Emilia di Liverpool - The Classical Shop

DONIZETTI
Emilia di Liverpool
ORC 8
in association with
Box cover: Ruins of the Abbey of Heisterbach Rhineland by Wilhelm Steuerwaldt,
(akg-images/Erich Lessing)
Booklet cover: Yvonne Kenny as Emilia (photograph by Don Chesser)
Opposite and CD faces: Donizetti in 1827
CD inlays: images taken from a collection of early
19th-century Milanese theatrical designs
–1–
Gaetano Donizetti
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
Dramma semiserio in two acts, first performed in1824
Librettist unknown
Emilia.......................................................................................Yvonne Kenny
Candida.......................................................................................Anne Mason
Luigia.......................................................................................Bronwen Mills
Don Romualdo.....................................................................Sesto Bruscantini
Claudio di Liverpool..............................................................Geoffrey Dolton
Federico......................................................................................Chris Merritt
Count..............................................................Christopher Thornton-Holmes
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Chorus of villagers
Gareth Morrell, Chorus Master
Philharmonia Orchestra
Peter Thomas, leader
David Parry, conductor
–2–
Gaetano Donizetti
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
Dramma semiserio in two acts, first performed in 1828
Libretto by Giuseppe Checcherini
Claudio di Liverpool..............................................................Geoffrey Dolton
Emilia.......................................................................................Yvonne Kenny
Colonel Villars, alias Tomson......................................................Chris Merritt
Count Asdrubale..................................................................Sesto Bruscantini
Bettina.....................................................................................Bronwen Mills
Candida.......................................................................................Anne Mason
Giacomo.........................................................Christopher Thornton-Holmes
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Chorus of mountaineers
Gareth Morrell, Chorus Master
Philharmonia Orchestra
Peter Thomas, leader
David Parry, conductor
–3–
Managing Director: Stephen Revell
Producer: Patric Schmid
Répétiteur and Assistant conductor: Rosemary Barnes
Italian coach: Gabriella Bullock
Article, synopsis and libretto: Jeremy Commons
English libretto: Peter Moores
Consultant musicologist: Robert Roberts
Recording Engineer: Robert Auger
Recorded at Conway Hall, London
November, December 1986
Session photographs: reproduced by Russell Duncan
19th Century prints: pages 11, 26, 52: Opera Rara Archive
photographs: pages 20, 22: Opera Rara Archive
playbills: pages 21, 23: Opera Rara Archive
libretti covers: pages 27, 103, 202: Opera Rara Archive
–4–
CONTENTS
Emilia di Liverpool by Jeremy Commons..............................................Page 12
Synopsis..............................................................................................Page 65
Résumé de l’intrigue............................................................................Page 74
Die Handlung.....................................................................................Page 84
La Trama.............................................................................................Page 94
Libretto: Emilia di Liverpool...............................................................Page 104
Libretto: L’Eremitaggio di Liwerpool....................................................Page 203
–5–
CD 1
72’00
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
Dur
Page
2’14
4’59
3’14
2’14
2’32
1’55
0’42
105
105
107
107
109
114
114
2’12
2’12
3’08
1’17
2’34
3’55
116
117
123
124
124
126
1’15
1’51
2’28
1’46
2’08
134
135
136
146
147
ACT I
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
Preludio
Attendiam tranquilli (Coro)
Ecco miratela (Candida)
Madre! deh placati! (Aria – Emilia)
Ah! di contento
Storm
Fate coraggio (Federico)
A n’ommo
(Duet – Federico/Don Romualdo)
Zompa… va lesto…
In dura schiavitù (Aria – Claudio)
Claudio sventurato
D’una tradita madre
S’è ver, che sei pentita
Che sia desso
(Duet – Emilia/Don Romualdo)
Dite in grazia
Ah! (Vi che muorzo)
Giusto Ciel! chi vedo! (Quintet)
Va! t’invola! la mia pace
–6–
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
Tu addonca si chillo
Già s’oscura la mia mente
Comme! comme! nnammorata!
(Duet – Don Romualdo/Count)
Se in tal smania
Delle mie pene, o stelle
(Duet – Emilia/Claudio)
Vive il padre?
Deh! ti consoli, o figlia
Oh come in un baleno
Pensace buono Don Romuà (Finale Primo)
Deh! correte, mio signore
Quanto è terribile
–7–
Dur
1’26
2’11
Page
148
151
3’25
1’22
156
158
2’54
4’52
3’13
2’39
2’42
2’11
2’14
159
161
162
163
163
164
166
CD 2
73’03
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
ACT II
[1]
[2]
Dur
2’20
Page
167
2’51
1’38
173
176
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
E partito? (Villagers)
Ca tu me ngutte
(Duet – Count/Don Romualdo)
Puozze mori de subeto
Essa è lì
(Trio – Federico/Don Romualdo/Emilia)
Quai strida?
Mmalora!
Introduction to duet
E a che t’arresti? (Duet – Federico/Claudio)
Nel campo del valore
Per te son misero
Discenda fausto imene (Finale Secondo)
3’06
1’27
2’43
1’48
2’34
4’39
3’24
2’49
182
184
186
191
191
193
194
200
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
ACT I
Preludio
2’14
Fosca nube (Coro)
1’23
Storm
2’01
N’è? E passata (Asdrubale)
1’53
204
204
205
205
[3]
[4]
–8–
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
Cara, serena i rai
Mannaggia lo viaggio
In dura schiavitù (Claudio)
Claudio sventurato
D’una tradita madre
S’è ver, che sei pentita
Ecco miratela (Candida)
Madre! deh placati! (Aria – Emilia)
Ah! di contento
Che sia d’esso! (Duet – Emilia/Asdrubale)
Dite in grazia
Vi che muorzo
Ah, qual mistero (Tomson)
Ma parle e dince
Ma tremi (Claudio)
Dur
1’55
1’58
3’09
1’17
2’34
3’55
3’15
2’14
2’35
1’15
1’41
2’37
2’26
2’43
2’25
CD 3
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
Page
205
207
211
211
212
212
217
217
219
223
224
226
231
233
234
54’06
Giusto Ciel! chi vedo! (Finale Primo)
Va t’invola! la mia pace
Dell’indegno il turbamento
Venite, signore
Venite! Tremate!
–9–
1’46
1’30
3’16
1’03
2’54
239
241
241
242
244
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
ACT II
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
E partito?
Delle mie pene, o stelle
(Duet – Emilia/Claudio)
Vive il padre?
Deh! ti consoli, o figlia
Oh come in un baleno
Introduction to duet
E a che t’arresti (Duet – Claudio/Federico)
Nel campo del valore
Per te son misero
Confusa è l’alma mia
(Rondo Finale – Emilia)
Padre... consorte
Non intende il mio contento
Appendix: Che mai dite?
(Duet – Emilia/Candida)
Eppur dal grembo d’irato nembo
–10–
Dur
2’21
Page
245
2’53
4’53
3’13
2’16
1’49
2’34
4’39
3’23
253
255
257
258
267
267
268
270
3’01
1’05
4’43
274
274
275
4’04
2’31
276
276
TERESA MELAS
Emilia in the first
performance at the
Teatro Nuovo, Naples, 1824
DONIZETTI AND THE TWO EMILIAS
In July 1959, Jeremy Commons published an article on Emilia di
Liverpool in the journal Music and Letters. This article, one of the
seminal documents in the revival of interest in the operas of Donizetti, was
gradually overtaken by more recent discoveries, but, invited in 1986 to
introduce this present recording of both versions of Emilia di Liverpool,
Jeremy Commons agreed to rewrite it, bringing it into line with more
recent knowledge.
DONIZETTI’S TWELFTH staged opera, written in 1824 when he was 26
years old, went by the unlikely name of Emilia di Liverpool. From his letters
we know that Emilia di Liverpool went into rehearsal at the Teatro Nuovo in
Naples on 10 July. It received its first performance two-and-a-half weeks later,
on 28 July.
The Teatro Nuovo, irregular of shape and one of the smallest of Neapolitan
theatres, stood wedged between other buildings in an alleyway on the northern
side of the Via Toledo. Restricted by official decree to the production of comic
and semi-serious operas, it was very much a popular theatre, specialising in
operas in which musical items alternated with spoken dialogue. Since a
perennial feature of the company was the presence of a comic bass who spoke
and sang in Neapolitan dialect, every opera had to contain one such role. The
works that resulted, tailor-made both to the strengths of the company and to
the tastes of the audience, were operas of a distinctly local appeal, and tended
not to circulate to other parts of Italy.
–12–
Many of their composers, too, enjoyed only local reputations. Giacomo
Cordella, Mario Aspa, Nicola Gabrielli, Giovanni Moretti, Dionigi PaglianiGagliardi, Fortunato Rajentroph…they are names that were little-enough
known outside Naples even in their own day, let alone ours. As composers,
moreover, they tended to be typecast: they were restricted to comic and semiserious operas, rarely if ever tackling opera seria. They wrote for the Teatro
Nuovo and, if they were considered good enough, for the smaller of the two
royal or court theatres, the Teatro del Fondo. The larger of the royal theatres,
the Teatro San Carlo, the home of serious opera, remained beyond their reach.
If a career at the Teatro Nuovo was thus something of a dead end, or an end
in itself, the theatre was, nevertheless, a convenient arena for young composers
coming to Naples from other parts of Italy, since its doors tended to open
more readily than those of the royal theatres. Donizetti’s first Neapolitan
opera, La zingara, was given there in 1822, and though his second, La lettera
anonima, was performed at the Teatro del Fondo (also in 1822), he continued
to write for the smaller popular theatre for a number of years. Il fortunato
inganno (1823), Emilia di Liverpool (1824), Otto mesi in due ore (1827) and Le
convenienze teatrali (1827) all received their first performances there. In 1827,
as part of his contract with Domenico Barbaja to write for all three operatic
theatres of Naples, he even became for a time musical director of the theatre.
And then, suddenly, apart from the exceptional Il campanello and Betly (both
1836), we find that his association with the Teatro Nuovo has ended, and that
he has graduated entirely to the larger royal theatres.
At the beginning of 1824 Donizetti was in Rome, supervising the first,
immensely successful production of L’ajo nell’imbarazzo at the Teatro Valle.
–13–
Returning to Naples, he signed a contract with Francesco Tortoli, impresario
of the Teatro Nuovo, both to adapt L’ajo nell’imbarazzo for Neapolitan
performance (composing several new numbers, and recasting the part of Don
Gregorio in Neapolitan dialect), and also to compose a new opera. It was this
new opera that became Emilia di Liverpool, described in the libretto as a
‘dramma semi-serio per musica’. The cast that created it on 28 July was as
follows:
Emilia
Candida
Luigia
Don Romualdo
Claudio di Liverpool
Federico
Il Conte
Un villano
Teresina Melas
Francesca Checcherini
Signora Grossi1
Carlo Casaccia
Giuseppe Fioravanti
Domenico Zilioli
Signor de Nicola
Giuseppe Papi
Despite a number of well-known names here – in particular Carlo Casaccia
and Giuseppe Fioravanti, the son of the composer Valentino Fioravanti – the
piece was not greatly applauded. John Black2 records that it received seven
______________________________________
1
There were two singers of this name, Marianna and Clementina. Since they were both
singing at the Teatro Nuovo at exactly the same time, it is impossible to be certain
which this was. Herbert Weinstock, Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris and
Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century (1964), p.318, opts for Clementina,
but, I suspect, without any authority.
2
John Black, Donizetti’s Operas in Naples 1822-1848 (1982), p.18.
–14–
known performances and possibly more – the records of the Superintendency
of Theatres and Spectacles are defective at this point – but it certainly did not
catch the popular imagination as La zingara had done earlier, or as L’ajo
nell’imbarazzo was soon to do. A review that appeared on 31 July in the
Neapolitan journal Rivista Teatrale e Giornale di Mode began by relating the
plot, but broke off with the remark: ‘Ah! how terrible is the task of a poor devil
condemned to the torture of having to give an account of this kind of
silliness!!’ After trying to carry on, and persevering for several more lines, the
critic again renounced his task: ‘Signori miei, let him continue who can: I do
not trust myself further – And are you going to tell us nothing of the music?
– The music is like the libretto – And the performance? – For pity’s sake let
me draw breath a little. We’ll talk about it another time.’ The only other time
on which this critic referred to Emilia was on 20 October when, reviewing
another opera, Cordella’s Il frenetico per amore, he tells us: ‘The whimpering
Frenetico per amore has already suffered the same fate, as we predicted, as the
whimpering Emilia di Liverpool…’
There is evidence, however, that this fate may not have been quite as
ignominious as such dismissive remarks suggest. The Giornale del Regno delle
Due Sicilie of 9 August 1824 took the libretto severely to task, but referred
approvingly to ‘the pretty music’. And a report from Naples, published in
August 1824 in the English musical periodical The Harmonicon, confirms the
initial cool reception, but suggests that some improvement took place
thereafter:
–15–
A new opera was produced here from the pen of Donizetti, entitled
Emilia, which was but coldly received in the first representation, but
afterwards became rather a favourite.
