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“Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart libretto (English)
Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two |
Scene One A room in the sisters’ house (Fiordiligi, Dorabella and Despina) Recitative DESPINA Go on, what a strange couple of girls you are! FIORDILIGI Good gracious, what should we do? DESPINA What you like. Are you made of flesh and blood, or what are you? |
No. 19. Aria DESPINA A woman, at the age of fifteen, must know what’s what, where the devil hides his tail, what is good and what is bad. She must know the cunning ways that make lovers fall in love, feign laughter, feign tears, invent fine excuses. In a single moment, she must pay attention to a hundred men, with her eyes talk with a thousand, encourage everyone, handsome or ugly, know how to hide without embarrassment; without blushing know how to lie, and like a queen from her lofty throne, with “I can and I will”, make herself obeyed. (aside) It seems that they like this doctrine. Long live Despina, |
who knows how to serve. In a single moment, etc. (She leaves.) Recitative FIORDILIGI Sister, what do you say? DORABELLA I’m stunned by the infernal spirit of that girl. FIORDILIGI But believe me: she’s mad. Do you think we’re in a position to follow her advice? What about our hearts...? DORABELLA They remain what they are. Enjoying ourselves a little and not dying of melancholy isn’t betraying our word, sister. For the rest, listen, so we understand each other clearly: which of the two Narcissuses do you want to choose for yourself? FIORDILIGI You decide, sister. DORABELLA I’ve already decided. |
No. 20. Duet DORABELLA I’ll take the little dark one, who seems wittier to me. FIORDILIGI And, meanwhile, with the blond one I want to laugh and joke a little. DORABELLA I’ll jokingly answer the sweet words of the former. FIORDILIGI Sighing, I’ll imitate the sighs of the latter. DORABELLA He’ll say to me: My love, I die! FIORDILIGI He’ll say to me: My lovely treasure! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA And meanwhile what delight, what amusement I’ll feel! DORABELLA I’ll take the little dark one, etc. FIORDILIGI And, meanwhile, with the blond one, etc. (They leave.) |
Recitative DON ALFONSO Ah, hurry along to the garden, my dear girls; what fun, what music, what singing, what a dazzling show, what magic! Be quick, run! DORABELLA What the dickens can it be? DON ALFONSO You’ll soon see. (They all leave.) |
Scene Two Garden at the seashore (At the landing stage there is a boat gaily decorated with flowers, in which are Ferrando and Guglielmo, with a band of singers and musicians. In the garden, Despina, Fiordiligi, Dorabella and Don Alfonso) No. 21. Duet with chorus FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Assist, friendly breezes, assist my desires; and bear my sighs to the goddess of my heart. |
You, who have heard a thousand times the strains of my woes, repeat to my beloved all you heard then. CHORUS Assist, friendly breezes, the wishes of such lovely hearts. (Ferrando and Guglielmo alight with garlands of flowers: Don Alfonso and Despina lead them into the presence of the two ladies, who are struck dumb with astonishment.) Recitative FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA What is this masquerade? DESPINA Take heart. Courage! Have you lost the power of speech? (The boat moves away from the shore.) FERRANDO I tremble and shake from my head to the soles of my feet. GUGLIELMO Love binds the limbs of the true lover. DON ALFONSO (to the women) Encourage them, like good girls. |
FIORDILIGI (to Ferrando and Guglielmo) Speak! DORABELLA Say freely what you wish. FERRANDO Madame... GUGLIELMO Or rather, Mesdames... FERRANDO You speak then. GUGLIELMO No, no, you speak. No. 22. Quartet DON ALFONSO (taking Dorabella by the hand) Give me your hand, and move a little! (Despina takes Fiordiligi’s hand.) If you won’t speak... (to Ferrando and Guglielmo) I’ll speak for you. A trembling slave asks your forgiveness; he offended you, he sees it, but only for a moment; now he suffers, but is silent... FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO He’s silent... |
