“Otello” by Giuseppe Verdi libretto (English)

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three; Act Four

ACT ONE

The action takes place in Cyprus, at the end of the
fifteenth century. Outside the castle, with the sea-walls
and sea in the background. An inn with a pergola. It is
evening. A thunderstorm is raging.

CYPRIOTS
A sail! A sail!
A standard! A standard!

MONTANO
’Tis the winged Lion of St. Mark!

CASSIO
Now the lightning flash reveals it.

CYPRIOTS
A fanfare! A fanfare!
The cannon has roared.

CASSIO
It is the General’s ship.

MONTANO
Now she is engulfed, anon is tossed skywards.

CASSIO
Her prow rises from the waves.

SOME CYPRIOTS
Veiled by mist and water,
the lightning flash reveals her.

ALL
Flashes! Crashes! Whirlpools! Howling
winds and thunder’s mighty roar!
Air and water shake together,
shaken is the ocean-floor!
(A large group of Cypriot women enters from the back.)
Black-browed and blind, a spirit wild
of chaos cleaves the air.

WOMEN (shrieking)
Ah!

ALL
God shakes the sullen sky about
like sable drapery.

WOMEN
Ah!

ALL
All is smoke! All is fire!
The dense and dreadful fog
bursts into flame, and then subsides
in greater gloom. Convulsed
the cosmos, glacial surges
the spectre-like north-wind,
and titanic trumpet-calls
sound fanfares in the sky!
(turning towards the quay with gestures of fear
and supplication)
God, the splendour of the tempest!
God, the sandbank’s luring smile!
Save the treasure and the standard
of the Venetian enterprise!
Thou, who guidest stars and fortunes,
Thou, who rulest earth and sky,
grant that in a tranquil ocean
may the trusty anchor lie.

IAGO
The mainmast’s broken off!

RODERIGO
Her prow is dashing on that rock!

ONLOOKERS
O help! O help!

IAGO (to Roderigo)
May the ocean’s seething belly be his tomb!

ONLOOKERS
Safe! He’s safe!

SAILORS (from on board the ship)
Lower the tenders!
All hands to the ropes! Steady!
Pull on the oars! To shore!
(distant thunder)
To the quayside! To the landing!

ONLOOKERS
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
(Othello enters, ascending the steps from theshore to
the ramparts followed by a number of soldiers and sailors.)

OTHELLO
Rejoice! The Muslim pride
is buried in the deep.
Ours and heaven’s is the glory.
After our arms the storm has conquered it.

ONLOOKERS
Hurrah for Othello! Hurrah!
Hurrah! Hurrah! Victory! Victory!
(Othello enters the castle followed by Cassio,
Montano and the soldiers.)
Victory! Victory!
Destruction! Destruction!
Dispersed, destroyed, engulfed they
plummetted into the raging deep!
Victory! Victory!
Victory! Victory!
Destruction! Destruction! etc.
Their requiem shall be the sharp scourge of
the spray, the swirl of the whirlwind,
the scend of the sea.
Victory! Victory!
Dispersed, destroyed, etc.
Hurrah!
(Distant thunder. The storm is passing away.)
Spent is the tempest’s fury.

IAGO (aside to Roderigo)
Well, Roderigo, what think you?

RODERIGO
Of drowning myself.

IAGO
Only an idiot drowns himself for love of a woman.
(While the ship is being unloaded and weapons and
baggage are being carried from her into the castle,
some citizens emerge from behind the fortress carrying
branches to make a bonfire which, by the light of
torches held by the soldiers, they construct to one side
of the ramparts. The crowd gathers around, excited and curious.)

RODERIGO
How to win I know not.

IAGO
Come, keep your wits about you,
await the ministry of time;

the beautiful Desdemona,
who in your secret dreams you so adore,
will soon begin to abhor the murky kisses
of that thick-lipped savage.
Good Roderigo, your friend sincere
I have professed myself, and I could never
do more for you than in your present need.
If the frail vow of a woman
be not too hard a knot for my wits
and all the tribe of hell to untie,
I promise that the woman shall be yours.
Listen, though I make show of loving him,
I hate the Moor.
(Cassio enters and joins a group of soldiers.)
Here comes one reason for my hatred, look.
(pointing to Cassio)
That curled captain
usurps my place, the place that I
by a hundred well-fought battles
have richly earned;
such was Othello’s will,
and I remain his Moorish Lordship’s
ancient!
(Puffs of smoke begin to rise from the wood with
increasing density.)
But just as sure as you are Roderigo,
so sure it is, that if I were the Moor
I should not want an Iago about me.
If you heed my counsel...
(Still talking, Iago leads Roderigo further away. Flames
begin to leap up from the fire, and the Cypriots gather
round it, singing. Meanwhile, the tavern servants
decorate the pergola with lanterns. Soldiers gather
round the tables, drinking and talking.)