The librettist of this original version is unknown. He is not named in the
libretto, and on the title-page of Donizetti’s manuscript – admittedly a titlepage written later when the manuscript was bound – it is specifically stated:
‘Poesia Anonimo / Musica di Donizetti’.
Since the opera clearly did not hold the stage with any tenacity, it comes as
rather a surprise that on 18 August 1824, only one month after the first
performance, Donizetti should have written to Mercadante, who was then in
Vienna:
Here is an occasion when you must extend me the greatest
friendship. My Emilia will be given in Vienna. In the second act there
are some new pieces because the old ones were of less effect than these:
I recommend them to you, therefore, but not only those – I
recommend the whole opera to you. You know my manner of writing,
and you know well where on occasions some alteration of tempo is
needed. Do attend to it, then, for I trust you in all things. The part of
Lablache, as Fioravanti did it, will, I know, be a little uncomfortable for
him; I have adjusted some points, but for the most part the author is
the worst person for these things because he lives with his first ideas:
between the two of you you can adjust everything.
–16–
Unhappily Donizetti’s hopes that Emilia di Liverpool might be produced in
Vienna – it would have been his first work to be staged there – appear to have
come to nothing. No production is listed in the standard histories of opera in
Vienna; a search of Viennese newspapers of the period has failed to reveal any
mention of it; and no items from the score were ever published there.
Nonetheless, this letter to Mercadante remains of interest, both for what it
tells us of Donizetti’s attitude towards his own music, and also for the evidence
it gives us that already – within a month of the first performance – he was
revising Emilia.
This was a task that finally came to fruition four years later, in 1828, for in
Lent of that year there was produced at the Teatro Nuovo: ‘L’Eremitaggio di
Liwerpool3. Melo-dramma semi-serio in due atti…poesia del Signore Giuseppe
Checcherini… Musica del Maestro Signor Gaetano Donizetti’. The cast on
this occasion was as follows:
Claudio di Liwerpool
Emilia
Il Colonnello Villars, sotto
nome di Tomson
Il Conte Asdrubale
Giuseppe Fioravanti
Annetta Fischer
Signor Manzi
Gennaro Luzio
_______________________________________
3
It should be noted that, according to the libretti, the two versions bear different titles
and are therefore quite distinct: the 1824 version is Emilia di Liverpool, the revision of
1828 L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool. The distinction was, understandably, short-lived.
Donizetti himself, as soon will be mentioned, referred to the second version as Emilia
di Liverpool, and more recent writers have conflated the two titles and spoken of
Emilia, o l’Eremitaggio di Liverpool.
–17–
Bettina
Marianna Checcherini
Candida
Francesca Checcherini
Giacomo
Signor Muraglia
It will be seen that the two lists of characters, for 1824 and 1828, do not
exactly correspond, and upon examination of the libretti it becomes clear that
now, in 1828, we are dealing with a substantially different work. The libretto
has been almost completely rewritten, the list of characters has been slightly
but significantly changed, and there are important modifications in the music.
L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool is, in fact, a complete and thorough reworking of the
whole opera.
Yet its success does not appear to have been any greater than that of the
original version. Still calling it Emilia di Liverpool, Donizetti mentions it in a
letter of 2 February 1828, written before the production took place, as one in
a long list of operas which were due for performance in Naples that year; but
his extant letters make no further reference to either its success or its failure.
On this occasion it received only six performances – even fewer than in 1824.
The remaining stage-history of the opera is soon told. In 1838 it was revived
at the Teatro Nuovo and received three performances: strange to say, it was the
first version that was revived, not the second4. William Ashbrook5 adds that it
was again given at the Teatro Nuovo-Nazionale in 1871, but does not indicate
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
4
This is clear from the cast-list printed in the Programma Giornaliero, 4 December
1838, when the cast was as follows: Emilia-Marietta Riva, Candida-Francesca
Checcherini, Luigi-Amalia Tucci, Don Romualdo-Raffaele Mancini, ClaudioGiuseppe Fioravanti, Federico-Signor Teperino, Conte-Signor de Nicola. Fioravanti,
De Nicola and Francesca Checcherini all retained their original roles.
5
William Ashbrook, Donizetti, (London, 1965) p.75
–18–
in which version. It appears to have been performed outside Naples only once.
Assunta Brannetti lists it as one of four operas given at the Teatro del Genio,
Viterbo, in the autumn season of 1826 with Giuditta Nencini as Emilia6. Even
the publication of the vocal score by the Parisian house of Schonenberger does
not seem to have stimulated any interest in the work.
There were two revivals in 1957. The first of these was a milestone in our
renewed appreciation of Donizetti. On 12 June 1957, to coincide with
celebrations to mark the 750th anniversary of the granting of a charter to the
city of Liverpool, the Liverpool Music Group gave a concert performance of
Emilia di Liverpool (or, as it should more properly have been called, since it was
the 1828 version that was given, L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool). The performance
was conducted by Fritz Spiegl, and Emilia was sung by Doreen Murray.
Three months later, on 8 September 1957, a shortened version of this
production was broadcast by the BBC, but now with John Pritchard
conducting entirely different singers7 and the role of Emilia being taken by the
young Joan Sutherland. It is this shortened BBC broadcast which has since
been widely distributed around the world on private record.
It must also be added that Joan Sutherland recorded, with piano
accompaniment, Emilia’s rondo finale, ‘Confusa è l’alma mia’, on her first
recording, a 45rpm disc which has long since become a highly prized
collector’s item.
__________________________________
6
Assunta Brannetti, Teatri di Viterbo (1980) p.76.
7
In this broadcast and the Liverpool concert performance, the small part of Giacomo,
the steward of the Hermitage, was sung, following a misprint in the Schonenberger
score, by the same singer who took the part of Count Asdrubale.
–19–
Doreen Murray,
Emilia
in the 1957 revival
Detail from the 1957 programme for the concert performance of
Emilia di Liverpool, conducted by Fritz Spiegl in Liverpool.
Joan Sutherland,
the BBC’s Emilia,
broadcast in
September 1957
A second revival, or rather the first revival of the original 1824 version, was
given, again in Liverpool, on 7 June 1987, with Evelyn Nicholson as Emilia.
This included the first performance of a previously unheard duet for Emilia
and Candida. In both the 1957 and 1987 revivals the spoken dialogue was
replaced by a narration.
* * * * * * * *
Where did the story of Emilia di Liverpool come from? It is in answering this
question that modern scholarship has made most noteworthy progress,
although it must be acknowledged that at least one surprising gap in our
knowledge still persists. At the time I wrote my original article on Emilia di
Liverpool in 1959, the most important single discovery I had to offer was the
identification of the play on which the opera was based. All the standard textbooks on Donizetti previous to that date were silent on the subject, and the
programme of the 1957 Liverpool revival seemed to assume that the plot was
the original invention of Giuseppe Checcherini. But first of all in the
Neapolitan Programma Gionaliero for 3 November 18388 I had come across
the announcement of a performance of ‘Emilia di Liverpool, drama in 5 atti del
sig. Scatizzi’ at the most important of the Neapolitan theatres then devoted to
spoken drama, the Teatro dei Fiorentini; and then, far more important, I had
found a copy of the text itself, published under the title of Emilia di Laverpaut,
in the Biblioteca Livia Simoni, attached to the Museum of La Scala, Milan.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
8
In 1838, of course, it was no longer a new play. Records of other performances soon
followed, going back to 1820, and there could well have been others even earlier than
this.
–24–
In his first book on Donizetti, published in 1965, William Ashbrook
advanced our knowledge yet a stage further by pointing out that Donizetti was
not the first composer to write an opera on this subject. On 5 July 1817,
Emilia di Laverpaut, a melodramma composed by Vittorio Trento to an
anonymous libretto ‘Tratto dal Dramma dello stesso titolo’ had been produced
at the Teatro dei Fiorentini, which at that earlier time was still presenting
operas in Naples. The cast of the work was as follows:
Emilia
Candida
Luigia
D. Romualdo
Claudio di Laverpaut
Federico
Il Conte
Giacinta Canonici
Francesca Checcherini
Signora Manzi minore9
Carlo Casaccia
Raniero Remorini
Giovanni Battista Rubini
Filippo Senesi
As William Ashbrook correctly surmised, the anonymous libretto which
Donizetti set in 1824 had close connections with that set by Trento.
The next revelation concerning the source of the story came at the Primo
Convegno Internazionale di Studi Donizettiani, held in Bergamo in
September 1975. There, Franca Cella, in the catalogue of Donizetti’s operas
and their sources which she appended to her paper, ‘Il Donizettismo nei
libretti donizettiani’, gave the ultimate literary source as a play by August von
Kotzebue entitled Emilia, o La benedizione paterna, adding that there had been
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
9
There were two singers by the name of Manzi, Maria and Raffaela. Just which was
known as ‘Signora Manzi minore’ it has not been possible to determine.
–25–
GIACINTA
CANONICI
Emilia in Vittorio
Trento’s 1817
production of Emilia
di Laverpaut, at the
Teatro dei Fiorentini,
Naples
Cover of the original
libretto of
Vittorio Trento’s
1817 opera
Emilia di Laverpaut
several translations with variants, into Italian. The most widely known of these
was not that by Stefano Scatizzi, but one by Bartolomeo Benincasa10. But
although Benincasa’s text plainly states (as Scatizzi’s does not) that it is a
translation of a Kotzebue drama, the quite extraordinary lacuna in this history
of literary ancestry is that no one yet seems to have succeeded in laying hands
on Kotzebue’s German original. We have Italian translations, but not, as yet,
the text from which they were translated. And until this original has been
found and read, our research cannot be said to be complete: many questions
inevitably remain unanswered.
The title, for example – should it read ‘Liverpool’ (as in Donizetti) or
‘Laverpaut’ (as in Benincasa, Scatizzi and Trento)? Is there any such place as
Laverpaut? Or is it a fictitious name? Or can it be a mistake (a very
extraordinary mistake, surely?) for Liverpool? Access to Kotzebue’s original
German text might or might not resolve these questions, but certainly until we
have seen that text we are unable to supply any satisfactory answers. There is
no conclusive evidence to be gleaned from either Benincasa or Scatizzi that
they actually visualised the play as taking place specifically in the vicinity of
Liverpool, or even, more generally, in England. The action is set in a hermitage
(‘un ritiro’) built on a small hill 15 miles from a city. That is all we are told.
Nor are any of the names of the characters unmistakably English: the only one
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
10
Benincasa’s text, published in the Teatro del Signor Augusto di Kotzebue (Venice,
1827), is not quite as full and as detailed as Scatizzi’s. Interestingly, these are not
independent translations; they contain passages that are identical. Either Scatizzi knew
and amplified Benincasa, or Benincasa knew and abbreviated Scatizzi.
–28–
that can be identified with reasonable certainty is Willers (Donizetti’s Villars),
who is a foreigner and deducibly a Frenchman, since, when Claudio pursues
him to his homeland, he follows him to Marseilles.
As we begin to detail the plot and trace its development and modification
from one work to another, it is as well that we emphasise, for clarity’s sake, that
we are dealing with four successive stages of evolution:
(1) The original play, attributed to August von Kotzebue, which we know in
the form of translations into Italian by Bartolomeo Benincasa (as Emilia, o La
benedizione paterna), Stefano Scatizzi (as Emilia di Laverpaut), and others.
(2) Vittorio Trento’s opera, Emilia di Laverpaut, set to an anonymous libretto,
produced at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples in 1817.
(3) Donizetti’s first version, Emilia di Liverpool, a setting of a modification of
Trento’s anonymous libretto, produced at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in
1824.
(4) Donizetti’s second version, L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool, with a libretto by
Giuseppe Checcherini, produced at the Teatro Nuovo in 1828.
Right from the start, we note that the cast of the original play does not
correspond exactly to the cast-list of any of the three operatic versions. The
principal characters in Scatizzi’s cast (I cite Scatizzi in preference to Benincasa,
since the latter gives names only, without indications of relationships) are as
follows:
Emilia
Claudio di Laverpaut, padre di Emilia
–29–
Luigia
Colonnello Willers, padre di Luigia
Generale Salignis [sic, but elsewhere Saligny]
Federigo [Federico in Benincasa] suo ajutante
Candida, direttrice del ritiro
Placido, servo del Colonnello
Lisa, contadina
Un Fabbro
Un Vecchio
The essential point to notice here is that there are two fathers – Claudio di
Laverpaut and Colonnello Willers – each with a daughter – Emilia and Luigia.
It is this parallelism which gives rise to the central situation in the plot. For
history apparently repeats itself: just as Willers once seduced and dishonoured
Claudio’s daughter Emilia, so he is brought to believe – as part of Emilia’s plan
of retribution – that his own daughter Luigia has been seduced by Generale
Saligny’s adjutant, Federigo.