DON ALFONSO Now he leaves you in peace... FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO In peace... DON ALFONSO He can’t have what he wants, he’ll want what he can have. FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO He can’t have what he wants, he’ll want what he can have. DON ALFONSO Come now, answer! You look and laugh? DESPINA I’ll give them the answer for you. (to the ladies) What has been, has been; let us forget the past. Let that bond be broken now, a symbol of servitude. Give me your arm, and sigh no more. DESPINA, DON ALFONSO (aside) For heaven’s sake let’s leave; we’ll see what they can do. I respect the girls more than the devil if they don’t fall now. |
(Despina and Don Alfonso leave. Guglielmo arm in arm with Dorabella; Fiordiligi walks with Ferrando but without offering her arm.) Recitative FIORDILIGI Oh, what a beautiful day! FERRANDO A bit warm rather than not. DORABELLA What charming trees! GUGLIELMO Yes, yes, they’re beautiful; they have more leaves than fruit. FIORDILIGI How pretty those paths are. Would you like to stroll? FERRANDO I am ready, o beloved, to obey your every hint. FIORDILIGI You are too kind! FERRANDO (to Guglielmo as he passes) Here we are at the crunch! |
FIORDILIGI What did you say to him? FERRANDO Oh, I urged him to amuse her well. (Fiordiligi and Ferrando stroll off.) DORABELLA Let us stroll, too. GUGLIELMO As you like. Alas! DORABELLA What’s wrong? GUGLIELMO I feel so ill, so ill, my soul, that I feel as if I were dying. DORABELLA (aside) He won’t achieve anything at all. (to Guglielmo) These must be after-effects of the poison you drank. GUGLIELMO (aside) Is she joking or speaking in earnest? (to Dorabella) Condescend to accept this little gift. |
DORABELLA A heart? GUGLIELMO You accept it? DORABELLA I accept it. GUGLIELMO (aside) Unhappy Ferrando! (to Dorabella) Oh, what joy! No. 23. Duet GUGLIELMO I give you my heart, my lovely idol; but I want yours, too, come, give it to me. DORABELLA You give me it, I take it; but I won’t give you mine. You ask for it in vain, it’s with me no longer. GUGLIELMO If you don’t have it with you, why is it beating here? |
DORABELLA If you give it to me, what is leaping there? GUGLIELMO Why is it beating here? DORABELLA What is leaping there? DORABELLA, GUGLIELMO It’s my little heart that is with me no longer; it went to be with you, and it beats like that. GUGLIELMO (wants to put the heart where she has the portrait of her lover) Let me put it here. DORABELLA It can’t stay here. GUGLIELMO I understand you, sly one. (He gently turns her face away, takes out the portrait and puts the heart in its place.) |
DORABELLA What are you doing? GUGLIELMO Don’t look. DORABELLA (aside) I feel as if I have a Vesuvius in my breast. GUGLIELMO (aside) Wretched Ferrando, it doesn’t seem possible. (to Dorabella) Turn your eye to me. DORABELLA (to Guglielmo) What do you wish? GUGLIELMO Look again, look again: could anything go better? DORABELLA, GUGLIELMO Oh happy exchange of hearts and affections, what new delights, what sweet suffering! Oh happy exchange, ecc. (They go off, arm in arm. Fiordiligi and Ferrando enter.) |
Recitative FERRANDO Cruel one, why are you fleeing? FIORDILIGI I’ve seen an asp, a hydra, a basilisk! FERRANDO Ah cruel girl, I understand you! The asp, the hydra, the basilisk, and the fiercest creatures the Libyan deserts possess you see in me alone. FIORDILIGI It’s true, it’s true! You want to rob me of my peace. FERRANDO But to make you happy. FIORDILIGI Stop molesting me. FERRANDO I ask only a glance from you. FIORDILIGI Leave! FERRANDO Don’t hope for that, if first you don’t cast your eyes on me less fiercely. O heaven! You look at me, and then you sigh? |
No. 24. Aria FERRANDO Ah, I see that your lovely soul cannot resist my tears; it is not capable of rebelling against feelings of loving sympathy. In that look, in those dear sighs, a sweet ray of hope lights up my heart. You are responding to my warm desires, you are yielding to such tender love. Ah, I see that your lovely soul, etc. But do you shun me pitilessly, do you stay silent, and can you let me languish? Ah, cease, false hopes, cruelly she condemns me to die. (Ferrando leaves.) Recitative FIORDILIGI He’s going...Listen!...Ah no! Let him go. Let the dire object of my weakness be removed from my sight. In what conflict the cruel man has placed me...This is the well-earned reward of my misdeeds! At such a time should I listen to the sighs of a new lover? Should I make a game of others’ plaints? Ah, you condemn this heart rightly, o just love! I burn, and my ardour is no longer the effect of a virtuous love: it is rage, suffering, remorse, repentance, fickleness, perfidy and betrayal! |
