n only for love created

RADAMES
Morir! s pura e bella!
Morir per me d'amore
Degli anni tuoi nel fiore
Fuggir la vita!
T'avea il cielo per l'amor creata,

AIDA
My heart forboded this thy dreadful sentence,
And to this tomb that shuts on thee its portal
I crept unseen by mortal.
Here from all where none can behold us,
Clasped in thy arms I resolved to perish.

AIDA
Presago il core della tua condanna,
In questa tomba che per te s'apriva
Io penetrai furtiva
E qui lontana da ogni umano sguardo
Nelle tue braccia desiai morire.

RADAMES
Thou, with me here buried!

RADAMES
Tu in questa tomba!

AIDA
Yes! Aida!

AIDA
Son io

RADAMES
The fatal stone upon me now is closing,
Now has the tomb engulfed me. I never more
The light shall behold. Ne'er more see gentle
Aida.
Dear Aida, where now art thou? whate'er
befalls me
May'st thou be happy. Ne'er may my frightful
doom reach thy gentle ear. What groan was
that? Tis a phantom! Some vision dread. No!
sure that form is human! Heaven! 'tis Aida.

RADAMES
La fatal pietra sovra me si chiuse.
Ecco la tomba mia. Del d la luce
Pi non vedr Non rivedr pi Aida
Aida, ove sei tu? Possa tu almeno
Viver felice e la mia sorte orrenda
Sempre ignorar! Qual gemito! Una
larva
Una vision No! forma umana
questa
Cielo! Aida!

The scene is divided into two floors.

The upper floor represents the interior of the
temple of Vulcan, resplendent with gold and
glittering light; the lower floor is a
Crypt. Long Arcades vanishing in the
gloom. Colossal Statues of Osiris with
crossed hands support the pillars of the vault.
Radames is discovered in the Crypt, on the
steps of the staircase leading into the vault.
Above, two Priests in the act of letting down
the stone which closes the subterranean.

Il piano superiore rappresenta l'interno del

tempio di Vulcano splendente d'oro e di luce:
il piano inferiore un sotterraneo. Lunghe file
d'arcate si perdono nell'oscurit. Statue
colossali
d'Osiride colle mani incrociate sostengono i
pilastri della vlta.
Radams nel sotterraneo sui gradini della
scala, per cui disceso Al di sopra, due
Sacerdoti intenti a chiudere la pietra del
sotterraneo.

WOGLINDE
With Wellgunde there'd be two of us.

WOGLINDE
Mit Wellgunde wr' ich zu zwei.

WELLGUNDE
Woglinde, are you watching alone?

WELLGUNDE
Woglinde, wachst du allein?

WOGLINDE
Weia! Waga!
Waft your waves, ye waters!
Carry your crest to the cradle!
Wagala weia!
Wallala weiala weia!

WOGLINDE
Weia! Waga!
Woge, du Welle,
walle zur Wiege!
Wagala weia!
Wallala, weiala weia!

At the bottom of the Rhine.

Auf dem Grunde des Rheine.

PRELUDE AND SCENE ONE

VORSPIEL UND ERSTE SZENE

WELLGUNDE
Lass sehn, wie du wachst!

WELLGUNDE
Let's see how you watch.

FLOSSHILDE
Badly you guard
the sleeping gold;
watch better o'er
the slumberer's bed
or you'll both repent your sport!

FLOSSHILDE
Des Goldes Schlaf
htet ihr schlecht!
Besser bewacht
des schlummernden Bett,
sonst bsst ihr beide das Spiel!

WELLGUNDE
Flosshilde, swim!
Woglinde's escaping:
help me capture the truant!

WELLGUNDE
Flosshilde, schwimm'!
Woglinde flieht:
hilf mir die Fliessende fangen!

FLOSSHILDE
Heiala weia!
Sprightly sisters!

FLOSSHILDE STIMME
Heiaha weia!
Wildes Geschwister!

WOGLINDE
Safe from you.

WOGLINDE
Sicher vor dir!

ALBERICH
Hehe! Ihr Nicker!
Wie seid ihr niedlich,
neidliches Volk!
Aus Nibelheims Nacht
naht' ich mich gern,
neigtet ihr euch zu mir!

ALBERICH
Hey, hey, you nymphs!
How inviting you look,
enviable creatures!
From Nibelheim night
I'd gladly draw near
if you'd but come down to me.

WELLGUNDE
Someone called from the darkness.

WELLGUNDE
Es dmmert und ruft!

WOGLINDE
Hey! Who is there?

WOGLINDE
Hei! Wer ist dort?