A great deal of the action has already taken place before the curtain rises.
When Emilia was 16, her father Claudio, then a captain in the navy, set sail
for the East Indies, leaving her at home with her mother. In his absence, she
met a handsome but unscrupulous military officer, a foreigner. She first
corresponded with him, then gave him assignations in the garden, and was
finally half persuaded, half tricked into eloping with him. But then, three
months later, hearing that her mother had fallen desperately ill with grief, she
repented and returned home – only to arrive too late, for she found her
mother dead. Claudio happened to return at precisely the same moment. He
–30–
solemnly cursed his daughter, who took refuge in a hermitage governed by her
aunt. At her father’s insistence she revealed her seducer’s name, but upon
investigation this name was found to be false. Nothing further could be done
to trace the villain until, out walking one day, Emilia met him face to face. He
was discovered to be a certain Colonnello Willers, but the additional
information that he was already married sent Emilia out of her mind. When
she recovered, a year afterwards, she found that Willers had escaped justice and
returned to his homeland, pursued by Claudio.
The play proper begins 15 years later. Emilia (according to Scatizzi;
Benincasa omits this vivid detail) is now soured and ugly, her year’s madness
having rendered her quite unrecognisable from her former self:
And this terrible illness so altered my features and my voice, previously
soft and sweet, that no one would now recognise me.
Believing that her father must have drowned at sea, she has long since
returned to expiate her past in the hermitage where she once before took
refuge, and which, formerly presided over by her aunt, is now governed by
Candida.
In a sudden storm a carriage is overturned, and the occupants, rescued with
the help of a passing sailor, are given shelter in the hermitage. They are none
other than Colonnello Willers, his daughter Luigia, her elderly but goodnatured fiancé Generale Saligny, and her youthful admirer Federigo, Saligny’s
adjutant. The sailor who conveniently passed by at the critical moment is, we
find, Claudio. He had fallen into slavery on the North African coast, and now,
after eventually escaping, is returning home, still intent on revenge.
–31–
Of the three key figures – Emilia, Claudio and Willers – the only one
immediately to recognise the others is Claudio, so that the drama that follows
is, as further recognitions gradually ensure, one of deliberate verbal
ambiguities and half-understood allusions, of veiled threats, sudden
revelations and ultimate repentances. We may reduce the various
complications to a few essentials. Saligny discovers that Luigia loves Federigo
rather than himself, and generously releases her from her engagement.
Claudio, eventually convinced of Emilia’s genuine remorse, in a major scene
of sentimental appeal reveals his identity to her, takes her in his arms and
revokes his earlier curse. But the most important development of all concerns
Willers. Emilia, realising who he is and in due course revealing that she is his
erstwhile victim, manages to make him believe himself in exactly the same
position as that once occupied by her own father, Claudio: that is to say, she
conceals Luigia and Federigo and gives out that they have eloped. Willers, who
now believes that his daughter has been disgraced, is made to drain his cup of
bitterness to the dregs. He determines that, once captured, Federigo shall
either publicly confess his guilt or die, and fate seems to be playing into his
hands when Claudio – whom he still knows only as a sailor, not yet as Emilia’s
father – brings him news that Federigo has indeed been apprehended. The
culprit will be handed over to his pleasure, he is told, upon one condition: that
he will pledge himself to Claudio to perform a service of equal importance in
return. The bargain is accepted without suspicion, but when he enquires about
the nature of the service, he finds himself faced with precisely the same choice:
public confession or death. Only now does he realise that Claudio is Emilia’s
father, and the realisation leaves him demoralised. He accepts a pistol but is
–32–
unable to use it: ‘Kill me, punish me, you are the arbiter of my destiny’. At this
moment Emilia enters, and Claudio presents her with his weapon, telling her
to complete her own revenge. But if time has changed the face and voice of
Emilia, it has not touched her heart: she fires the pistol in the air, and learning
that Willers is truly repentant – and now a widower – bestows her hand upon
him. Luigia and Federigo emerge from hiding to receive Willers’ consent to
their marriage, and all ends in goodwill and forgiveness.
Undoubtedly, this is a very dated little play, a mixture of sentimentalism and
melodrama, written in the stilted theatrical prose of the day. But despite its
exaggerated sentiments and inexhaustible moralising, it is effective theatre.
Observing the unity of time, it begins, not merely in medias res, but at the
eleventh hour: at the penultimate moment before the final crises and
resolutions. Within its five-act structure, too, it is a well-conducted intrigue,
moving rapidly, and well calculated to hold an audience’s attention. Each act
ends on a note of climax: the storm in which Willers’ carriage is wrecked; a
scene in which Claudio and Emilia torture each other with dark hints that if
one had a father, the other had a daughter; Emilia’s discovery of Willers’
identity; Claudio’s revelation to Emilia that he is her father; and the last scene
of universal reconciliation. The ‘pre-action’ – the past history that has taken
place before the rise of the curtain – may be involved, but it is perfectly lucid
in the way it is narrated. And by the end of the play we are left with no loose
ends: all has been resolved. It was, in fact, an ideal operatic plot as it stood: a
little trimming to reduce it to manageable length was the only necessary
modification. Potential scene divisions were there already: Act III (the
confrontation of Emilia and Willers) should surely have suggested the
–33–
concerted first finale required by operatic convention of the time; Act IV (the
reconciliation of Claudio and Emilia) provided a further three-quarter-way
climax; while Act V (the final resolution) suggested a second finale built
around a final aria for the prima donna.
********
And so we come to Trento’s Emilia di Laverpaut of 1817 and Donizetti’s
Emilia di Liverpool of 1824. There are two good reasons that make it sensible
to treat these two versions of the story together. Libretto-wise, in the first
place, one is a rifacimento of the other. Act I of Trento’s anonymous text is
substantially taken over as Act I of Donizetti’s anonymous text. It is not until
we reach Act II that they significantly diverge. In the second place, Trento’s
opera would appear to be lost. We have the libretto, but not the score, and
until such time as it is rediscovered, it remains of hypothetical rather than
actual interest.
The first thing we notice upon examining these texts is that none of the
implicit constructional suggestions contained in the original play has been
adopted. From a purely literary point of view we must, in fact, qualify the
value of these operatic versions right from the start. Through making changes
in the characters and their relationships, moreover, they have lost the neatly
tailored symmetry of their source.
To condemn them solely on these grounds would, however, be less than just.
In their defence, it must be pointed out that their authors were no longer
writing plays, but – something significantly different – operatic libretti. They
–34–
were writing, moreover, with the requirements of a specific operatic tradition
in mind. And specific companies, of particular composition, were waiting to
perform their works.
Let us begin, again with clarity as our objective, with an account of the
action in its new form.
The setting – despite the retention of ‘Laverpaut’ in the first and the
substitution of ‘Liverpool’ in the second – is in both instances now positively
identified as England, for even though the ‘romitaggio’, or hermitage, stands
on a little hill with a ‘montagna alpestre’, or alpine mountain, in the
background, it is, we are told, ‘at a few leagues’ distance from London’.
As in the original play, there is in both texts a considerable pre-history
(related in Trento by Emilia, and in Donizetti rather more concisely by
Candida). Claudio, captain of a vessel of the line, went overseas when Emilia
was a baby, leaving her in the care of her mother. Before departing, he
entrusted his affairs to an agent who, merely incompetent in Trento, in
Donizetti becomes a villain who possessed himself of Claudio’s goods,
blackened his name with allegations of vile misdeeds, and caused him to be
condemned in his absence to exile.
For long, nothing more was heard of Claudio, but eventually a report found
its way back to England of his death. This report was, of course, false. In reality
he had fallen into slavery on the North African coast, and when he at last
escaped and returned home, full 20 years later, it was to find his daughter
ruined and his wife dead. At this particular point in time, Emilia had been at
the hermitage 18 months. Claudio was told that she was repentant, but he
decided to seek her out and judge for himself, determined, should he not find
her remorse sincere, to wreak his revenge both on her and on her seducer.
–35–
As the action of both operas opens, Emilia’s daily distribution of alms to the
poor is interrupted by a sudden storm in which a carriage is overturned. Its
occupants, rescued with the timely help of a passing sailor and given shelter in
the hermitage, are rather different – confusingly different – from those we
have seen in the play. They are now led by one Don Romualdo, an eccentric
aristocrat, born in Spain but brought up in Naples, who tells us that his
purpose in coming to England was to wed a bride to whom he had earlier been
contracted. This was, of course, Emilia, but he had arrived to find that she had
eloped with another. Far from repining, he has found solace elsewhere, and is
now returning to Naples in the company of a new fiancée, Luigia, and her very
aged, very deaf father, the Count. The party is completed by Federico,
Romualdo’s newly engaged secretary, who in both these operatic versions is
not only the lover of Luigia, but also the erstwhile seducer of Emilia (‘col finto
nome del Colonnello Villars’).
Here already there is a change of outstanding importance: the Willers and
the Federigo of the original play have been fused into one person, Federico.
Or, to put it another way, the original Federigo, the ardent and sincere young
lover, has become Federico, the rakish villain who is dallying with Luigia just
as he once dallied with, and dishonoured, Emilia. This new Federico has no
daughter, so cannot be put into Claudio’s shoes: at one stroke the parallelism
of the characters has been destroyed, and with it all possibility of the
parallelism of situation that formed the centre of the original plot. The operas
of Trento and Donizetti tell a simpler story: a story in which Emilia and her
seducer are reconciled, and in which Luigia, rescued from Federico’s not-veryserious philandering, returns, sadder and wiser but not undone, to her fiancé
Don Romualdo.
–36–
How does this work out in terms of acts and scenes? In each opera the first
scene, beginning with the narration of past events and the rescue of the
occupants of the carriage, ends with Claudio revealing himself to the audience
in soliloquy. The second, set inside the hospice, contains several strong
situations: Emilia realises that Romualdo is her erstwhile intended, and
confesses her identity to him; Claudio, without betraying himself, pointedly
threatens Federico; and, in a quintet of recognition, Emilia and Federico are
brought face to face. From this point on, events move slightly less happily.
This was the obvious place to end the first act, but instead, in both operas11,
the action continues with the unmasking of Federico before Luigia (who
naively betrays her love for Federico in front of Romualdo); with Claudio’s
revealing himself to Emilia and pardoning her; and with another ensemble, the
finale of the act, in which Claudio’s violent manhandling of Federico causes
general consternation, and Emilia strives to prevent him from revealing to all
that he is her father.
We have reached the end of Act I, half-way through the opera, yet the
intrigue is already almost complete. All that should strictly follow is Claudio’s
revelation of his identity to Federico, and the final scene of forgiveness.
Instead, in both operas, the action must be expanded to fill out an entire act.
In texts which are now almost entirely different, Trento’s librettist elaborates
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
11
There is evidence that Donizetti at least briefly intended to end Act I at this point.
In the manuscript of the 1824 version, preserved at San Pietro a Majella, the Naples
Conservatorium of Music, no.8, the quintet ‘Giusto Ciel’, bears in Donizetti’s hand the
note ‘finale atto 1’, while no.10, the scena and finale of Act I, is headed, also in
Donizetti’s hand, ‘N.2 [?] Atto 2do’.
–37–
his material until it fills three scenes (tableaux), and Donizetti’s librettist until
it fills two.
Although Trento’s second act consists of a number of short dialogue scenes,
involving all the characters in turn, musically he concentrates on bringing the
serious characters to the fore. Federico has an aria expressive of his remorse and
distress, and then, in what was clearly a duet of major importance, he pleads
with Emilia for her forgiveness. A wavering Emilia, in two minds as to whether
she should remain adamant or relent, sings an aria as she prays before her
mother’s tomb. There is, be it noted, no part in the music for either Don
Romualdo or the Count up to this point, and it is not until after Emilia has
interrupted the threatened duel between Claudio and Federico that Romualdo
is allowed to participate in a resulting ensemble. And then, after Emilia has
reconciled father and lover and given Federico her hand, the action continues
with a final short scene, set in the hermitage garden, in which Luigia and
Romualdo make up their differences, and all look forward to a double
wedding.
Donizetti’s librettist solved his problems quite differently. Two brief passages
of dialogue are the same as in Trento’s opera, and the finaletto is a shortened
version of the text set by Trento; but otherwise this second act is totally
different, and gives more prominent place to the comic characters. One can
only conjecture as to the reasons why. Perhaps Donizetti, believing his
essentially popular audience would welcome an increased proportion of
comedy, wished to make more of his comic performers. Or perhaps an actorsinger of the repute of Carlo Casaccia, who sang Romualdo in both operas,
declined in 1824 to be fobbed off with the slender musical part he had been
allotted in 1817.
