“Il turco in Italia” by Gioachino Rossini libretto (English)

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two

ACT ONE

Scene One

A solitary spot outside Naples, on the seashore.
A hill on one side scattered with farmhouses in the
distance, and with tents kept by gypsies. On the other
side a part of Don Geronio's house.
(A band of gypsies is on is on the hill, another group on
the plain, all busy with different occupations.)

CHORUS
The whole world is our home;
and others' gullible ignorance
lets us live and revel
in the lap of luxury.

ZAIDA
All of them have happy hearts,
I'm the only wretched one!
I have lost my beloved,
and cannot find him again.

ALBAZAR
Cheer up, just this once;
enjoy yourself with us.

Come...take heart! Now you
must begin a song.
(The poet enters.)

POET
I'm obliged to write a farce,
and I cannot find a subject!
This one is too sentimental,
this other seems to me insipid.

CHORUS
The whole world is our home;
and others' gullible ignorance
let us live and revel
in the lap of luxury.

POET
What's this? Gypsies! By heaven!
Joy! Singing! All together!
What a splendid introduction
could be fashioned out of this!

ALL
The whole world is our home, etc.
(They withdraw, singing.)

POET
Ah! if the arrival of these gypsies
could just cause some incident,
if it could just offer me
enough intrigue for a whole play!
I'd write a good piece, drawn from life.
I must let my thoughts wander
over the fair Fiorilla's caprices:

already poets of every description
have created dramas about
the foolish husband and the crazy wife.
Here's Geronio now, who is addicted
to having his fortune told.
I'll run and prepare the gypsies.
(The poet climbs the hill and points out Geronio to the
gypsies. He enters from the opposite direction.)

GERONIO
I'm hunting for a gypsy
who can tell my fortune:
Who can tell me privately
if - with time and patience -
I'll be able to cure
my wife's mind.
But the gypsy that I want
is impossible to find.
For the brain of my wife
is formed of such material
that even an astrologer
can't tell how it works.
(Meanwhile the gypsies come down with Zaida, and
surround Geronio on the plain.)

CHORUS
Who wants his fortune told?

GERONIO
Here, as a matter of fact,
is a band of gypsies near me.

CHORUS
We can tell your destiny,
we can read the stars:
who wants his fortune told?

GERONIO
Gypsies!

CHORUS
Hold out your hand.

GERONIO
Wait...

CHORUS
Hurry...

GERONIO
Just a moment.

ZAIDA
You were born...

GERONIO
Yes, but what day?

ZAIDA
The sun was in Capricorn.

GERONIO
Am I a bachelor or married?

ZAIDA
Show me your forehead. Married.

GERONIO
When? How can you tell?

ZAIDA
Under the sign of Aries.

ZAIDA and CHORUS
The wretch!

GERONIO
What is it?

ZAIDA and CHORUS
What a fatal trick!

GERONIO
What is it?

ZAIDA and CHORUS
The sign of the Ram!

GERONIO
Hey! get out of my way!
Get out of here!
Ah, my wife, even the gypsies
in the street know who I am;
if you continue with your folly,
the whole world will know.

ZAIDA and CHORUS
(What a fatal constellation!
The Ram!...Ha, ha, ha!)

GERONIO
Hey! get out of my way!
Get out of here.
(They all leave. Fiorilla enters with girl friends, on their
way back from a stroll.)

FIORILLA
There is no greater madness
than to love one alone:
everyday pleasures
bring us boredom, not delight.
The bee, the breeze, the brook
never love just one flower;
with fickle heart and nature
that's how I want to love,
I want to change like that.
There is no greater madness
than to love one alone:
everyday pleasures
bring us boredom, not delight.
(Meanwhile a ship is seen passing by; it puts down a
boat, as it lies at anchor. The small boat approaches
the shore, bringing Selim and with him a suite of
Turks.)

CHORUS
Row, row. On, on to the land.

FIORILLA
A vessel! It looks Turkish.

CHORUS
From the trials we've had at sea
here we can find rest.

FIORILLA
We'll stand a little apart
to observe who lands.
(Fiorillo retires, then the boat lands and Selim disembarks.)