No. 25. Rondo FIORDILIGI Have pity, my love, forgive the error of a loving spirit; among these shadows and these trees, oh God, it will always remain hidden. My courage, my constancy will sever this wicked desire; it will lose the memory that shames and horrifies me. Have pity, etc. To whom did this vain, ungrateful heart fail in faithfulness? Beloved, your purity deserved a better reward. Have pity, etc. (She leaves. Enter Ferrando and Guglielmo.) Recitative FERRANDO Friend, we’ve won! GUGLIELMO A double, or a triple? FERRANDO A quintuple, friend. Fiordiligi is chastity personified. |
GUGLIELMO Just that? FERRANDO Absolutely: pay attention and listen well. She rebutted me haughtily, she spurned me, she fled me, giving me a pledge and the message that she is a woman without peer. GUGLIELMO Good for you, good for me, good for my Penelope! Allow me to embrace you for such happy tidings, o my trusty Mercury! FERRANDO And my Dorabella? How did she behave? Ah, I have no doubt about it. I know well that sensitive soul. She loves, adores no one but me. GUGLIELMO Certainly! In fact, to prove her love, her faithfulness, she gave me this handsome little portrait. FERRANDO My portrait! Ah, faithless woman! (He starts to go.) GUGLIELMO Where are you going? |
FERRANDO To tear the heart from that wicked breast, and to avenge my betrayed love. GUGLIELMO Stop. FERRANDO No, let me go! GUGLIELMO Are you mad? Do you want to ruin yourself for a woman who isn’t worth tuppence? (aside) I wouldn’t want him to do anything foolish! FERRANDO Gods! All those promises, and tears, and sighs, and oaths...How could the wicked girl forget them in such a few moments? GUGLIELMO (to Ferrando) By God, I don’t know. FERRANDO What must I do now? What course, what idea should I seize upon! Have pity on me. Give me advice. GUGLIELMO Friend, I wouldn’t know what advice to give you! |
FERRANDO Cruel, ungrateful girl! In a day...In a few hours! GUGLIELMO Certainly, this is a situation that amazes one! No. 26. Aria GUGLIELMO My dear women, you take in so many men that, if I must tell you the truth, when lovers complain I begin to sympathise with them. I’m fond of your sex; you know it, everyone knows it; I prove it to you every day, I give you proof of my friendship. But this taking in so many men depresses me, to tell the truth. A thousand times I’ve drawn a sword to save your honour; a thousand times I’ve defended you with my mouth and, more, with my heart. But this taking in so many men is an irritating little habit. You are charming, you are loveable, Heaven gave you many treasures and the graces surround you from head to foot. But, you take in so many men that it isn’t credible. I’m fond of your sex, etc. |
But you take in so many men that, if lovers cry out, they surely have good reason. Ah, you take in so many men, etc. (He leaves.) Recitative FERRANDO In what fierce conflict, in what confusion of thoughts and affections I find myself! So new and unusual is my situation that neither others nor myself are sufficient to counsel me...Alfonso, Alfonso, how you will want to laugh at my stupidity! But I’ll avenge myself, I’ll be able to erase that wicked woman from my breast...Erase her? Oh God, this heart of mine speaks to me for her too much. No. 27. Cavatina FERRANDO Betrayed, scorned by that treacherous heart, I feel that still this soul of mine adores her. I hear speaking for her the voice of love. Betrayed, scorned by that treacherous heart, (Don Alfonso enters and listens.) I feel that still, etc. |