–38–
Whatever the reason, Donizetti’s second act – a series of short scenes just as
Trento’s was – is held together by two threads: Federico’s attempts to persuade
Candida and Don Romualdo to intercede on his behalf with Emilia, and
Romualdo’s exasperation as first one character, then another, seeks his
attention. First Luigia tries to placate him. Then the deaf Count comes seeking
clarification of all the strange behaviour he sees going on around him. And
finally – the moment of supreme vexation – Federico seeks to assure him that
his designs upon Luigia are at an end, and asks for his good offices in helping
to win back Emilia. At this point Romualdo’s indignation boils over. His
outraged exclamations bring Emilia upon the scene, and the duet develops
into a trio in which both (one in serious style, the other in comic) vent their
fury upon the hapless and increasingly innocuous culprit.
The shift towards comedy is unmistakable. There is no longer any solo aria
for Federico; the duet for Romualdo and the Count is wholly comic; and
instead of Trento’s duet for Emilia and Federico we have a trio in which the
serious elements are continually qualified by Romualdo’s presence
and intervention.
It is not until we reach the second scene, set among the underground tombs,
that the serious implications of the action are given full expression. In a duet
(‘Nel campo del valore’, which has no equivalent in Trento), Claudio reveals
his identity to Federico, offers him a choice of pistols, and tries to force him
to sign a confession of guilt. But, as in the previous versions of the story,
Emilia intervenes. As all are reconciled, Federico announces that Claudio has
–39–
been pardoned and reinstated in all his estates and titles12. The opera ends,
without any change of scenery, with a short finaletto.
Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of these two libretti is not, however,
the extent to which they differ from each other or lean, one towards the
serious, one towards the comic, but the scant respect they show for their
source. A librettist’s first concern at this time, we are forced to realise, was not
absolute fidelity to the literary material he was adapting. He was more
concerned with the viability of his own work as a basis for opera. He wished
to create situations that lent themselves to musical treatment; he wished to
achieve an acceptable layout of arias and ensembles; he wished to plan a series
of duets which would bring his voices together in different combinations. In
a word, his first preoccupation was with the musical ‘geography’ of his work.
A librettist working for the Teatro dei Fiorentini or the Teatro Nuovo had,
moreover, the additional task of providing a good comic role for a Neapolitanspeaking bass. So the Generale Saligny of the play – engaging, good-natured
and verbally swaggering beneath a weight of military metaphors – was
transformed into Don Romualdo, who, for all his exoticism of Spanish
ancestry and Neapolitan upbringing, is a familiar figure whose dramatic
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
12
Claudio’s pardon – and the punishment of his dishonest agent and accuser – ties up
the threads of the pre-history which was elaborated at the beginning of Donizetti’s
libretto. But tying up loose ends is one thing; preserving logic is another. For such a
pardon to make sense, Claudio must be known to be alive. Yet in this version of the
story he is believed to have been dead for 20 years. This is a good example of the
inconsistencies and contradictions that begin to creep in when, in adapting a play to
the operatic stage, a librettist tampers with the scenario of the original.
–40–
antecedents go right back to classical Roman comedy. He is the furbo, the
knowingly sly but ultimately harmless rascal, vociferous in voice but timid in
deed, of distinctly lecherous propensities. His character and the flavour of his
speech may be illustrated by the lines with which he introduces himself to
Emilia:
I’ve a passion for fine paintings, and when I see a picture by
Franceschiello like you now… I’m never tired of feasting my eyes on it!
And you’ve no idea how true the proverb is when it says that it’s an ill
wind that blows nobody any good! Blessed be this morning’s thunders, for
they have procured us the pleasure of seeing this hermitage of pretty girls,
and of seeing you in particular, who amid such beauties are the friskiest
filly of them all [literally ‘are the rein-horse in the carriage-team’].
Romualdo’s presence in an opera written for Naples at this time is important
because, for all his aristocratic rank, he is the perennial Neapolitan comic who
speaks the language of the people: he links the action on the stage with the
audience across the footlights. Neapolitan comedy has always been written for
an audience that understands and likes to share the outlook of the furbo on the
stage. This is the reason that, uproariously funny and vital when seen in
Naples, performed by Neapolitans before Neapolitans, it can seem simply
naive and fall curiously flat when exported abroad.
Romualdo is not, of course, the only comic character who has been
introduced: we also have the Count, Luigia’s deaf father. Insistent that he does
not suffer from deafness, he falls into endless misunderstandings as a result of
–41–
his inability to hear anything that is said to him. Each time he opens his
mouth he repeats – in mystification – the words he thinks he has just heard
spoken; and each time he is wrong. Invariably the humour depends on a pun;
on a similarity of sound but difference of meaning.
Of the two main serious characters, Claudio in both these texts remains very
much as he was in the play, but Emilia is now more idealised and
sentimentalised. Scatizzi’s heroine (Benincasa, it will be remembered, omitted
these details) was neither young nor pretty; in the work of both translators she
concealed her sensibility beneath a brusque exterior. This is how, in Scatizzi’s
version, she dealt with the beggars who came seeking alms at her door:
And must I forever be disturbed? I’ve told you a thousand times to get
rid of these pests. Complaisance only multiplies them and makes them
more demanding.
And their dismissal reads:
Eh, I say, do you want to ruin me? Go to the devil. Away from here,
away, away, cursed wretches. [She thrusts them away.] They’ve worn me
out. There’s no supporting them.
Such asperity did not appeal to Trento’s anonymous librettist. His Emilia –
and by consequence Donizetti’s too – is no longer old, soured and ugly, for it
is now only 18 months since her seduction and her mother’s death. She is
drawn as a sweet-tempered ministering angel (‘in the midst of her afflictions
–42–
she ever remembers her beloved poor’), who piously seeks to expiate her sins
by distributing alms:
Emilia My friends, take these coins… Offer your prayers to heaven…
[rousing herself, and giving money to the poor].
Chorus May you be blessed for such great charity!
Such a change, it should be added, is fully in line with the aims and ideals
of the Neapolitan censors of the time. Thinking of themselves as constructive
educationalists as well as the guardians of the restored Bourbon monarchy,
they encouraged explicit didacticism in public entertainments. The theatre,
they believed, besides upholding the prestige and stability of the monarchy
and the government, should foster a national pride in the people, and should
everywhere promote right moral values and the observance of Christian
virtues. An Emilia who allowed her tongue to tell those who sought her
charity what a beggarly and unbearable lot they were – even as she distributed
her alms – would have struck them as altogether too paradoxical: they
preferred a softer, more sentimental and pious approach.
It remains to be asked to what extent Trento’s librettist was working directly
from the text of the original play. Did he have it right there in front of him,
or was his libretto a memorial reconstruction? It is difficult to answer this
question with any certainty. The simplified and changed chronology of past
events is hardly decisive evidence, for it is what we should expect in an
adaptation and abbreviation of a play for the operatic stage. More relevant is
the almost total absence of verbal echo, but even so, just when we may have
–43–
decided that there can have been no direct influence, we find one example of
a verbal parallel. And it is a singularly close one. In the play, when Claudio first
comes on the stage, he narrates his story to the assembled company. He has
already recognised Willers13, and, pointedly directing his remarks to him, he
tells how he intends to track down and punish the man who has destroyed his
family:
Now I see him, I speak to him, I hold him in my hands: scoundrel! You
tore from my breast the objects most dear to me, you stole my honour
from me… the terrible moment of your punishments has come. I have
longed for this moment for years and years. Your face has ever been with
me, even though my right hand has been unable to bloody itself in your
perfidious heart… no, it is no longer an image of your face, it is your face
itself that I devour with my eyes. Here… here is what I shall say, when
destiny brings me face to face with my enemy.
And in the libretto, in abbreviated form, we read almost the same words:
Now the desire for vengeance keeps me alive. Scoundrel! You tore from
my breast the objects most dear to it, you stole my honour from me…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A further example of an inconsistency of the kind mentioned in note 12. In the play,
it is possible for Claudio to recognise Willers, for he has already been in pursuit of him,
and presumably knows what he looks like. In the libretto, even though this recognition
is allowed to stand, it is now strictly impossible, since Claudio has only just returned
from 20 years in slavery and can never have set eyes on Federico.
13
–44–
my honour… here is what I shall say when destiny allows me to find
my enemy.
When Donizetti revised his opera as L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool in 1828, his
librettist – now Giuseppe Checcherini – embarked on a root-and-branch
reform. He jettisoned the whole of his predecessor’s words, salvaging only
those of the musical items which Donizetti wished to retain. The spoken
dialogue was completely rewritten: hardly more than half-a-dozen of the
earlier lines survive. In the process, the distribution of the main situations was
improved, the dialogue was abbreviated, and the list of characters again
modified.
Where this libretto still resembles its predecessors is the fact that it is still an
opera semiseria, the comedy still supplied by a buffo bass speaking and singing
in Neapolitan dialect. William Ashbrook, in his second book on Donizetti14,
argues that by retaining this buffo dialect element in so many of his
Neapolitan comic operas, Donizetti was perpetuating a form of comedy that
was already in its twilight years. This, I would contend, is open to debate. For
many years past and for many years to come, anyone who wrote for the Teatro
Nuovo was automatically committed to composing roles for singers like Carlo
Casaccia and Gennaro Luzio. To have suppressed these roles would have been
unacceptable both to the management and to the audience. If the pattern
becomes repetitive, and novelty a rarity, it is because Neapolitan comedy has
always run to a recognisable pattern. Settings and plots may change, but the
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
14
William Ashbrook, Donizetti and his Operas (1982) p.295
–45–
furbo continues to go through the same routines, cracking very much the same
jokes… The appeal lies, partly at least, in seeing the familiar brought off with
immaculate timing, with precisely calculated verbal inflection, in a word with
superb aplomb; partly, too, from being ‘in the know’ – from anticipating the
routines and the jokes, and feeling that one is constantly one step ahead of the
actors.
In Giuseppe Checcherini, Donizetti had just the right collaborator for his
task. Though Tuscan in origin, Checcherini was so immersed in the theatrical
life of Naples that he knew its requirements through and through. Born in
Florence in 1777, he was 20 years Donizetti’s senior. At the age of 16 he had,
at his father’s wish, shipped to sea aboard a man-o’-war, but not finding the
navy to his liking, he had come ashore and accepted an engagement with the
impresario Marrocchesi as an ‘amoroso’ or romantic lead. In the course of his
theatrical career he had met and married Francesca Gimignani, an orphan
with a good voice, which he had helped her train. Still with Marrocchesi, they
came to Naples, where Francesca was for a time engaged at the Teatro San
Carlo, before settling down in about 1822 to a long career at the Teatro
Nuovo. As we have already seen, she interpreted the role of Candida in all
three operatic versions of Emilia. Marianna Checcherini, who in 1828 took
the part of Bettini, was a daughter who had made her debut about the year
1825; and Giulia or Giulietta Checcherini, whose name appears as a member
of the company from about 1826 onwards, was presumably yet another
daughter. As for Giuseppe himself, he turned to writing, and from 1823
onwards produced a long list of operatic libretti. Nor was this his only
–46–
theatrical activity. After a brief period in charge of the Teatro dei Fiorentini, he
became manager15 of the Teatro Nuovo, a position he held for many years and
still occupied at the time of his death in 1840. His activities were not confined
to the city of Naples, for in 1831 he was granted permission to tour the
provinces with his company.
The importance of these details lies in the evidence they provide of his wide
theatrical experience and knowledge. Actor, voice-trainer, author, manager –
his entire life revolved around the theatre. We would, perhaps, be wrong to
look for academic knowledge or literary theory in the work of such a man, but
right to expect a sure sense of stagecraft, and an exact reflection of the popular
taste of his time.
What, then, of L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool? If the details of the pre-history are
hazier than ever, it is because Checcherini clearly did not attach great
importance to them. Claudio di Liwerpool, though the loyal servant of the
king, was disgraced through the malice of his enemies and deprived of his
estates. He fell into slavery among the Turks and languished for 20 years in the
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
15
There is room for doubt regarding the exact nature of Checcherini’s employment at
the Teatro Nuovo. Documents of the period describe him as ‘direttore’, and Pietro
Martorana, in Notizie biografiche e bibliografiche degli scrittori del Dialetto Napolitano
(Naples, 1874), p.114, states that after being ‘Direttore al Teatro Fiorentini sotto
l’impresa Fabbrichesi’, he ‘cessò di vivere il 19 settembre 1840, essendo Impresario al
Teatro Nuovo’. It will be noted that William Ashbrook (Donizetti, p.448, Donizetti
and his Operas, p.586) describes him as ‘stage director’, but my own feeling is that the
documents point to more general and comprehensive managerial responsibilities than
simply those of stage direction.
–47–
prisons of North Africa. (This, at least, is one of the accounts we are given:
elsewhere it is said that he was disgraced and transported as a slave to the
prisons of North Africa.) Now, convinced of his innocence, the king has
recalled and pardoned him, but, arriving home to find his daughter ruined and
his wife dead, he is wandering in search of revenge, still dressed as a slave,
before resuming his estates and his rightful rank.