CHORUS
And the sky of Italy
will make us forget all our ills.

SELIM
Beautiful Italy, at last I see you!
I greet you, friendly shores;
the air, earth, flowers, waves -
all laugh and speak to the heart.
Ah! by heaven and earth itself,
lovely Italy, you are loved.
(Fiorilla reveals herself with her friends.)

FIORILLA
What a handsome Turk!
Let's draw nearer.

SELIM
How many lovely damsels!

FIORILLA
Turks, too, don't displease me.

SELIM
And Italian girls are beautiful.

FIORILLA
I want to speak to him.

SELIM
I want to get closer.

FIORILLA and SELIM
And I want to amuse myself.

FIORILLA
Your servant, sir...

SELIM
Your servant...

FIORILLA
(He's quite polite.)

SELIM
(Oh, what a pretty little face!)
I'm really very lucky
to have met such a charming thing.

FIORILLA
Rather, the luck is all mine
to have met a great Lord
so full of civilities.

SELIM
(I'm surprised.)

FIORILLA
(He's already smitten.)

SELIM
(What charm!)

FIORILLA
(He's in my net.)

SELIM
Madam, I like you.

FIORILLA
Don't tease me.

SELIM
Truthfully.

FIORILLA
(With a bit of modesty,
I know well what can be done.)

SELIM
(Her loveable modesty
makes her even sweeter.)

FIORILLA
Good-bye, sir...

SELIM
You're leaving?

FIORILLA
I'm going for a little stroll.

SELIM
Would you care for me to join you?

FIORILLA
It's too great an honour.

SELIM
(What fire!)

FIORILLA
Ah!

SELIM
My dear! you're sighing?

FIORILLA
You are, too.

SELIM
Yes, I, too.

FIORILLA and SELIM
Why?

SELIM
Because an unaccustomed flame
I feel raging within me.
(Fiorilla holds out her hand, which Selim presses
tenderly.)

FIORILLA and SELIM
Dear hand, clasped to my breast;
I don't want ever to let you go.
(It isn't so heard after all
to win over these Turks/women.)
(They leave; enter Don Geronio, Narciso, and the poet.)

GERONIO
Friends...help me, counsel me...
I'm beside myself

NARCISO
Why? Whatever's happened?

POET
What is it?

GERONIO
In this spot I saw
my wife with a Turk.

POET
A Turk!

NARCISO
(The faithless one!)

GERONIO
She's taking him to my house
to have coffee. A curse
on all the Turks in the world.

POET
This is a moment
to do oneself proud.

GERONIO
I do not care
to have in my house
the bejewelled turban
of Selim Damelec.

POET
(leaps for joy)
What! Selim! Really!
The gypsy's lover! By heaven!

This sudden arrival
is a fine unexpected scene...
The play is made.
I thank you, Apollo.

NARCISO
He's mad.

GERONIO
He's mad.

POET
A foolish husband!
A capricious wife!
No: there's nothing better.

GERONIO (angry)
Sir, what joke is this?
Show me some respect, or else
someone will break your head.

POET
A gallant swain replaced
by a handsome Turk in love!
Oh! what a plot this is!

NARCISO (scornful)
Of whom do you think you're speaking?
Don't you start insulting us,
or you'll have to deal with me.

POET (first to one, then the other)
But, sir, why grow so heated?
But sir, who's enflaming you?

I want to choose for my play
the story that I please.

GERONIO
Choose a story, if you will,
that's not suited to those like me
and that doesn't mistreat husbands
who can make themselves respected.

NARCISO
And leave gallant swains alone,
disregard their condition;
or I'll introduce into the play
a poet that is beaten up.

POET
Act One -
the husband and the friend...
Scene One -
Wife...Turk...shouts...husband...
No: this is the best yet.

GERONIO and NARCISO
Act One, Scene One -
the poet, for his plot,
from the husband and the friend
will receive a beating.

Scene Two

Apartment elegantly furnished in the house of Don Geronio.
A sofa, small table, chairs, etc.
(Fiorilla enters, accompanied by Selim. She gives orders
to a servant who is leaving.)

FIORILLA
You there: the coffee, quickly.
Be seated.