Recitative DON ALFONSO Bravo, there’s constancy. FERRANDO Go away, you cruel man, you are the cause of my misery. DON ALFONSO Come now, if you behave yourself I’ll restore your old tranquillity. Listen. Fiordiligi has been faithful to Guglielmo, but Dorabella has betrayed you. FERRANDO To my shame! (Guglielmo comes in.) GUGLIELMO Dear friend, one must differentiate in everything: do you think a betrothed could fail one such as Guglielmo? If we do a little comparison between us – I don’t say this in boast – you see, friend, that I am worth a little more. DON ALFONSO Eh! I agree with that! GUGLIELMO Meanwhile you will give me fifty zecchini! |
DON ALFONSO Gladly: but before paying up, I think we should try another experiment. GUGLIELMO What? DON ALFONSO Be patient. Till tomorrow you are both my slaves: you gave me your word as soldiers to do what I tell you. Come, I hope to show you clearly that it’s a crazy brain which counts its chickens before they are hatched. (They leave.) |
Scene Three A room in the sisters’ house (Despina and Dorabella) Recitative DESPINA Now I see that you are a woman of the world. DORABELLA Despina, I tried to resist, in vain: that little demon has an artfulness, an eloquence, a manner that makes you fall even if you’re made of stone. (Fiordiligi enters.) |
FIORDILIGI Wretched creatures! See what a state I’m in, through your fault! DESPINA What’s happened, dear miss? DORABELLA Do you have some illness, sister? FIORDILIGI I have the devil...and may he take me, you, her, Don Alfonso, the foreigners and all madmen the world contains. DORABELLA Have you lost your mind? FIORDILIGI Worse! worse! Be horrified: I am in love, and my love isn’t only for Guglielmo. DESPINA Better, better! DORABELLA So, are you too in love, with the gallant blond? FIORDILIGI Ah, alas, for our sake! DESPINA Good for you! |
DORABELLA Here: seventy thousand kisses! You have the blond, I, the dark one. And here both of us are brides! FIORDILIGI I’ll be able to control myself. DESPINA You won’t be able to do anything. FIORDILIGI I’ll show you. DORABELLA Believe me, sister, it’s better for you to give in. No. 28. Aria DORABELLA Love is a little thief, Love is a little serpent. He gives peace to our hearts and takes it away, as he pleases. No sooner does he open a path to the heart through the eyes than he puts the spirit in chains and deprives it of freedom. Love is a little thief, etc. |
He bears sweetness and pleasure, if you let him have his way; but he fills you with disgust if you try to fight him. He bears sweetness, etc. Love is, etc. If he settles in your breast, if he catches you here, do everything he asks, for I shall do so, too. If he settles in your breast, etc. (Dorabella and Despina leave.) Recitative FIORDILIGI How everything conspires to seduce my heart! But now...I don’t want to see that seducer. GUGLIELMO (listening with Ferrando and Don Alfonso at the door, unseen by Fiordiligi) Excellent! My chaste Artemisia! You hear her? FIORDILIGI But could Dorabella, without my knowledge...? Wait! A thought comes into my mind: many of Guglielmo’s and Ferrando’s uniforms are still in my house. I must be bold! Despina! Despina! DESPINA (entering) What is it? |
FIORDILIGI Take this key a moment and without a word, without a single word, take from the wardrobe and bring here to me two swords, two hats, and two suits belonging to our betrothed. (Despina leaves.) FIORDILIGI Ferrando’s clothes will suit me; Dorabella can take Guglielmo’s. In this guise we’ll join our betrothed, we can fight at their side, and die, if necessary. (She takes off her head-dress.) Go to the devil, fateful adornments, I hate you. GUGLIELMO (aside) You must agree this really is love. FIORDILIGI Do not hope to return to my brow until I am reunited with my love. In your place I shall put this hat; oh, how it transforms my appearance and features! I hardly recognise myself! No. 29. Duet FIORDILIGI In a few moments I will be in the arms of my faithful lover; unknown, in these clothes, I will come before him. Oh what joy his noble heart will feel in seeing me again! |
FERRANDO (entering) And meanwhile, wretched me, I shall die of grief. FIORDILIGI What do I see? I am betrayed! Ah, leave! FERRANDO Ah no, my life! (taking the sword from the table) With this sword in your hand you will wound this heart; and, oh God, if you haven’t strength, I will support your hand. FIORDILIGI Be silent, alas! I am unhappy and tormented enough! FERRANDO Ah, her constancy now... FIORDILIGI Ah, my constancy now... FERRANDO ...at these looks, at what she says... FIORDILIGI ...at these looks, at what he says... |
