|
|
The game is on!
FERRANDO
To my Dorabella there's none can sompare;
As true as she's lovely, as faithful as fair.
GUGLIELMO
Distrust Fiordiligi? You're out of your mind!
A model of virtue and beauty combined.
DON ALFONSO
Though balding and graying,
I know what I'm saying;
So take my suggestion
And end this debate
Before it's a question
Of caution too late.
FERRANDO and GUGLIELMO
I'll stand it no longer!
The insult if double.
So grossly you wrong her,
Confirm it or fight.
DON ALFONSO
You're asking for trouble.....
FERRANDO and GUGLIELMO
No, no! You began it!
Your sword or your reasons!
We'll have satisfaction!
Our hearts are as granite
Defending the right....
DON ALFONSO delivers the bad news to the sisters:
How to break the awful news!
Stammer, stutter....it is no use.
Woe is me, my tongue is tied
And the words are stuck inside.
What solution? What to do?
Such a dreadful thunderbolt!
Though I'd speak, my lips revolt.
How my heart goes out to you,
Hopes and dreams all gone askew.
A sublime departure:
TRIO
Soft breezes, be gentle;
Smooth waters, transport them.
O powers elemental,
Benignly escort them
Home safely to shore.
DESPINA offers sound advice to the bereft sisters.
Believe a man? Trust a soldier?
Expect for love to last?
Heaven help us, you're living in the past!
Men are identical,
Birds of a feather.
Ever in motion,
April leaves fluttering,
Waves of the ocean,
Even the weather
Turns less than a man.
Vows of fidelity,
Rapturous gazes,
Flowers and flattery,
Warmed over phrases:
These are their standard fare
Since time began......
Men are no good, but come, ladies, repay it!
Master the rules of the game as they play it.
Shame on the girl who is simple and true!
Do unto them as they do unto you.
Love is a holiday, over by dark.
Follow the leader, and love is a lark.
FIORDILIGI has a searching moment of repentance and resolve:
Oh, my love! Be kind, pray pardon
And forgive an erring lover.
Somber shadow, forever cover,
Hide my secret in dead of night.
For my guilt I'll make atonement
With a zeal that burns forever;
With remorse I shall endeavor
To absolve this odious blight,
Shame and horror to my sight.
Have I known myself so little?
Is my heart so false and frail?
Darling, I shall earn acquital
With a fire that shall not fail.
DON ALFONSO sums it up:
All are down on the woman,
But I forgive her.
Caprice or vice, it's all in how you take it.
You chastize them for changing;
I beg to differ.
It's the law of life, and they can't break it.
The lover who withdraws in disillusion
Has but one thing to blame:
His own confusion.
Young and elderly,
Both the beldam, the beauty,
In their hearts are the same:
COSI FAN TUTTE.
|
List of Donald Pippin's English Versions
Pocket Opera Home Page