SELIM
(sits down)
In this boudoir I admire
the rich furnishing;
but for a beauty as great
as yours a temple is required,
and you'd have a magnificent one
in Turkey.

FIORILLA
Some harem, perhaps?
Is it true that Turkish men
are so jealous?

SELIM
Ah! if they possessed
such a treasure
their jealousy would be excusable;
they would love you
more than you can believe.

FIORILLA
Here is the coffee.

SELIM
(I can't bear it any longer.)

FIORILLA
(pouring, handing him the cup)
Here.

SELIM
(What a dainty hand!)

FIORILLA
Is there enough sugar?

SELIM
(What elegant manners!
What beautiful eyes, and what fire
sparkles in them!)

FIORILLA
What are you thinking of?

SELIM
I'm thinking of Fiorilla.

FIORILLA
(The Turk is caught.)
How many women have you loved,
how many would you want to have?

SELIM
One I loved.
And wanted to love no other.
But when I'm near you, I feel
that I must burn with love again.
Ah! If you will welcome my love

you will be the beloved flame
of my heart.

FIORILLA
You're a Turk; I don't believe you:
you've a hundred women around you:
you buy them and you sell them
when your passion dies.

SELIM
Ah, my dear, even in Turkey
whoever owns a treasure
doesn't change it or leave it;
the Turks, too, are true in love.
(Enter Don Geronio.)

GERONIO
There they are, the two alone!
What do I have to bear?
Allow me? May I come in?
Can I hope for such a favour?

SELIM
What does this foolhardy one want?

FIORILLA
Calm yourself: it's my husband.

SELIM
(leaps up and unsheathes a dagger)
Husband...away...quickly.

GERONIO
What?...alas...
What's happening?

SELIM
Her husband! away...

GERONIO
Help!

FIORILLA
Have pity on him: he's come,
poor thing, to honour you.

SELIM
I don't trust him.

GERONIO
Yes, sir.
(Narciso enters, but stays behind.)

NARCISO
(Heaven, what's this I see? The fickle girl
is already the Turk's beloved.)

FIORILLA
And to ask the favour
of kissing...

GERONIO
Yes, sir.

FIORILLA
Your coat...poor thing...

GERONIO
Your coat, yes sir,
quickly, quickly, quickly here.

(Fiorilla forces her husband to kiss the Turk's coat.)

SELIM
I'm amazed. This astounds me.
These Italian husbands
are far more polite than Turks;
they are full of kindness.

FIORILLA
(Oh, what a scene!) You're right:
(the old fool!) these husbands
(I'm enjoying this) are polite.
They are full of kindness.

NARCISO
Ah, I see that my misfortunes,
unlucky me, are complete.
Just Love, ah, see punished
these wrongs being done to me.

GERONIO
(A curse on him!) He's right
(ah! the cat!) these husbands
(I'm bursting, dying) are polite;
they are full of liberty.

NARCISO
(comes forward and says to Geronio)
What! Can you bear peacefully
such a grave insult?

SELIM
What does this upstart want of you?

GERONIO
Nothing.

FIORILLA
What does he want?

GERONIO
Nothing.

FIORILLA
What does he mean?

SELIM
I don't want him in my presence.

GERONIO
Tact!...Prudence.

NARCISO
Listen.

SELIM
Here.

FIORILLA
Now then, go.

GERONIO
Now I've had enough;
I can stand no more.

SELIM
(says to Fiorilla aside)
I'd like to speak to you;
I'll wait for you on the beach.

(These men are mocking me;
better get out of here.)
(He starts to leave, then returns.)

SELIM
(to Fiorilla, whispering)
But before I leave you
deign at least to show me
an eye that's serene,
a look full of love.
(Those two bores are still
besieging her.)

FIORILLA
(to Selim, whispering)
But before you leave me
deign at least to show me
an eye that's serene,
a look full of love.
(I hope those two bores
eat out their hearts.)

NARCISO
(to Geronio, whispering)
You should show yourself
a bit less weak, at least:
look at me; I'm filled
with blushes for you.
(My soul is torn in shreds
by scorn and by love.)

GERONIO
(to Narciso, whispering)
I can't explain to you
the wrath in my breast:
I'm all venom,
I'm all fury.