May heaven dispel all cares

and love change not throughout the changing
years.
OTELLO
A questa tua preghiera
OTHELLO
amen risponda la celeste schiera!
To that prayer of yours
may all the heavenly host reply amen!
DESDEMONA
Amen risponda!
DESDEMONA
Amen be the reply!
OTELLO
(appoggiandosi ad un rialzo degli spaldi)
OTHELLO
Ah! la gioia minnonda si fieramente
(leaning against the parapet)
che ansante mi giacio...
Ah! Joy floods my breast so piercingly
Un bacio...
that I must lay me down and pant for
breath...
DESDEMONA
A kiss...
Otello!
DESDEMONA
Othello!
OTHELLO
a kiss
Another kiss!
(rising and looking at the sky)
The blazing Pleiades sinks beneath the
waves.
DESDEMONA
The night is far advanced.
OTHELLO
Come Veus is radiant!
DESDEMONA
Othello!
(Clasped in each others arms they go
towards the castle.)

OTELLO
... un bacio...
ancora un bacio!
(alzandosi e mirando il cielo)
Gi la pleiade ardente in mar discende.
DESDEMONA
Tarda la notte.
OTELLO
Vien... Venere splende!
DESDEMONA
Otello!
(Savviano abbracciati verso il castello.)

DISC FOUR ROMANTIC OPERA

Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), 1869
01. Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti
02. Oda Balsborg (Woglinde), Hetty Plmacher (Wellgunde), Irsa Malaniuk (Flosshilde), Gustav Niedlinger
(Alberich), Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti
Act I. Underneath the Rhine (yes the opera opens underneath the Rhine), the Rhinemaidens frivol and play,
prortecting the precious gold as is their task. The dwarf Alberich, bitter and heartless, approaches them hoping
to satisfy his carnal desires. Naturally, the beautiful specimens mock him unaware that this will be the first
move in an apocalyptic drama that will play out across the ages.

Ed io t'uccido per averti amata!

No, non morrai!
Troppo io t'amai!
Troppo sei bella!

But to destroy thee was my love then fated!

Ah no! those eyes
So dear I prize
For death are too lovely!

AIDA [vaneggiando]
Vedi? di morte l'angelo
Radiante a noi si appressa
Ne adduce a eterni gaudii
Sovra i suoi vanni d'r.
Su noi gi il ciel dischiudesi
Ivi ogni affanno cessa
Ivi comincia l'estasi
D'un immortale amor.

AIDA [transported] See'st thou where death in

angel guise
With heavenly radiance beaming,
Would waft us to eternal joys
On golden wings above!
See heaven's gates are open wide
Where tears are never streaming,
Where only bliss and joy reside
And never fading love!

Canti e danze delle Sacerdotesse nel Tempio.

Singing of the Priestesses in the Temple.

AIDA
Triste canto!

AIDA
That sad chanting!

RADAMES
Il tripudio Dei Sacerdoti

RADAMES
'Tis the sacred dance of the Priesthood!

AIDA
Il nostro inno di morte

AIDA
It is our death chant resounding!

RADAMES [cercando di smuovere la pietra

del sotterraneo]
N le mie forti braccia
Smuovere ti potranno, o fatal pietra!

RADAMES [trying to displace the stone closing

the vault]
Cannot my lusty sinews
Move from its place this fatal stone?

AIDA
Invan! tutto finito
Sulla terra per noi

AIDA
'Tis vain! all is over
Hope on earth have we none!

RADAMES [con desolata rassegnazione]

vero! vero!
[si avvicina ad Aida e la sorregge]

RADAMES [with sad resignation]

I fear it! I fear it!
[approaches Aida and supports her]

AIDA/RADAMES
O terra, addio; addio valle di pianti
Sogno di gaudio che in dolor svan
A noi si schiude il cielo e l'alme erranti
Volano al raggio dell'eterno d.

AIDA/RADAMES
Farewell, O earth! farewell thou vale of sorrow!
Brief dream of joy condemned to end in woe!
See, brightly opens the sky, an endless morrow
There all unshadowed eternal shall glow!

[Aida cade dolcemente far le braccie di Rad.]

[Aida drops in the arms of Radames]

AMNERIS [in abito di lutto apparisce nel

tempio e va a prostrarsi sulla pietra che
chiude il sotterraneo]
Pace, t'imploro salma adorata

AMN. [appears, habited in mourning, in the

temple, and throws herself on the stone closing
the vault]
Peace everlasting, lov'd one, mayst thou know

AMNERIS
Peace everlasting

AMNERIS
Pace, timploro

AIDA/RADAMES
Brightly opens the sky

AIDA/RADAMES
Si schiude il cielo.

Isis, relenting, greet thee on high!

Isi placata ti schiuda il ciel!