Garbled though this may be, the superiority of Giuseppe Checcherini’s
reworking becomes apparent when we come to the action of the opera itself.
Trento and the 1824 version had opened slowly with the chorus of expectant
beggars, Emilia’s entry, and her long explanatory dialogue with Candida. Only
at this point did we have the interruption of the storm. Checcherini gets
things off to a much more effective and fast-moving start by opening with the
storm itself.
The first of the principal characters we meet are the occupants of the
overturned carriage. This time they are only three, for the deaf old Count, with
all his punning, has been suppressed, and his seat in the coach left unoccupied.
Perplexingly, the three who are left all go under new names. Federico has
become ‘Colonnello Villars, sotto nome di Tomson’; Don Romualdo has been
rechristened Count Asdrubale; and Luigia, previously Romualdo’s fiancée, is
now Bettina, Asdrubale’s niece. This last is the only change that affects role as
well as name. In the original play Luigia (then, it will be recalled, Willers’
daughter) played a small but indispensable part, for it was her supposed
elopement that brought about the apparent repetition of history. In the 1817
and 1824 libretti, her part was expanded, but was in fact less important since
the apparent repetition of history no longer occurred. She still served one
–48–
useful purpose: Federico’s flirtation with her gave us visual as well as verbal
evidence of his rakery. Checcherini, sensing that her part had become largely
superfluous, has again curtailed it. In Act I she once more provides visual
evidence of the character of Villars alias Tomson, but then she is quietly
suppressed, appearing in the second act only in the opening chorus and in the
final moments of jubilation. Her transformation into Asdrubale’s niece,
instead of his fiancée, automatically removed the 1824 scenes in which she
tried to regain Romualdo’s affections.
The three enter the hospice, and the sailor who helped extricate them from
their carriage reveals in soliloquy that he is Claudio di Liwerpool.
Emilia first appears at the beginning of the second scene, inside the
hermitage, where the countryfolk are briefly admitted to receive her alms.
Thanks to information already supplied in the first scene, the explanatory
dialogue with Candida can now be discarded. Instead, we move directly into
Emilia’s meeting with Asdrubale, during which, realising that this is the man
to whom she was once betrothed, she confesses her identity. When she has
retired, Tomson ushers in Claudio to receive Asdrubale’s thanks for saving
their lives, and it is now, through being present and overhearing Tomson and
Asdrubale as they converse, that Claudio, who no longer needs to be gifted
with an insight into the identity of all the characters, as he was in all earlier
versions of the story, learns for the first time that Tomson is really his
daughter’s seducer, Colonnello Villars. As in the earlier versions, he utters
veiled and disturbing threats.
The conclusion of this first act is better managed, too. In both the earlier
libretti, the action had been prolonged after the mutual recognition of Emilia
–49–
and Federico, with the unmasking of Federico before Luigia, and with
Claudio’s revealing to Emilia that he is her father – an arrangement, it will be
remembered, which resulted in an excessively long first act and a thin and
necessarily padded second. Here Checcherini goes far towards solving the
problem. He manages to insert the unmasking of Villars before Bettina briefly
before the crisis of recognition between Emilia and Villars; Emilia’s
reconciliation with her father, on the other hand, he holds over until the
second act, so giving the second half of the opera a greater share of the marrow
of the plot. The first act now ends where it most properly should, with the true
centre of the story: the moment when Emilia finds herself face to face
with her seducer.
The prospects for Act II were now improved, for it now contained two
highlights of the plot: the reconciliation of Emilia and Claudio in the first
scene, and the descent of Claudio and Villars into the underground vault of
the Liwerpools in the second. Even so, Checcherini apparently still felt the
need for extra weight in the first scene and could not resist inserting a certain
amount of comic padding of his own invention. There is a highly artificial
episode in which Candida and Giacomo, the steward of the hospice, warn
Asdrubale – but without mentioning any names – that someone, desperate of
aspect and dark of purpose, is in search of him. Asdrubale discovers that it is
Villars (who in reality is merely seeking a friend to intercede for him with
Emilia), and when they meet – the one fearful lest the other should prove
violent, the other racked by remorse and self-reproach but in no way
belligerent – there is a farcical scene of mutual misunderstanding. These
episodes, fortunately, are short and take place wholly in dialogue.
–50–
To give Checcherini his due, we may note that, even though he does not
appear to have consulted the original play, he has, by a mixture of chance and
dramatic instinct, hit upon the very layout of crisis, climax and resolution
which its act-divisions suggested. For the first time in these operatic versions,
the dramatic highlights of the story have found their proper positions.
Apart from the transformation of Luigia into Bettina, there is only one
character who has been further modified: Count Asdrubale, the new
equivalent of Don Romualdo. Perhaps because the part was being taken by the
younger and less experienced Luzio instead of the older Casaccia, Checcherini
makes Asdrubale a slightly less ebullient figure than the 1817 and 1824 Don
Romualdo. Less licentious in his propensities – he is no longer a comic
Casanova in a convent of pretty women – he is more the coward, a simple
figure of fun. He is used somewhat differently, too. L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool
is the shortest of the three operas we are considering – there are only four items
in the second act – and Asdrubale has nothing to sing in this second half at all.
And yet he is continually on stage, almost constantly employed in the
dialogue. It is as if Checcherini visualised him as providing a comic framework
within which the four musical items – all entirely serious – would stand out in
high relief.
It is idle to speculate on what Checcherini might have achieved had he
consulted the original play. As his work stands, it is dramatically the most
satisfactory of the three operatic versions, yet is filled with geographical and
historical solecisms which are the delight of any Englishman who nowadays
reads the libretto. To render himself ‘a tutt’ignoto’ – ‘unknown to all’, Claudio
has retained the garb of a slave. A slave in 18th-century or early 19th-century
–51–
GENNARO LUZIO
Asdrubale in the
1828 version at Teatro
Novo, Naples
England? Admittedly, this mistake was inherited from the earlier libretti,
where we read of ‘Claudio tattered in his clothing, with long beard, in the garb
of a slave’, but at least there he was always spoken of as ‘that sailor’, whereas
now he is recognised as both ‘sailor’ and ‘slave’. When he declines monetary
reward for his assistance in rescuing the travellers from their carriage, for
example, Giacomo says to him: ‘That does you credit, and shows that you are
not a slave as you appear.’
The knowledge of English customs and geography has become increasingly
vague with each successive treatment of the story. The author of the original
play had been either well-informed or happily reticent. No objection can be
taken to his making Candida remark that they are 15 miles distant from the
city, for the ‘city’ is presumably Laverpaut. The authors of the 1817 and 1824
libretti, on the other hand, placed the action ‘in a valley at a few leagues’
distance from London’, almost certainly thinking that Laverpaut/Liverpool
and London were neighbouring cities. Most explicit of all, Checcherini sets
the action ‘in the hermitage of Liwerpool at a short distance from London’.
While there is nothing inadmissible in Scatizzi’s description of the set for Act
I as a ‘pleasant little practicable hill, on the summit of which a spacious
convent is seen, with a little chapel and a bell tower’, errors begin to creep in,
and soon proliferate, as the three librettists transform the Laverpaut/Liverpool
countryside into storm-beaten alps. Checcherini as usual goes a step further
than his predecessors when he implies that the hermitage’s primary function is
to succour travellers waylaid in storms, and brings on a chorus of
mountaineers who sing:
–53–
Dark clouds threaten us
With a terrible hurricane,
Let us descend quickly to the plain
Before it begins to rage!
But these are simply verbal quirks that add to our amusement: they in no way
affect the dramatic quality of Checcherini’s work.
********
And what of the music? Emilia di Liverpool – no matter which version we
are considering – is very early Donizetti. We are not going to find, particularly
in an opera semiseria, any great profundity, nor yet the inspired lyricism that
was soon to make operas like Lucrezia Borgia and Lucia di Lammermoor such
landmarks in Italian romanticism.
We shall, on the other hand, find – and most abundantly – charm, deft
craftsmanship, a lightness of touch and an attention to detail. To take an
example right at the beginning of the 1824 version, the opening chorus,
‘Attendiam, tranquilli, e cheti’, is ushered in by an orchestral introduction,
with the theme played by divided horns over a drone. When the passage is
repeated, some bars later, the theme itself still belongs to the horns, but now
it is surrounded by delicate filigree work for the woodwinds, particularly the
flute. The effect is entrancing.
Moments later, Emilia’s entry is marked by a beautiful orchestral passage
that is similarly complex in its ideas and instrumentation. Again it is for horns,
–54–
strings and woodwind, especially flutes. By now we begin to realise that
Donizetti is consciously building up – and instilling in his listeners – a sense
of unified mood and feeling; he is establishing an orchestral colouring which
characterises Emilia and her hermitage in our minds. There is delicate
chromaticism in this passage, too, just as there was in Candida’s lines, ‘Il suo
duol mitigherà’, in the opening chorus. And so we may go on. Divided horns
underlie the opening of Emilia’s cavatina, ‘Madre! deh placati!’, and horns and
flutes continue to provide the prominent phrases in the accompaniment of her
cabaletta, ‘Ah! di contento!’. ‘Madre! deh placati!’ is also noteworthy for its
frequent and not-always-expected modulation, which enhances its harmonic
interest, just as the touches of chromaticism give harmonic interest earlier on.
The whole opening of the opera, in fact, despite its changes in tempo from
prelude and opening chorus through recitative and cavatina and contrasting
cabaletta, is held together by a carefully devised pattern of instrumentation.
The whole ambience in which Emilia lives – the whole atmosphere which she
herself creates – is thoughtfully built up, and is not broken until the
deliberately shattering outbreak of the storm.
It is this care for mood and detail which, everywhere apparent in the score,
proclaims Donizetti the pupil of Giovanni Simone Mayr and, indeed, the
spiritual heir of the age of Mayr and Paer. Moreover, this music is still very
much post-classical in that musical symmetry – the due repetition and balance
of phrases, the working out of musical sequences – matters quite as much as
dramatic expression. In later Donizetti, and even more, of course, in Verdi, we
are aware of composers who shape, as well as colour, their themes for dramatic
and emotional effect, and whose decisions whether to repeat them, or perhaps
–55–
unexpectedly to truncate them, are dictated by a wish for dramatic urgency
and concision. But that maturity lies some years in the future. The young
Donizetti still allows structural concerns to control the sequences and periods
of his music.
Even so, though musical concerns seem to take precedence over dramatic
concerns in this way, the latter are by no means ignored. A very good example
of alert dramatic instincts may be found in the opening movement of Claudio’s
cavatina, ‘In dura schiavitù’, where a minor key, persistent double-dotting, the
resultant heavy accentuation (even if it is not marked as such), and chromatic
movement are all used to depict the ordeals of slavery.
Even more remarkable is Donizetti’s handling of the semiseria form itself.
This form, stemming from French opéra-comique, has been much maligned.
In theory, it combines serious and comic elements in a single work: the two
should throw each other into relief, the comic, as it were, acting as a foil to set
the serious off. Yet so many composers seem to have found themselves falling
between two stools: writing characterless music in which one element
neutralises the other. Not so Donizetti. Look, for example, at the opening
pages of the duet, ‘Che sia d’esso! oh sventurata!’ for Emilia and Don
Romualdo/Asdrubale, where he holds the two elements in precise equilibrium.
Emilia’s distress as she realises the identity of the man she is addressing
alternates with the comic pomposity of Romualdo/Asdrubale as he rolls out his
titles and becomes increasingly perplexed at her over-reaction. The two
elements neatly dovetail to form a single advancing musical fabric, but in
themselves they remain sharply distinct, a copybook example of the strengths
that theoretically composers should have been able to draw from the
semiseria form.
–56–
Emilia di Liverpool impresses, therefore, both for its charm and for the sense
it gives of being well constructed and assured. This latter impression of not
only sure but, one might also add, homogeneous construction owes much,
too, to the fact that all the recitatives are orchestrally accompanied. With
spoken dialogue occupying the place of secco recitative, there was no call to
admit a ‘cembalo’ – be it harpsichord, fortepiano or piano – into the orchestra
pit (except as an instrument at which the composer might sit, ready to
intervene in the event of orchestral mishap), and the music gains
unquestionably from the similarity of texture in both recitative and formal
items. There are even times when the distinction between the two is beginning
to be submerged into a more continuous and uniform fabric. Without a score
to hand, a listener might well be excused for uncertainty, in the Act II duet for
Federico and Claudio, over just where the recitative ends and the duet begins.
There is at least one false chordal close and what at first seems an orchestral
ritornello heralding the duet, while a moment later the shaped lines and
rhythms are closer to what we expect in a formal item than in the parlando
style of recitative.
