PUCCINI

TOSCA

Tosca at her most seductive declares her passionate love for Cavaradossi:

I know a place tucked away, deep in shadows,

A hiding place only lovers can enter,

Our very own, to all the world unknown --

There you and I shall be alone.

Gazing up, in silent wonder,

Listen! We can hear

In the music of the stars

A clustered chorus calm and clear.

Come, breathe the scent of summer

That fills the meadows.

Befriended

By phantoms of the night, hand in hand we shall wander,

As playful breezes render

A caress warm and tender

To palpitating lovers

On the verge of surrender.

As dormant fields reawaken

And the sea warns of far distant thunder,

Beyond the moon, chaste goddess of desire,

Ah, you vaulted stars, rain down your sparks of ecstacy!

Tosca’s heart consume with fire!

Cavaradossi reciprocates:

CAVARADOSSI:

In all the world, where to find the luster

That outshines your own eyes of umber?

Deep in their glow I’ve found

My inspiration,

My soul and center --

Eyes that in love are tender,

In wrath a flash of fire.

No other eyes in the world can outshine

Your beautiful dark eyes.

Scarpia has his cold, predatory eye on both:

Fly, Tosca!

To your heart my arrow’s pointed.

Fly, Tosca!

For Scarpia, you soar like the winged falcon

Guiding the ruthless hunters.

Your jealous passion

I have put to the purpose.

And beware the snares of Scarpia!

Fly, Tosca!

My aim is two-fold:

I’ll capture them both.

And no, it’s not the rebel

I would call most wanted.

She will come crawling!

I must see that unquenchable fire

Languish for love!

The Goddess bold and proud,

Captured by cunning,

Yielding to my desire.

One mounts the gallows,

And the other falls into my arms.

Tosca, for you, God Almighty I abandon!

Scarpia exults in his own depravity:

For a lustier flavor

Sooner conquer with terror

Than entice with caresses.

I get no pleasure

From strolling in a garden bathed in moonlight,

Whispering drivel.

And serenades beneath a lady’s window

Are not my cup of tea.

Likewise for “Hearts and Flowers”

And the cooing of turtledoves.

Hungry, I see what I want and pursue it.

After gorging, I leave the table --

Time for new diversion.

God created beauty galore

In wine and in women.

I long to taste

All of the fruits of our bountiful Maker.

Pushed to the limit, Tosca turns to God with the question, “Why?”

Art I’ve lived for,

Love I have lived for;

No malice I bear to anyone living.

When none were watching,

Often I’ve aided the ragged and hungry.

Ever a faithful servant,

My humble vows of devotion

I have offered up to God.

And on his altar I’ve placed

Flowers from a grateful heart.

When now my hour is darkest,

Oh why, dear God of Mercy?

Oh why, dear Lord, do you now turn away?

Jewels of mine have graced Our Lady’s mantle.

I’ve raised my song to sparkling stars

That glorify the heavens.

In my dark hour of need

Oh why, oh why, almighty God?

Dear father, why do you now turn away?

Cavaradossi, in despair, soon to face the firing squad, recalls past rapture:

When the stars lit the heavens,

When the earth lay in slumber,

A rustle in the garden,

And I heard quiet steps coming toward me.

She entered like a goddess,

We embraced in the shadows,

A thousand kisses and prolonged caresses!

My trembling fingers

Removed the attire that veiled her naked splendor.

But now my dream of love is gone forever.

In shock I awaken

To die in desolation,

Despair and desolation,

When I have never had so much to live for,

So much to live for.

Confident that they will survive the recent horrors that have brought them so close to death, Tosca and Cavaradossi reaffirm their love and turn to the future with radiant hope:

CAVARADOSSI:

The sting of death could hold for me no terror

Except the fear of losing you forever.

My will to live, my joy and inspiration

Rise out of you, like the phoenix from the fire.

The unfolding universal panorama

I see revealed in the mirror of your eyes,

And all the bountiful beauty in nature

Because of you becomes a burst of color.

TOSCA:

The love and steady faith that saw you through

Will guide us on land and sea, wherever we are,

Making the world forever young and lovely,

Then to ascend in death to higher spheres.

Calm and serene,

We’ll float like clouds over water,

In golden sunset drifting off together,

Drifting off together, drifting off together . . .