CYPRIOTS
Fire of rejoicing! The jovial flame
by its glow compels night to depart.
It leaps and sparkles, crackles and flares,
bright radiance invading the heart!
Drawn by the firelight, shadowy faces
flit in ever-mutating rings,
now like maidens singing sweetly,
now like moths with flamy wings.
Palm and sycamore burn together,
the bride sings with her own true love,

on golden flame and happy chorus
blow ardent zephyrs from above, etc.
The fire of rejoicing flames but a moment!
Gone in a moment are passion’s fires!
Glowing, fading, throbbing, wavering,
the last flicker leaps and expires.
The fire of rejoicing flames but a moment!
Glowing, fading, throbbing, wavering,
the last flicker leaps and expires.
Fire of rejoicing, etc.
(The fire dies down gradually: the storm has ceased
completely.)
... leaps and expires!
(Iago, Roderigo, Cassio and a group of soldiers are
gathered around a table on which wine has been
placed.)

IAGO
Roderigo, let’s drink !
(to Cassio)
Give me your cup, Captain!

CASSIO
I’ll drink no more.

IAGO (raising the jug towards Cassio’s cup)
Swallow this mouthful.

CASSIO (removing his cup)
No.

IAGO
But look! All Cyprus has gone mad today!
This is a night of rejoicing, so...

CASSIO
Enough. My head’s on fire already
after drinking one cup.

IAGO
Come, you must drink again.
To the marriage of Othello and Desdemona!

CYPRIOTS
Hurrah!

CASSIO (raising his glass and sipping the wine)
She makes this isle the fairer!

IAGO (aside to Roderigo)
Listen to him.

CASSIO
With her charm and radiance
she conquers every heart.

RODERIGO
Yet she is so modest.

CASSIO
You, Iago, will sing her praises,...

IAGO (aside to Roderigo)
Listen to him.
(aloud to Cassio)
I am but a critic.

CASSIO
... yet she paragons description.

IAGO (aside to Roderigo)
Beware of this Cassio.

RODERIGO
What do you fear?

IAGO (to Roderigo)
He prattles with too much enthusiasm,
spurred on by vigorous youth,
and is a subtle knave who’ll prove
a hindrance to you. Take care...

RODERIGO
And so?

IAGO
If he should get drunk he is lost!
Make him drink.
(to the tavern servants)
Some wine here, lads!
(Iago fills three glasses: one for himself, one
for Roderigo, one for Cassio. The servants
circulate among the guests with jugs of wine;
the crowd draws closer and looks on with curiosity.)
(with glass in hand, to Cassio)
Come wet your whistle! Drink deep, gulp it down
before song and glass both disappear!

CASSIO (with glass in hand, to Iago)
This true manna of the vine
with charming visions clouds the mind.

IAGO (to everyone)
Who has ever succumbed to the Bacchic ode
strange and fantastic,
come, drink with me, drink with me,
drink, drink, etc.
... come, drink with me!

RODERIGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS
Who has ever succumbed, etc.
he drinks with you,...

IAGO
Drink, drink...

RODERIGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS
... drinks with you...

IAGO
... drink, drink...

RODERIGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS
... drinks with you...
... drinks...

IAGO
... drink!

RODERIGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS
... drinks, drinks, drinks with you!

IAGO (to Roderigo, indicating Cassio)
One more sip and he’s tight as a drum.

RODERIGO (to Iago)
One more sip and he’s tight as a drum.

IAGO (to all)
When I get drunk the world vibrates!
I challenge the ironic Deity and fate!

CASSIO (drinking some more wine)
Like a melodious lute I quiver;
pleasure cavorts around my path!

IAGO
Who has ever succumbed, etc.

RODERIGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS, THEN IAGO
Who has ever succumbed, etc.

IAGO (to Roderigo)
One more sip and he’s tight as a drum.

RODERIGO (to Iago)
One more sip and he’s tight as a drum.

IAGO (out loud, to all)
From the potent flagon cowards fly...

CASSIO (interrupting)
I’m not afraid to bare my soul! ...
(drinks)

IAGO (interrupting)
... who have evil thoughts to hide.

CASSIO
I fear not, I fear not the truth ...
(staggering)

IAGO
Who has ever suc...
... to the Bacchic...
Drink with me, drink with me.

CASSIO
... I fear not the truth, etc.
... I fear not the truth, and I drink,
and I drink and I drink, and...

IAGO
Ah! Drink with me!

SOME BYSTANDERS (laughing)
Aha, aha, etc.
... aha, aha, etc.

CASSIO
The cup...

IAGO (to Roderigo)
He’s drunk as a lord...
... Away, provoke him
to an argument; he’s full of quarrel,
will strike you, general uproar will ensue!
Think, that by doing thus you can disturb
the happy Othello’s first night of love.

CASSIO
The brim... of the cup...
(his voice thickening even more)
The brim... of the cup... the brim...
(The others are laughing at him.)