FERRANDO and FIORDILIGI ...begins to weaken! FIORDILIGI Rise, rise! FERRANDO You believe that in vain! FIORDILIGI For pity’s sake, what do you ask of me? FERRANDO Your heart, or my death. FIORDILIGI Ah, no longer am I strong! FERRANDO Surrender, beloved. FIORDILIGI Gods, counsel me! FERRANDO Turn your eyes to me in pity. In me alone can you find husband, lover, and more, if you like; my idol, delay no longer. FIORDILIGI Good heavens! Cruel man, you’ve won... Do with me what you will. (Don Alfonso restrains Guglielmo from bursting in.) |
FIORDILIGI, FERRANDO Let us embrace, o beloved, and let suffering with sweet affection and sighing with pleasure be a solace for so many griefs. Let us embrace, etc. (They go out. Don Alfonso and Guglielmo enter.) Recitative GUGLIELMO Ah, poor me! What have I seen? What have I heard? DON ALFONSO Silence, for heaven’s sake! GUGLIELMO I’d peel off my beard, I’d scratch my skin. I’d knock my horns against the stars. That was Fiordiligi, the Penelope, the Artemisia of the century! Minx! Murderess! Wretch! Thief! Bitch... DON ALFONSO Let’s let him unburden himself... FERRANDO (entering) Well? |
GUGLIELMO Where is she? FERRANDO Who? Your Fiordiligi? GUGLIELMO My Fior – Fior-de-devil! May he strangle her first and me afterwards! FERRANDO You see now, there are differences in all things, I am worth a little more. GUGLIELMO Ah, stop, stop tormenting me, and let us study a way to punish them roundly. DON ALFONSO I know what that is: marry them. Go on, take them as they are. Nature couldn’t make an exception, do you the favour of creating two women of a different clay, just to suit you. Meanwhile listen to a rhyme: you’ll be very happy men, if you learn it. |
No. 30. Andante DON ALFONSO All accuse women, and I excuse them, if a thousand times daily they change their love, others call this a vice, others a custom, and to me it seems a necessity of the heart. The lover who, at the end, remains disappointed, shouldn’t blame another’s error, but his own. Since young, and old, beautiful and ugly – repeat with me – All women behave thus. FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO, DON ALFONSO All women behave thus. (Despina enters.) Recitative DESPINA Victory, masters! The dear ladies are disposed to marry you. Are you happy thus? FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO, DON ALFONSO Very happy. DESPINA When Despina takes part in a plan she is never ineffectual. (They leave.) |
Scene Four A large, festively decorated room. A table is set for four. (Despina and servants are making preparations for the wedding.) No. 31. Act Two Finale DESPINA Hurry up, o dear friends, set the torches alight, and prepare the table richly and nobly! The wedding of our mistresses is already arranged; (to the musicians) and you, go to your places until the bridegrooms come. CHORUS Let us hurry, o dear friends, let us set the torches alight, and let us prepare the table richly and nobly. DON ALFONSO (coming in) Bravo! Bravo! Excellent! What abundance! What elegance! Each of the men will give you a suitable tip. Now the two couples are approaching; applaud their arrival, let happy song and joyous sound fill the heavens with merriment. |
DESPINA, DON ALFONSO (softly, going out by different doors) A finer comedy was never seen nor will be seen! (Enter Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Ferrando and Guglielmo.) CHORUS Blessings on the two husbands and the charming brides! May heaven shine on them beneficently, and, like hens, may they be prolific, with children that equal them in beauty. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO How everything here seems to promise complete joy and complete love! It will surely be the merit of our beloved Despinetta. Redouble the happy sound, repeat the sweet song, and we shall sit here meanwhile in greater joviality. CHORUS Blessings, etc. (The chorus leaves. Four servants remain to wait on the two couples.) FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Everything, everything, o my life, now responds well to my ardour! |
FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Through my blood, my happiness grows, grows and spreads! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO You are so beautiful! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA You are so lovely! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO What beautiful eyes! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA What a handsome mouth! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Toast and drink! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Drink and toast! FIORDILIGI, FERRANDO, DORABELLA And in your, in my glass let every care be drowned, and let no memory remain of the past in our hearts. Ah, no, let no memory, etc. GUGLIELMO (aside) Ah, they should drink poison, these vixens without honour. (Enter Don Alfonso.) |
DON ALFONSO Ladies and gentlemen, all is done; the notary is on the stairs with the marriage contract and will come here ipso facto. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Bravo! Bravo! Let him come in at once. DON ALFONSO I’ll go to call him. Here he is. (Enter Despina, disguised as a notary.) DESPINA Wishing you every good thing, the notary Beccavivi comes to you with his usual notarial dignity! And the contract, drawn up with the ordinary rules in the legal forms, first coughing, then sitting down, he will read out loud and clear. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO, DON ALFONSO Bravo! Bravo! Really! DESPINA According to the contract drawn by me, united in matrimony are Fiordiligi with Sempronio, and with Tizio, Dorabella, |
her legitimate sister. The former are Ferrarese ladies; the latter, Albanian noblemen, and as dowry and counter-dowry... FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO These things are known! We believe you, we trust you, we’ll sign. Hand it over. DESPINA, DON ALFONSO Bravo! Bravo! Really! (The contract remains in Don Alfonso’s hand. A loud sound of a drum is heard.) CHORUS (within) Beautiful military life! You change place every day; much today, tomorrow little, now on land, and now on sea. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, DESPINA, FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO What noise, what singing is this? DON ALFONSO Be still, I’ll go to look. (He goes to the window.) Mercy! God in heaven! What a horrible occurrence! I’m trembling! I’m freezing! Your husbands... |
FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA My husband... DON ALFONSO ...have come back at this moment. Oh God! And they are already landing at the shore. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO What do I hear? Cruel fate! What’s to be done in such a moment? FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Leave quickly... DESPINA, DON ALFONSO But if they see them... FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO But if they see us... FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Quickly! Flee! DESPINA, DON ALFONSO But if they meet them? FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO But if they meet us? FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA There, hide there, for heaven’s sake. (Don Alfonso takes Despina into one room, Fiordiligi and Dorabella take the lovers into another. The lovers slip out unseen and leave.) Gods, help us! |
DON ALFONSO Be reassured! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Gods, counsel! DON ALFONSO Calm yourselves! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Who will save us from danger? Who? DON ALFONSO Trust in me. All will go well! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA A thousand barbarous thoughts are tormenting my heart; if they discover the deceit, whatever will become of us! (Enter Ferrando and Guglielmo, no longer disguised.) FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Safe and sound to the loving embraces of our most faithful lovers, we return exultantly joyful, to reward their faithfulness. |