(But still fear of the Turk
is calming me down.)
(Selim, Fiorilla, and Narciso leave. Geronio, left alone,
walks up and down. The poet enters.)

GERONIO
(An old man can commit
no greater folly
than to take a young wife.)
Poet, doesn't it seem to you
that I deserve pity?
I surprised her here
being courted by the Turk,
and the great beast
wanted to kill me.

POET
Fine!

GERONIO
What are you saying?
To calm him, she forced me
to kiss his garment.

POET
Oh! what a lovely trio!

GERONIO
And he'd be here still
if Don Narciso hadn't arrived
in time and assumed
the just defence of an outraged husband.

POET
What a scene!
What an invaluable quartet!

GERONIO
But what do you keep talking about?
I don't understand you.

POET
Forgive me: I was outlining
a farcical play.
Now what are you thinking
of saying to your wife?

GERONIO
Oh, if only she were docile
as my first wife was!
I could impose my reasons on her;
but this one is
the other side of the coin.

POET
She's that way because she finds
that you're a straw man.
(The poet leaves.)

GERONIO
The poet is right.
Patience is the jackass's virtue.
I'm the one after all who commands
in my own house. Either that Turk
or my wife has got to go...
(Fiorilla enters.)

FIORILLA
(Geronio's still here!
An unfortunate meeting! I'll be
forced for a quarter of an hour
to listen to moral precepts.)

GERONIO
(Here she is. Seriousness!)

FIORILLA
(Let him preach as he will:
he'll have to be silent after.)

GERONIO
How many bitter pills
I'm made to swallow!

FIORILLA
With whom are you angry?

GERONIO
With a crazy woman,
bizarre and capricious,
who unfortunately
is Don Geronio's wife.

FIORILLA
My complaint about you
is also that you
have changed.

GERONIO
I!

FIORILLA
I'll prove it to you.
You're not as sweet
as I used to find you.

GERONIO (sarcastically)
And to please Madame
I'd like to know what I must do.

FIORILLA
You should always be silent,
and never suspect anything.

GERONIO
But if I listen...

FIORILLA
You must play deaf.

GERONIO
But if I see...

FIORILLA
You must play blind.

GERONIO
No, Madam, I don't agree,
I want to see and speak.

FIORILLA
You'll make a fool of yourself;
you'll be laughing stock.

GERONIO
In brief, in my house
I want no Turks or Italians,
or I'll let fly...

FIORILLA
(sarcastically)
What madness!

GERONIO
Something from my hands...

FIORILLA
(pretending tenderness)
Come, dear, calm yourself!

GERONIO
What! You tease me still?

FIORILLA
No, my life, my treasure,
everyone knows how I adore you.
Cruel one, you wrong me!
You offend me!

GERONIO
(Courage, farewell.)

FIORILLA
You can see how I'm weeping
and have no pity on me.

GERONIO
No, Fiorilla, I love you too.
Just the same. Everyone knows it.

FIORILLA
And you dare to threaten me,
mistreat me, frighten me!

GERONIO
Forgive me...

FIORILLA
Leave me.

GERONIO
Fiorilletta!

FIORILLA
I'll have revenge!

GERONIO
Fiorillina!

FIORILLA
Get out of here.
To punish you I want to have
a thousand lovers always by me,
to act crazy night and day.
Amuse myself at liberty.
(With a husband made like this,
here is what you have to do.)

GERONIO
Ah, I say she was born mad,
and she'll die madder still.
(They leave.)

Scene Three

The seashore, etc. as in the first scene.
(The gypsies are busy with various occupations.)

CHORUS
Great wonders unknown under the sun;
Who wants to hear them? Who wants to see?

ZAIDA
The past and the future -
who wants to penetrate them?
There's no mystery so dark
that I can't unveil it.

CHORUS
Great wonders, etc.
(Selim enters, then the poet.)

SELIM
All is ready for our flight;
the wind is good, the sea is calm;
I'm standing here, impatient,
to wait for my beautiful one.

POET
(Here's Selim! Without recognising him,
Zaida is approaching him.)