18. Verdi, Otello, 1887

Then you would lead me to the glaring

desert,
to scorching sands, the country of your birth;
and then you would relate your sufferings,
tell me of chains and slaverys agony.
OTHELLO
Softened was your lovely face by tears,
your lips by sighs, when I my story told;
upon my darkness shone a radiance,
heaven and all the stars in benediction!

Leontyne Price (Desdemona), Plcido Domingo (Otello), New Philharmonia Orchestra, Nello Santi
Act I. Still newly married, Othello and Desdemonas honeymoon has been dominated by military and civil
matters. Now, at last, under the veil of a terrifying storm, they are left alone to consummate their love.

DESDEMONA

DESDEMONA

OTELLO
Pingea dellarmi il fremito, la pugna
e il vol gagliardo alla breccia mortal,
lassalto, orribil edera, collugna
al baluardo e il sibilante stral!

OTHELLO
I would describe the clash of arms, the fight
and violent thrust toward the fatal breach,
the assault, when hands, like grisly tendrils,
clung to bastions amid the hissing darts.

DESDEMONA
Mio superbo guerrier! quanti tormenti,
quanti mesti sospiri e quanta speme
ci condusse ai soavi abbracciamenti!
Oh! come dolce il mormorar insieme!
Te ne rammenti?
Quando narravi lesule tua vita
e i fieri eventi e i lunghi tuoi dolor,
ed io tudia collanima rapita
in quei spaventi, collestasi nel cor.

DESDEMONA
My splendid warrior! What anguish,
what deep sighs and high hopes
have strewn the path to our glad union!
Oh, how sweet to murmur thus together!
Do you remember?
You used to tell me of your life in exile,
of violent deeds and suffering long endured,
and I would listen, transported by the tales
that terrified, but thrilled my heart as well.

OTELLO
Gi nella notte densa
sestingue ogni clamor,
gi il mio cor fremebondo
sammansa in questamplesso
e si rinsensa.
Tuoni la guerra e sinabissi il mondo
se dopo lira immensa
vien questimmenso amor!

OTELLO
Now as the darkness deepens
all harsh sounds die away,
and now my turbulent heart
finds peace in this embrace
and calm refreshment.
Let cannons roar and all the world collapse
if after the immeasurable wrath
comes this immeasurable love!

(La gente parte. Otello fa cenno agli uomini

colle fiaccole che lo accompagnavano di
rientrare
il castello. Restano soli Otello e Desdemona.)

(All depart. Othello makes a sign to the

torchbearers who accompanied him to return
to
the castle. He and Desdemona remain alone.)

DESDEMONA
And I descried upon your dusky temples
genius ethereal beauty shining there.

Poi mi guidavi ai fulgidi deserti,

allarse arene, al tuo materno suol;
narravi allor gli spasimi sofferti
e le catene e dello schiavo il duol.
OTELLO
Ingentilia di lagrime la storia
il tuo bel viso e il labbro di sospir;
scendean sulle mie tenebre la gloria,
il paradiso e gli astri a benedir!
DESDEMONA
Ed io vedea fra le tue tempie oscure
splender del genio leterea belt.

OTELLO
Venga la morte! e mi colga nellestasi
di questo amplesso il momento supremo!
(Il cielo si tutto rasserenato: si vedono
alcune stelle e sul lembo dellorizzonte il
riflesso ceruleo della nascente luna.)
Tale il gaudio dellanima che temo,
temo che pi non mi sar concesso
questattimo divino
nellignoto avvenir del mio destino.

OTHELLO
Let death come now, that in the ecstasy
of this embrace I meet my hour of hours!
(The storm clouds have now completely
(disappeared. There are stars in the sky and
on
the rim of the horizon can be seen the azure
disc of the rising moon.)
Such is the rapture of my soul, I fear
that never more to me may be vouchsafed
to know such bliss in all the hidden future of
my fate.

DESDEMONA
... per la mia piet.

DESDEMONA
... that I did pity them.

OTELLO
... ed io tamavo...
... per la tua piet.

OTHELLO
... and I loved you...
... that you did pity them.

DESDEMONA
E tu mamavi...

DESDEMONA
And you loved me...

OTELLO
E tu mamavi...

OTHELLO
And you loved me...

DESDEMONA
Ed io tamavo per le tue sventure,
e tu mamavi per la mia piet.

DESDEMONA
I loved you for the dangers you had passed,
and you loved me that I did pity them.

OTELLO
E tu mamavi per le mie sventure,
ed io tamavo per la tua piet.

OTHELLO
You loved me for the dangers I had passed,
and I loved you that you did pity them.

DESDEMONA

DESDEMONA
Disperda il ciel gli affanni
e amor non muti col mutar degli anni.