DON ALFONSO Righteous Gods! Guglielmo? Ferrando? Oh, what rejoicing! Here! But how? When? FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Recalled by a royal counter-order, our hearts full of joy and pleasure, we return to our adorable brides, we return to your friendship. GUGLIELMO (to Fiordiligi) But what is that pallor, that silence? FERRANDO (to Dorabella) Why is my idol sad? DON ALFONSO Confused and stunned with delight, they stand there, utterly silent. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA (aside) Ah, my voice cannot reach my lips; if I don’t die, it will be a miracle. GUGLIELMO Allow us to put that trunk in that room. (The servants bring in a trunk.) Ye Gods! What do I see? A man hidden... a notary...What is he doing here? (Despina comes out, without her hat.) |
DESPINA No, sir, he’s not a notary; it’s Despina in disguise, since she’s just come back from the ball and came here to change her clothes. FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO (aside) Where will one ever find a slyboots the equal of this one? DESPINA (aside) A slyboots who is my equal – where will one ever find her? FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Despina? Despina? I don’t understand what’s happening. (Don Alfonso carefully drops the contract signed by the women.) DON ALFONSO (softly to the two men) I’ve already dropped the papers. Pick them up artfully. (Ferrando picks up the contract.) FERRANDO But...what are these papers? GUGLIELMO A marriage contract?! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO Good heavens! You’ve signed here: it’s no use contradicting us now. Betrayal! Betrayal! |
Ah, let the revelation be made, and in streams, rivers, oceans, blood will then flow! (They start to go into the other room; the women stop them.) FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA Ah, sir, I’m worthy of death, and death I ask for myself alone; too late I see my mistake, wound, with that sword, a breast that doesn’t deserve mercy! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO What happened? FIORDILIGI (pointing to Despina and Don Alfonso) Let the cruel man and the seductress speak for us. DON ALFONSO What she says is all too true, and the proof is shut in there. (He points to the room where the lovers entered earlier. Ferrando and Guglielmo go into the room.) FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA I freeze, I tremble with fear; why did he ever reveal them?! (Ferrando and Guglielmo come out of the room, without hats, without cloaks, and without moustaches, but with the clothes of their disguise. In a ridiculous fashion they mock their mistresses and Despina.) |
FERRANDO (to Fiordiligi) Lovely lady, before you bows the Knight of Albania! GUGLIELMO (to Dorabella) Here, my lady, I give you back the little portrait for the little heart. FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO (to Despina) And to the magnetic Doctor I give the honour that he deserved. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, DESPINA Heavens! What do I see?! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO, DON ALFONSO They’re dumbfounded! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, DESPINA I can’t bear this grief! FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO, DON ALFONSO They’re half mad! FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA (pointing to Don Alfonso) Behold there the barbarous man who deceived us! DON ALFONSO I deceived you, but my deceit was undeceiving for your lovers, who will be wiser now and will do what I wish. Give me your hands: you’re bride and groom. |
Embrace and be silent. Now all four of you laugh; I’ve laughed already and will laugh. FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA My idol, if this is true, with loyalty and with love I’ll repay your heart. I’ll adore you forever. FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO believe you, o my lovely joy; but I don’t want to test it. DESPINA don’t know if I wake or dream, I’m confused, I’m ashamed. At least, if they’ve taken me in, I, too, take in many others. ALL Fortunate is the man who takes everything for the best, and in all events and trials allows himself to be led by reason. What usually makes others weep is, for him, a source of laughter, and in the midst of the world’s whirlwinds he will find a lovely calm. End of the opera |
libretto by William Weaver, 1963 |
Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two |