If, then, one can find so much to praise in the craftsmanship of the 1824
Emilia di Liverpool, why did Donizetti feel the need to revise it? Our first clue,
as we try to answer this question, lies in the letter he wrote to Mercadante in
1824, only a month after the first performance, where he states that he has
already written some new pieces for the second act, ‘because the old ones were
of less effect than these’. We are no longer, unfortunately, in a position to
identify ‘old’ and ‘new’ in the 1824 text; but we may compare the 1824 and
1828 scores, to see if this continued revision brought further new items
‘because the old ones were of less effect’.
–57–
Our first reaction will almost certainly be that no, there are no inferior items
in the 1824 opera. The same liveliness and brio runs through them all; they all
reveal the same craftsmanship and care for detail. Upon further reflection,
however, we begin to realise that they are not always items of maximum
‘stature’, items that make the greatest possible impact. The Act II duet for
Romualdo and the Count (a duet which had to disappear in any case, as soon
as it was decided to suppress the Count) feels, as we listen to it, as if it is going
to be constructed along the typically Rossinian lines of an introductory
movement leading to a cantabile or larghetto middle section, which in turn is
followed by a fast-moving cabaletta. The introductory movement is certainly
there, and so is the final section – in this instance based on an effective
Rossinian crescendo. But there is no central section, no cantabile. And this is
also the case with a number of other items in the 1824 score: of the Finale of
Act I; of the Act II trio for Emilia, Federico and Don Romualdo; and the Act
II duet for Federico and Claudio already mentioned. These items therefore
move, or appear to move, at a consistently fast pace: at no point do we enjoy
that moment which is the most distinctive element of an early 19th-century
Italian operatic item – that moment when the action pauses, and the characters
pour forth their inner thoughts and emotions in a movement of expansive
lyricism.
Significantly, Donizetti’s 1828 revision left his Act II with only four items.
The fact that they are all serious is noteworthy, but what is most important in
the present context is that two of them – the Emilia-Claudio duet and the
rondo finale – are items of major stature, each with a cantabile movement as
well as a rapid concluding pendant.
–58–
Significantly, too, it was just such a slow movement, ‘Dell’indegno il
turbamento’, which Donizetti combined with the opening of his 1824 quintet,
‘Giusto Ciel! chi vedo! oh Dio!’, to form a new first-act finale. It conforms to
an older canon-like form of ensemble writing, in which first one group of
characters, then another, sings the same musical material to words which,
irrespective of the characters’ different predicaments and emotions, are
constructed to a very similar repetitive pattern. If one character sings of ‘il mio
pallor’ or ‘il mio dolor’, the other characters will simply look at him/her and
comment on his/her ‘pallor’ or ‘dolor’. Already there are incipient signs of the
form being modified here, for towards the end Tomson is given a more
distinctive individual line. Seven years later Donizetti achieved much greater
individuality for his characters (though he begins in the same way, with pairs
of characters repeating the same material) in the sextet from Lucia di
Lammermoor. And finally it fell to Verdi to sweep the older form away when
he conceived totally differentiated and independent lines for all four characters
in the quartet from Rigoletto. Though the present example in L’eremitaggio di
Liwerpool is still highly patterned, it is written with the same care that
everywhere characterises this score, whether 1824 or 1828, and does indeed
give the 1828 Act I finale that extra dimension, lacking in 1824, which comes
from a halt in the onward movement, a reflective comment on the situation,
and a glimpse into the characters’ minds.
His 1828 revision left Donizetti with an opera which was considerably more
concise and taut, and which was particularly strong in its second act. Yet only
one of the items in this second act was actually new to the score: the rondo
finale, ‘Confusa è l’alma mia’. Quite simply, Donizetti here replaced an item
–59–
which was already effective with another which was even more remarkable. In
1824 the opera ended with a finaletto, constructed on the pattern of a French
vaudeville – a form in which each of the main characters came forward in turn
to sing a solo verse, while the others, and often the chorus, joined in the
refrain. Donizetti’s finaletto is a good example of the form. Emilia’s simple
pizzicato theme lends itself to elaboration by Claudio and to a variant from
Romualdo: its sparkle appeals, and it rounds off the entertainment admirably
– in a manner appropriate to comic opera. But the rondo finale of 1828 is
something altogether different, more ambitious in scale and of greater
theatrical impact. Though new to this opera, it was not a new composition:
Donizetti borrowed it from his opera seria, Alahor in Granata (1826)16. It is
exactly the kind of aria that was being written in serious operas in the 1820s
when, before the tragic ending won acceptance in Italy, they still ended
happily. It begins with a slow maestoso, as Emilia tries to come to terms with
her new-found happiness. This has a quiet thoughtfulness, a quality of gradual
awakening, that makes it the most distinguished item in the score. It is a
young relation of ‘Ah non credea mirarti’ from La Sonnambula, for there is a
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
16
William Ashbrook, Donizetti and his Operas, p.559, suggests that it may originally
have been intended to use the rondo, ‘In questo estremo amplesso’ originally composed
for Le nozze in villa (1820-21), although first publicly performed in Pietro il Grande,
Kzar delle Russie (1819) and which he later used in other scores to replace finales of less
effect. That it was also used or considered for Emilia di Liverpool and Otto mesi in due
ore (1827) is proved by the autogrraph of the latter work (in the Conservatorio di San
Pietro a Majella, Naples), with which a copy of this rondo is bound as an alternative
aria-finale; the name of the character who sings it has been altered from ‘Emilia’
to ‘Elizabetta’.
–60–
quality of Bellinian cantilena in the long-flowing lines, an eloquence and an
emotional truth.
It is followed by an allegro, still part of the rondo finale of Alahor in Granata,
in the form of an ecstatically happy air and variations. This makes no attempt
to ‘speak inwardly’: Donizetti has written a tour de force of vocal display. The
air is varied first by syncopation, then by running embroidery, and finally,
jollied along by buoyantly rhythmical accompaniment, the voice runs up and
down the stave in a series of scintillating vocal exercises. The melody is catchy,
the variations and pyrotechnics spectacular, the whole effect joyfully extrovert.
It is a fine example of Donizetti’s knowing exactly what would appeal to his
audience and what would bring the curtain down to a surge of applause. It was
worth borrowing from one opera and inserting in another.
If one were preparing a production of Emilia di Liverpool for the stage, it is
doubtless this 1828 L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool that one would choose. And yet,
more concise and taut though it is, and containing more surefire items than its
predecessor, it does not represent total gain over the 1824 version. One may
legitimately regret the loss of the opening chorus. At the other end of the
opera, too, in the last three bars Donizetti writes a mischievously unusual and
unexpected cadential figure, rather like the flourish one is apt to append to
one’s signature. In its earlier and less sophisticated way it is almost as good as
Richard Strauss’s witty ending to Till Eulenspiegel. The loss of these bars would
be regrettable indeed – were it not that at the end of the 1828 score there is
another extraordinary tailpiece, this time an extended diminuendo occupying
the last 13 bars (interestingly, not in the original ending of the rondo as it
appeared in Alahor in Granata). These tailpieces are, as far as I am aware,
–61–
unique in Donizetti’s output. One would be loath to part with either. And
having said this of such tiny features one may expand one’s focus and say the
same thing of the two operas as a whole: one would be unwilling to part with
either, since both have so much to offer. Once both are known, either on its
own seems but half the total feast.
It follows, of course, that the decision to record both operas, Emilia di
Liverpool and L’eremitaggio di Liwerpool, in their absolute musical entirety, was
inarguably and unquestionably right.
********
It remains only to comment, in brief, on one or two specific matters. There
is a duet, preserved as part of the 1824 autograph, which, though composed
to be part of the opera, was never performed as such – had never been
performed at all, in fact, before this recording. This is ‘Che mai dite? Il
genitore’, sung by Emilia and Candida. The words make it clear that it was
designed to come at a fairly advanced stage of the action. Emilia has recognised
her seducer, and has just broken the news to Candida that her father is still
alive. What she has actually said, apparently, is that he is hastening to her; what
she has not said, either because she does not know it or because she chooses to
conceal it, is that he is already there in the hermitage, in the person of the
tattered sailor. There is no obvious place to reinstate this duet: when it was
suppressed, dialogue as well as music must have been excised, so that its whole
immediate context disappeared without trace. In terms of plot, however, it
would seem to make best sense very early in Act II: Emilia’s half-revelations,
–62–
half-reticence would seem in line with her preventing Claudio from revealing
his identity in the finale of Act I. In the present recording it will be found as
an appendix following the 1828 opera.
The music of this duet is not entirely new, for the melody is drawn from an
aria sung by Chiara in Donizetti’s first Milanese opera, Chiara e Serafina
(1822) and which later appeared in the Act I terzetto of Alfredo il Grande
(1823). This is a rather different kind of borrowing from that represented by
the transfer of the Alahor in Granata rondo finale to the 1828 L’eremitaggio di
Liwerpool. There, an entire item was carried over with minimal change; here,
it is only a melody – beyond that, everything in the duet is new. Nor is it the
only example of a borrowing of this kind in the opera. The melody of Emilia’s
Act I cabaletta, ‘Ah! di contento’, comes from a trio ‘Il tuo bel ciglio’, in L’ira
d’Achille, one of the unfinished and unproduced exercises of Donizetti’s youth,
written in Bologna in 1817.
There is yet a further borrowing that must be mentioned, and it is the
strangest of all. In Don Romualdo’s aria con pertichini, ‘Comme! comme!
nnamorata!’ towards the end of Act I in the 1824 version, there is a final fast
section, ‘Se in tal smania’, marked ‘Tempo doppiato precisamente’, which
looks as if it was either a last-minute addition or a revision made after the first
performance, since, though both words and music appear in the autograph
score, the words are not to be found in the 1824 printed libretto. That is one
part of the mystery. The other is that in his autograph score Donizetti has
written at the start of this movement: ‘agnese di Per’. Now ‘Per’ was a common
spelling in Italy at this time for Paer, and a little investigation does indeed show
that Romualdo’s vocal line at this point was borrowed from the finale of Act I
–63–
of Paer’s L’Agnese (1809). The borrowing is important since L’Agnese, too, was
an opera semiseria, an example of sentimental opera, and one of the most
influential works of its time. If Emilia di Liverpool has any spiritual ancestor, it
is L’Agnese, and it seems quaintly appropriate that Donizetti should have
acknowledged his indebtedness in this rather odd way. But beyond that,
mystery remains. There seems no clear reason why he should have borrowed
this particular line – no similarity of context to explain why he thought of it.
In L’Agnese the passage is sung by Uberto, Agnese’s father, a serious figure; in
Emilia by the comic Don Romualdo. We must leave this minor mystery
unresolved – a minor one to set beside the major one of Kotzebue’s German
play from which the story derives – for other minds than ours to ponder.
Emilia di Liverpool, like so many of Donizetti’s operas that dropped out of
circulation, in turn contributed material to other later works. In this instance
both the prelude and the tempesta – this latter in modified form, with
additional chorus lines – turn up again in Il furioso all’isola di San Domingo
(1833). To re-utilise material in this way was, as we all know, common
practice, not only for Donizetti but for all the composers of the period. It may
well tell us something of the care and thought that went into the composition
of this opera that Donizetti did not derive more of its music from elsewhere,
and in turn did not resort to it more as a mine for his later works.
© Jeremy Commons
–64–
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
The Story
The action takes place in an ‘alpine’ valley a few leagues from London, where
a hermitage stands on a small hill. Ragged peasants wait patiently outside for
it is now, at dawn, that Emilia appears each day to distribute alms.
From Candida, the housekeeper of the hermitage, we learn that it is 18
months since Emilia came seeking shelter in the days when her aunt, Candida’s
predecessor, was alive. Emilia’s father had founded the hermitage but has since
died, so Candida believes, a slave in the prisons of Africa.
Emilia appears, immersed in profound grief. She can find no peace, for
wherever she turns she seems to be pursued by the vengeful ghost of her
mother. She distributes her alms and finds her suffering briefly relieved.
When they are alone, Candida asks her to finish the story of her misfortunes
which she had begun earlier. She had related – Candida reminds her – how her
father, Claudio, captain of a vessel, had gone overseas when she was a baby,
leaving her in her mother’s care. But the agent to whom Claudio had entrusted
his business affairs mismanaged them – wilfully so, we find later – and
eventually news came that Claudio had been killed by barbarous Africans.
Emilia herself had met a young officer, a colonel, who had sought her hand
in marriage. But the match had been refused by her mother on the grounds
that she was already promised to a rich Neapolitan nobleman. Unwilling to
lose her, the colonel had persuaded her to elope, but that very same night she
had returned home, overcome with remorse, only to find her mother dead. In
despair she had come to the hermitage and thrown herself upon the mercy of
her aunt.
–65–
This narration is interrupted by a violent storm. Shouts for help are heard.
A carriage has been overturned in the valley, and the villagers hasten to the
rescue.
The storm abates and the rescued occupants of the carriage appear. Don
Romualdo, a Neapolitan nobleman, complains that his secretary, Federico, has
saved him while leaving his fiancée, Luigia, to drown. Federico assures his
master that Luigia is safe, but reveals that if he could steal her for himself he
would do so.