RODERIGO (aside, replying to Iago)
And ’tis that that spurs me on.

CASSIO
... is pur... pur...
purple-stained ...

RODERIGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS
Ah, aha, aha, aha!
Drink, drink with me, etc.

IAGO
Drink, drink!

RODERIGO, IAGO, CYPRIOTS, SOLDIERS
Drink, drink, drink with me!

CASSIO
I drink drink, drink with you!
(They all drink.)

MONTANO (coming from the castle, to Cassio)
Captain, the watch awaits you on the platform.

CASSIO (staggering)
Let’s go then!

MONTANO
What’s this I see?

IAGO (to Montano, approaching him closely)
Every night in like manner
does Cassio prelude sleep.

MONTANO
Othello shall know about it!

CASSIO
Let’s go the the platform.

RODERIGO (laughing)
Ah! ah!...
... Ah! ah!

MEN
Ah! ah!

CASSIO
Who laughs?

RODERIGO (provoking him)
I laugh at a drunkard!

CASSIO
Defend yourself!
(flinging himself at Roderigo)
Scoundrel!

RODERIGO (defending himself)
Drunken rogue!

CASSIO
Knave! No one can save you now!

MONTANO
(separating them by force and turning to Cassio)
Hold your hand, sir, I pray you.

CASSIO (to Montano)
I’ll crack your head in two
if you seek to interfere!

MONTANO
Words of a drunkard...

CASSIO
A drunkard?
(He draws his sword. Montano draws his too.
A furious fight ensues. The crowd draws back.)

IAGO (aside to Roderigo)
Go to the port; with all the strength you have
cry out: Revolt! Revolt!
Go! Spread tumult, horror through the town,
let the bell sound the alarm!
(Roderigo runs off. Iago quickly turns to the
two combatants.)
Gentlemen, cease this barbarous brawl!

WOMEN (fleeing)
Let’s away!

IAGO
Heavens! Montano’s bleeding fast!
What a furious fight!

WOMEN
Let’s away! Let’s away!

IAGO
Hold!...

MEN
Hold!...

IAGO
Hold!

MEN
Hold!

WOMEN
They’re killing each other!

MEN
Peace!

IAGO
No one can stop this brawling now!
(to the bystanders)
Cry the alarm!
They are possessed by Satan!

MEN
To arms! To arms!

WOMEN, then ALL
Help! Help! etc.

MEN
To arms! To arms!

WOMEN, THEN ALL
Help! etc.
(Meanwhile the tocsin is pealing; the fight continues
and the women flee. Othello enters followed by
torchbearers. The bell falls silent.)

OTHELLO
Down with your weapons!
(The combatants stop fighting.)
How now! What is the matter here?
Am I among Saracens?
Or has the Ottomites’ rage infected you
with homicidal fury towards each other?

Honest Iago, for that love
you bear me, speak.

IAGO
I do not know...
Here all were courteous friends but now,
and cheerful too ... and then quite suddenly,
as if an evil planet had appeared
and cast a spell of witchcraft on men’s minds,
swords out and tilting furiously at each other.
Would I had severed these feet
before they brought me here!

OTHELLO
How comes it, Cassio, you are thus forgot?

CASSIO
Your mercy... pardon me...
I cannot speak...

OTHELLO
Montano...

MONTANO (supported by a soldier)
I am wounded...

OTHELLO
Wounded! Now by heaven
my blood begins to boil! Ah! Anger
puts to flight our guardian angel!
(Desdemona enters. Othello quickly goes to her.)
What? My gentle Desdemona too
has had her dreams disturbed on your
account? Cassio, you have lost your captaincy.
(Cassio lets his sword fall and Iago picks it up.)

IAGO
(handing the sword to one of the soldiers and speaking
aside)
Oh! What a triumph for me!

OTHELLO
Iago, go about the frightened town
with this patrol, restore the shattered peace.
(Iago leaves.)
Someone help Montano.
(Montano is helped into the castle.)
Let every one return to his own house.
(with an imperious gesture)

I shall not leave this place
until I see the battlements deserted.
(All depart. Othello makes a sign to the
torchbearers who accompanied him to return to
the castle. He and Desdemona remain alone.)

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!

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.

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
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 slavery’s 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!

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

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

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

OTHELLO
And you loved me...

DESDEMONA
And you loved me...

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

DESDEMONA
... that I did pity them.

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
May heaven dispel all cares
and love change not throughout the changing years.

OTHELLO
To that prayer of yours
may all the heavenly host reply ‘‘amen’’!

DESDEMONA
‘‘Amen’’ be the reply!

OTHELLO
(leaning against the parapet)
Ah! Joy floods my breast so piercingly
that I must lay me down and pant for breath...
A kiss...

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... Venus is radiant!

DESDEMONA
Othello!
(Clasped in each other’s arms they go towards the castle.)

libretto by Avril Bardoni

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three; Act Four