ZAIDA
Who wants his fortune told
by the gypsy clairvoyant?

SELIM
Come forward, gypsy girl:
what do the planets say to you?

ZAIDA
Ah that voice!...that countenance!
I haven't the strength to speak.

POET
(Now comes the recognition scene;
and there'll be fainting-fit;
I'll go prepare a chair.)

SELIM
What does my destiny tell you
that's so dire and so hard
so that in your eyes
I see tears about to fall?

ZAIDA
I see, through unwarranted jealousy,
Zaida condemned to death;
yet she loves you, and only longs
to be able to go back to you.

SELIM
Where does the unhappy girl live?
But...I'm not mistaken...lovely Zaida!

ZAIDA
Yes. my lord, I am she.

SELIM
Come to me my beloved.

ZAIDA and SELIM
Here's the end of my sufferings,
my only happiness!

POET
(Here's the chair, yet no fainting;
this is against the regulations.)
(Narciso enters, then Fiorilla, her face covered by a veil,
and finally Geronio.)

NARCISO
Why, if I am betrayed,
cruel Love, inflame my heart?
Give me back my love at last
or give me my liberty.

CHORUS
Long live Love's
vital flame,
the heart's delight,
the world's pleasure.

FIORILLA
Let him who longs not to serve Love
go away from me, for Love's with me:
to dominate a haughty heart
Love gave me his bow and torch.

SELIM
What a lovely song! What an appearance!

GERONIO
Here my wife must come;
I want to do...to say...
If I find her, she'll hear something.

FIORILLA
Fair and loveable stranger!

SELIM
Lovely nymph!

GERONIO
(Who's this approaching?)

NARCISO
(She looks like Fiorilla.)

GERONIO
(It's she; it's she!)

POET
(Here's Geronio and here's the swain.)

SELIM
Ah, reveal your lovely face.

ZAIDA
(We're back where we started;
he's already changed.)

SELIM
Reveal yourself.

FIORILLA
Faithless, worthless!
Is this how you love me? Look.
(She removes the veil, and all who had come to look,
shout.)

ALL
Ah!

FIORILLA, ZAIDA, GERONIO, NARCISO
Ah, my heart did not deceive me;
my wrongs are now all certainties.
I feel myself, beneath her gaze,
torn by my contempt.

SELIM
Ah, my heart did not deceive me;
she was observing my footsteps;
beneath her gaze, I'm so ashamed
that I dare not raise my eyes.

POET
This scene was only lacking
to fill out my verses:
there's surprise for five or six;
a grand finale can be made.

ZAIDA (turns to Fiorilla)
Go away, and take care
not to come after my beloved.

FIORILLA
This gentleman is not yours.
I want to remain here with him.

SELIM
But listen...calm yourselves.

NARCISO
What do you say? You're not speaking?

GERONIO
Home! Go home at once!

ALBAZAR
What is this confusion?

POET
Oh, what an unusual scene!

ZAIDA
We'll see, we'll see...

FIORILLA
Both of us will see.

ZAIDA
Madam, I'm not afraid of you.

FIORILLA
Flirts of your sort...

ZAIDA
Cats of your sort...

FIORILLA and ZAIDA
... I know how to punish well.
(They almost come to blows.)

ZAIDA
What! What! To me! Cat!

FIORILLA
(Oh, good heavens! To me! Flirt!)

ZAIDA
You're the only cat...

FIORILLA
You're the only flirt

FIORILLA and ZAIDA
Silly, foolish, impertinent...
What a way to talk!

SELIM
(separates them)
What are you doing? Hey, calm down!

GERONIO
What contempt...what fury!

NARCISO
Why, Fiorilla, for shame...
Zaida, well! aren't you blushing?
Come, talk politely to each other.
Don't start battling.

POET
Go on...on...excellent girls...
here...there...fine, that's the way...
scuffle, wrestle,
scratch...bite...I'm enjoying it...
What an end... a grand finale!
What a sensation this will make!

ALL THE OTHERS
When the wind starts suddenly puffing,
shakes the woods and strips off the leaves,
when the stormy sea is roaring,
foams, boils, and beats on the shore,
they make less din than two women
when they are rivals in love.

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two