Luigia appears, declaring that they owe their lives to a passing sailor who
managed to stop the bolting horses. Her deaf old father, the Count, is also
helped in by the peasants, and the whole party is conducted to shelter in the
hermitage.
The tattered sailor now appears, heavily bearded, and in the garb of a slave.
He reveals that he has returned home after 20 years’ slavery in Africa. He is,
of course, Claudio. He has returned to find his wife dead and is now in search
of the daughter he believes responsible. He is torn between a desire for revenge
and the hope that he may yet find Emilia repentant.
Inside the hermitage we learn that the travellers are on their way back to
Italy, where Luigia is to wed Don Romualdo. She and Federico are determined
to upset these plans, however. Luigia believes that Federico will marry her, but
his intention is to deceive her, just as – he let slip – he once deceived the
unsuspecting Emilia.
Don Romualdo, delighted at finding himself in a convent of pretty women,
tells Emilia that he came to England to meet the daughter of an English lord
with whom his uncle had arranged a marriage. The similarity of circumstances
–66–
is too remarkable not to strike Emilia, for she herself, before her elopement
and disgrace, had been betrothed to just such a Neapolitan nobleman. As Don
Romualdo reveals his name, all doubt disappears: this is the very man, and she
confesses that she was the bride he had arrived to find already flown.
Romualdo reveals to Federico that Emilia, his erstwhile intended, is now
directress of the hermitage. A guilty Federico is filled with alarm.
Claudio is admitted and refuses all reward for his services. As he comments
darkly upon Federico’s resemblance to the villain who stole his honour, Emilia
recognises Federico. She faints, but recovers to denounce her seducer.
Luigia also rails against Federico, making her own infatuation only too
plain, and Romualdo realises that both his intended brides have had their
hearts filched by the same villain.
Claudio finds Emilia alone. He tells her at first that he is a friend of her
father, but then, as the sincerity of her remorse leaves him no room for further
doubt, he reveals that he is Claudio himself. They fall into each other’s arms
and their reconciliation is soon complete.
Romualdo, while philosophising upon his unhappy lot, is interrupted by a
commotion: Claudio has set upon Federico. No one can understand why an
unknown sailor should turn so suddenly violent. Emilia prevents Claudio
from revealing his true identity by declaring that he is a friend of her father,
come to inform her of the latter’s death. All comment on the situation and
hope that calm may at length return.
The second act finds Luigia, now that Federico’s true character has been
revealed to her, anxious to placate Don Romualdo. But Romualdo is incapable
of comprehending the confusion around him.
–67–
Federico begs Candida to intercede for him with Emilia. He also hopes to
enlist the aid of Don Romualdo, and, when they meet, presents him with a
dagger, asking him to kill him and so punish him. His argument that he was
not wholly to blame, since Luigia had egged him on, only increases
Romualdo’s ire. Emilia arrives on the scene and together with Romualdo vents
her indignation on the hapless, though repentant Federico.
Claudio summons Federico to follow him to the underground tomb of
Emilia’s mother where he plans his ultimate vengeance. Candida overhears his
plan and warns Emilia. Enlisting the assistance of Romualdo, they hasten to
the vaults in pursuit.
In the sepulchre of the Liverpool family, a portrait of Emilia’s mother rests
against a newly erected tomb. Federico, recognising it, is more demoralised
than ever. Claudio at last reveals his true identity and offers Federico a choice
of pistols, at the same time demanding that he sign a confession of guilt.
Federico is willing to do whatever is required of him but refuses to take arms
against the father of Emilia. As Claudio is about to shoot him, Emilia,
Candida, Romauldo, Luigia, the Count and the villagers come crowding down
the stairs.
Claudio’s identity is made known to all. Federico reveals that Claudio’s
innocence has been established and now that the dishonest agent who
mismanaged his affairs has been duly punished, he has been officially
reinstated in all his possessions. Claudio’s generous reaction is to forgive
Federico, and Emilia, convinced that her erstwhile seducer is now truly
repentant, gives him her hand. Luigia takes advantage of the universal impulse
towards forgiveness to elicit her own pardon from Don Romualdo, and the
opera ends as all look forward to a propitious double wedding.
–68–
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
The Story
The action takes place in and around the hermitage of Liwerpool, situated on
top of a mountain and a short distance from London.
A violent storm breaks out and Giacomo, the steward of the hermitage,
urges the local mountain dwellers to hasten down to the valley below, where a
carriage has been overturned.
As the storm subsides, the rescued travellers appear. The first is Asdrubale, a
Neapolitan count. He is concerned for his niece, Bettina, and their travelling
companion, Tomson. But they too appear, safe, with Tomson reassuring –
indeed, flirting with – Bettina.
Asdrubale rewards the mountaineers for their services, but regrets that a
passing sailor, who played a major part in their rescue, is nowhere to be seen.
The party is conducted to shelter inside the hermitage.
The sailor appears, heavily bearded, and in the garb of a slave. He reveals
that he has returned home after 20 years’ slavery in Africa. He is, in fact,
Emilia’s father, Claudio. He has arrived back to find his wife dead, and is now
in search of the daughter he believes responsible. He wonders whether she may
have taken refuge in this hermitage, founded by his ancestors. He is torn
between a desire for revenge and the hope that he may yet find Emilia
repentant.
Giacomo, finding him on the doorstep, tells him that those he helped rescue
are anxious to reward him, but he refuses all suggestion of recompense.
Learning that it is indeed Emilia who dwells in this lonely spot, he reveals his
–69–
familiarity with her father’s circumstances. A black calumny, he relates, made
Claudio appear a traitor while in fact he exposed his life for his king, with the
result that he was exiled and his goods confiscated. He fell into slavery and
languished in the prisons of Africa.
Giacomo invites him into the hermitage, but Claudio is uncertain whether
he can bear to see his daughter, who has allowed herself to be seduced by a
villain named Villars. Her disgrace has brought her mother to her grave, and
she has forfeited all chance of marriage with the rich Neapolitan to whom she
was once betrothed. But his anxiety to know whether she is genuinely
repentant finally gets the better of him.
In the hermitage courtyard, Emilia distributes alms to the poor of the
village. She tells Candida that she is unable to find lasting peace, for wherever
she turns she seems to be pursued by the vengeful ghost of her mother.
Asdrubale enters to pay his respects. Emilia learns that he is a Neapolitan,
come to England accompanied by his niece, to fetch the bride he has
contracted himself to marry. He had arrived, however, to find that his
intended had eloped with another. The similarity of circumstances is too
remarkable not to strike Emilia. As Count Asdrubale reveals his identity,
Emilia confesses that she was the errant bride. She retires in distress.
Claudio is escorted in by Tomson and presented to Asdrubale. Tomson
grows alarmed, for it is now that he discovers that the directress of the
hermitage is Emilia, and we learn that he is none other than Colonel Villars,
her seducer. Claudio now sees vengeance within his grasp. Pointedly, he tells
Tomson of his resemblance to a villain who stole his honour and brought
destruction upon his family. Increasingly impassioned, he nevertheless
–70–
manages to restrain himself before actually revealing his identity. Tomson is
left, a prey to fears and presentiments, but still ignorant of the identity of this
man who eyes him so threateningly.
Tomson begins to regret his past conduct. He would gladly disillusion
Bettina and make his peace with Emilia. But before he can do so, Asdrubale
returns and demands satisfaction from him for having stolen Emilia. Bettina
mistakenly thinks they are speaking of her, and she throws herself at her uncle’s
feet, protesting that Tomson is honourable and has promised to marry her.
Asdrubale is doubly irate: not only has Tomson stolen Emilia, but now he is
trying to make off with Bettina as well.
At this moment Emilia enters to invite them to share a frugal meal. She and
Tomson immediately recognise each other. Emilia faints, but recovers to
denounce her seducer. Tomson is assailed by Claudio and Asdrubale. As the
situation grows potentially more and more violent, Emilia, Candida and
Bettina summon Giacomo and the mountaineers to keep the peace.
In the second act, the mountaineers, led by Bettina and Candida, wonder
why an unknown sailor should have stirred up such a hornets’ nest of trouble.
Bettina is curious to know who this sailor really is, but all that Giacomo can
tell her is that he claims to be the companion in misfortune of Emilia’s father.
Giacomo is more concerned that a wild-eyed Tomson is searching for
Asdrubale. A moment later, therefore, when they come across the Count, they
warn him that they fear he is in great danger.
Claudio finds Emilia alone. He tells her at first that he is a friend of her
father, but then, moved by the sincerity of her remorse, reveals that he is
–71–
Claudio himself. They fall into each other’s arms and their reconciliation
is complete.
The terrified Asdrubale believes, when he meets Tomson, that he is seeking
revenge. In fact, Tomson only wishes to ask Asdrubale to intercede with Emilia
on his behalf.
As Tomson leaves to meet Claudio, Candida enters in distress. She now
knows that Claudio is Emilia’s father and that he intends to lure Tomson to the
underground sepulchre of the Liwerpool family to slay him before the tomb of
Emilia’s mother. She begs Asdrubale to hasten to prevent this slaughter while
she herself goes to warn Emilia.
In the subterranean tomb, Claudio directs his victim’s gaze to a portrait of
Emilia’s mother that hangs against a newly erected tomb. Tomson recognises it
with dismay and begs to know Claudio’s true identity. Little by little, Claudio
reveals himself. He insists that Tomson fight a duel and offers him the choice
of pistols, at the same time demanding that he sign a confession of guilt.
Tomson, demoralised, falls to his knees, calling on Claudio to kill him, and
Claudio is just about to do so when Emilia, Candida, Asdrubale, Bettina,
Giacomo and the mountaineers all come crowding down the steps.
Tomson’s remorse, and his wish to make amends to Emilia by marrying her,
are manifest to all, and when Asdrubale intervenes on his behalf, Claudio –
who reveals that he has been pardoned by the king and was concerned to
vindicate his daughter’s honour before resuming his estates and titles – gives
Emilia his permission to marry.
Love proves stronger than hate and a dazed but happy Emilia gives Tomson
her hand.
–72–
No one, she insists, can possibly comprehend her joy who has not also
experienced her previous torment, for happiness can be perfected only if it has
been tempered by suffering.
© Jeremy Commons
–73–
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
Résumé de l’intrigue
L’action se déroule à quelques lieues de Londres, dans une vallée rocheuse. Une
petite éminence accueille un ermitage à l’extérieur duquel se pressent des
miséreux. À l’heure où pointe l’aube, ils attendent patiemment qu’Emilia
vienne, comme chaque jour, leur faire l’aumône.
Candida, l’intendante de l’ermitage, explique qu’Emilia est venue chercher
refuge ici, il y a dix-huit mois, du temps où sa tante, qui l’a précédée à
l’intendance, était encore vivante. C’est le père d’Emilia qui a fondé l’ermitage,
mais selon Candida il serait mort en esclavage en Afrique.
Emilia fait son entrée, manifestement en proie à un profond chagrin. Elle ne
parvient pas à trouver la sérénité : où qu’elle se tourne, elle se sent poursuivie
par le fantôme vengeur de sa mère. Faire l’aumône la soulage brièvement de
sa peine.
Lorsqu’elle se retrouve seule avec elle, Candida lui demande d’achever le récit
de ses malheurs entrepris quelque temps auparavant. Emilia lui a déjà raconté
– ainsi que le rappelle Candida – comment Claudio, son père, s’était embarqué
pour des contrées lointaines alors qu’elle était encore dans les langes, en laissant
l’enfant aux bons soins de sa mère. Le capitaine avait confié la gestion de ses
biens en son absence à un intendant qui avait fait de mauvaises affaires
– délibérément, on l’apprendra plus tard, – et pour finir la nouvelle de sa mort
aux mains des barbares leur était parvenue.
–74–
Emilia avait rencontré un jeune colonel qui lui avait demandé sa main en
mariage. Mais sa mère s’était opposée à cette alliance en disant qu’elle était déjà
promise à un riche Napolitain de noble extraction. Ne voulant pas la perdre,
le colonel l’avait persuadée de s’enfuir avec lui, mais prise de remords, la nuit
même de l’enlèvement, elle avait repris le chemin de la demeure familiale où
elle avait découvert sa mère morte. Le désespoir l’avait conduite à l’ermitage où
elle s’en était remise à la merci de la tante de Candida.
Ce récit est interrompu par un violent orage. Des appels à l’aide se font alors
entendre. Une voiture s’est renversée dans la vallée et les villageois courent
porter secours aux occupants.
L’orage s’étant calmé, les voyageurs secourus font leur entrée. Don
Romualdo, un noble napolitain, accuse son secrétaire, Federico, de l’avoir
sauvé en laissant sa fiancée, Luigia, se noyer. Federico rassure son maître :
Luigia est saine et sauve, lui dit-il tout en révélant que s’il pouvait enlever la
jeune femme, il le ferait volontiers.
Apparaît alors Luigia, qui déclare qu’ils doivent la vie sauve à un marin de
passage qui est parvenu à maîtriser les chevaux emballés. Le comte, son père,
un vieillard dur d’oreille, fait également son apparition, soutenu par les
paysans. Tous trouvent refuge à l’ermitage.
Entre alors le marin : il est déguenillé, le visage recouvert d’une longue barbe
et vêtu comme d’un esclave. Il explique qu’il est de retour au pays après vingt
ans d’esclavage en Afrique. Il s’agit, bien évidemment de Claudio. À son retour,
il a appris la mort de sa femme et il est maintenant à la recherche de sa fille
qu’il tient responsable de ce malheur. Il est déchiré entre le désir de vengeance
et l’espoir de trouver une Emilia repentie.
–75–
À l’intérieur de l’ermitage, on apprend que les voyageurs sont en route pour
l’Italie où, à leur retour, Luigia épousera Don Romualdo. Celle-ci et Federico
sont toutefois bien décidés à faire échouer ces plans. Luigia croit que Federico
va l’épouser, mais son intention est de la tromper comme il a trompé, par le
passé – on le devine à un lapsus –, l’innocente Emilia.
Ravi de se trouver en compagnie de jolies femmes, Don Romualdo raconte
à Emilia que s’il est venu en Angleterre, c’est pour faire la connaissance de la
fille d’un lord avec laquelle un oncle avait arrangé en son nom un mariage. La
ressemblance entre cette situation et la sienne est trop forte pour ne pas frapper
Emilia qui, elle-même, avant son enlèvement et sa disgrâce, avait été fiancée à
un noble napolitain. Lorsque Don Romualdo lui révèle son nom, aucun doute
ne subsiste plus dans son esprit : c’est bien le même homme. Aussi lui confiet-elle que c’est elle qui lui avait été promise mais qui s’était enfuie avant
son arrivée.
Romualdo révèle à Federico qu’Emilia, sa fiancée d’antan, est aujourd’hui en
charge de l’ermitage. Conscient de sa culpabilité, Federico est plongé dans
l’inquiétude.
Admis à l’intérieur de l’ermitage, Claudio refuse toute récompense pour ses
peines. Il note avec tristesse la ressemblance entre Federico et le scélérat qui a
causé son déshonneur et, à ces mots, Emilia reconnaît Federico. Elle
s’évanouit, mais recouvre ses sens pour dénoncer le vil séducteur.
Luigia se retourne également contre Federico, montrant par là qu’elle s’est
laissé séduire, et Romualdo comprend alors que le coquin lui a successivement
volé le cœur de deux fiancées.
–76–
Claudio trouve Emilia seule. Il se présente d’abord comme un ami de son
père, mais entièrement convaincu de la sincérité de ses remords, il finit par lui
révéler sa véritable identité. Le père et la fille tombent dans les bras l’un de
l’autre et bientôt leur réconciliation est totale.
Romualdo, en train de réfléchir à ses malheurs, est interrompu dans ses
pensées par une brusque agitation : Claudio s’est jeté sur Federico. Personne ne
comprend quelles raisons pourraient pousser cet inconnu à pareille violence.
Emilia empêche Claudio de révéler sa véritable identité et déclare qu’il est un
ami de son père venu lui annoncer la mort de celui-ci. La situation suscite chez
tous des commentaires ainsi que l’espoir de voir revenir le calme.
Au début du second acte, Luigia, qui ne se fait désormais plus d’illusions sur
les intentions réelles de Federico, tient à calmer Don Romualdo, lequel ne
comprend pas l’agitation autour de lui.
Federico supplie Candida d’intercéder pour lui auprès d’Emilia. Il voudrait
également s’assurer le soutien de Don Romualdo : aussi, lorsqu’ils se
rencontrent, lui tend-il un poignard en le priant de le tuer pour le punir. Le
fait qu’il prétende ne pas être entièrement à blâmer et accuse Luigia d’avoir
encouragé ses avances, ne fait qu’accroître la colère de Romualdo. Arrivée sur
la scène, Emilia se joint à Romualdo pour accabler de reproches un Federico
pourtant repentant.
Claudio enjoint à Federico de descendre avec lui dans le caveau où repose la
mère d’Emilia et où il projette son ultime vengeance. Candida, qui a tout
entendu, prévient Emilia, qui appelle alors Romualdo à l’aide. Ils rejoignent
ensemble précipitamment le caveau.
–77–
À l’intérieur du caveau de la famille Liverpool, un portrait de la mère
d’Emilia repose contre le tombeau nouvellement érigé à son intention. À la vue
de ce portrait, Federico est plus désespéré que jamais. Après lui avoir révélé sa
véritable identité, Claudio lui donne le choix des pistolets et exige de lui qu’il
confesse ses forfaits par écrit.
Federico est prêt à toutes les concessions, mais refuse d’élever une arme
contre le père d’Emilia. Claudio est sur le point de lui tirer dessus,
lorsqu’Emilia, Candida, Romualdo, Luigia, le comte et les villageois font
irruption au bas des escaliers.
L’identité de Claudio est rendue publique. Federico révèle alors que
l’innocence de Claudio a été reconnue et que, la malhonnêteté de son
intendant ayant été dûment punie, il a officiellement retrouvé possession de ses
biens. Généreux, Claudio pardonne à Federico, et Emilia, convaincue de la
sincérité du repentir de son ancien séducteur, lui accorde sa main. Luigia
profite de cette atmosphère de pardon général pour solliciter celui de Don
Romualdo, et au moment où l’opéra s’achève, tout le monde se réjouit à la
perspective d’un double mariage.
–78–
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
Résumé de l’intrigue
L’action se déroule à l’intérieur et à proximité de l’ermitage de Liwerpool, sur
une hauteur non loin de Londres.
Un violent orage éclate et Giacomo, qui est en charge de l’ermitage, appelle
les montagnards du voisinage à se précipiter dans la vallée en contrebas où une
voiture qui s’est renversée.
Tandis que s’apaise l’orage, les voyageurs secourus apparaissent. Le premier
d’entre eux, Asdrubale, est un comte napolitain. Il est inquiet pour sa nièce,
Bettina, et leur compagnon de voyage, Tomson. Mais ceux-ci ne tardent pas à
apparaître : Tomson rassure – ou, plus précisément, flirte avec – Bettina.
Asdrubale récompense les montagnards de leurs peines, tout en regrettant
qu’un marin de passage, qui a joué un rôle de premier plan dans le sauvetage,
ait disparu. Les voyageurs trouvent refuge à l’intérieur de l’ermitage.
Le marin apparaît, très barbu et habillé en esclave. Il explique qu’il rentre
chez lui après vingt ans d’esclavage en Afrique. C’est en fait Claudio, le père
d’Emilia. À son retour, il a trouvé sa femme morte et il est maintenant à la
recherche de sa fille qu’il croit responsable de ce malheur. Il se demande si elle
n’aurait pas trouvé refuge dans cet ermitage fondé par ses ancêtres. Il est
déchiré entre le désir de vengeance et l’espoir de trouver une Emilia repentie.
Giacomo, qui l’a trouvé sur le seuil de l’ermitage, dit au marin que ceux qu’il
a secourus tiennent à lui offrir une récompense, mais celui-ci répond qu’il n’en
est pas question. En apprenant qu’Emilia habite bien dans ce lieu solitaire, le
marin révèle que l’histoire de son père lui est connue. Une sombre calomnie,
–79–
raconte-t-il, l’a fait passer pour un traître alors qu’il mettait sa vie en péril pour
sauver son roi, et qu’en conséquence il a été banni et ses biens confisqués.
Tombé en esclavage, il a langui dans les prisons africaines.
Invité à l’intérieur de l’ermitage par Giacomo, Claudio hésite : il n’est pas sûr
de pouvoir supporter la vue de sa fille, qui s’est laissé séduire par un scélérat
nommé Villars. Sa disgrâce a précipité sa mère dans la tombe, et elle s’est privée
de la chance d’épouser le riche napolitain à qui elle avait été promise. Mais il
ne résiste pas au désir de savoir si elle s’est véritablement repentie.
Dans la cour de l’ermitage, Emilia fait l’aumône aux pauvres du village. Elle
explique à Candida qu’elle ne parvient pas à trouver la sérénité car, où qu’elle
se tourne, elle se sent poursuivie par le fantôme vengeur de sa mère.
Asdrubale vient lui présenter ses respects. Emilia apprend alors qu’il est
originaire de Naples et qu’il est venu en Angleterre accompagné de sa nièce
pour chercher la jeune femme qu’il s’était engagé à épouser. A son arrivée,
toutefois, il a découvert que sa fiancée s’était fait enlever par un autre. La
ressemblance entre cette situation et la sienne est trop forte pour ne pas frapper
Emilia. Quand le comte Asdrubale lui révèle son identité, Emilia avoue que
c’est elle la fiancée dévoyée. Bouleversée, elle se retire.
Tomson escorte Claudio pour le présenter à Asdrubale. L’inquiétude de
Tomson va croissante quand il apprend qu’Emilia est en charge de l’ermitage,
et nous apprenons par la même occasion que son séducteur, le colonel Villars,
n’est nul autre que lui. Claudio sent alors qu’il tient sa vengeance. Il insiste sur
la ressemblance entre Tomson et le coquin qui a détruit à la fois son honneur
et sa famille. Malgré son excitation croissante, il parvient toutefois à se retenir
de révéler qui il est, laissant Tomson en proie à la peur et aux mauvais
–80–
pressentiments, mais néanmoins dans l’ignorance de la véritable identité de
celui qui lui lance des regards si menaçants.
Tomson commence à regretter sa conduite passée. C’est volontiers qu’il
dissiperait les illusions de Bettina et se réconcilierait avec Emilia. Mais
Asdrubale ne lui laisse pas le temps de tenter quoi que ce soit : il vient lui
demander satisfaction pour l’enlèvement d’Emilia. Bettina, qui croit que c’est
d’elle qu’il est question, se jette aux pieds de son oncle en déclarant que
Tomson est un honnête homme et qu’il a promis de l’épouser. Asdrubale est
doublement furieux : non content de lui avoir volé Emilia, Tomson essaie
maintenant de lui enlever Bettina.
Emilia entre à ce moment pour les inviter à partager un repas frugal. Elle
reconnaît immédiatement Tomson, qui la reconnaît aussi. Emilia s’évanouit,
mais reprend connaissance pour dénoncer celui qui l’a séduite. Claudio et
Asdrubale se jettent sur Tomson. Comme la situation prend une tournure de
plus en plus violente, Emilia, Candida et Bettina font appel à Giacomo et aux
montagnards pour rétablir le calme.
Au second acte, les montagnards amenés par Bettina et Candida se
demandent comment un marin inconnu a pu causer tant d’agitation.
Bettina est curieuse de connaître la véritable identité du marin, mais tout ce
que Giacomo peut lui dire c’est qu’il connaît le père d’Emilia, dont il a partagé
la mauvaise fortune. Ce qui inquiète surtout Giacomo, c’est le regard fou de
Tomson parti à la recherche d’Asdrubale. C’est la raison pour laquelle, un
moment plus tard, il prévient le comte du péril qui le menace.
Claudio trouve Emilia seule. Il se présente d’abord comme un ami de son
père, mais, entièrement convaincu de la sincérité de ses remords, finit par lui
–81–
révéler son identité réelle. Le père et la fille tombent dans les bras l’un de l’autre
et bientôt leur réconciliation est totale.
Asdrubale est terrifié et persuadé, quand il rencontre Tomson, que celui-ci
veut se venger. En fait, Tomson veut seulement demander à Asdrubale
d’intercéder en son nom auprès d’Emilia.
Alors que Tomson part à la rencontre de Claudio, une Candida bouleversée
entre en scène. Elle sait désormais que Claudio est le père d’Emilia et qu’il a
l’intention d’attirer Tomson dans le caveau de famille des Liwerpool afin de lui
donner la mort devant le tombeau de la mère Emilia. Elle presse Asdrubale
d’aller empêcher ce meurtre pendant qu’elle-même va prévenir Emilia.
Dans le caveau, Claudio attire le regard de sa victime sur le portrait de la
mère d’Emilia qui orne un tombeau de construction récente. Tomson
reconnaît le portrait avec consternation et supplie Claudio de lui dire qui il est.
Peu à peu, Claudio lui révèle son identité. Il insiste pour qu’ils se battent en
duel et Claudio donne à Tomson le choix des pistolets tout en exigeant de lui
qu’il confesse ses méfaits par écrit.
Défait, Tomson tombe à genoux en demandant à Claudio de le tuer, ce qu’il
s’apprête à faire lorsqu’Emilia, Candida, Asdrubale, Bettina, Giacomo et les
montagnards font irruption dans le souterrain.
Les remords de Tomson et son désir de se faire pardonner par Emilia en
l’épousant ne font plus l’ombre d’un doute et, quand Asdrubale intercède en
sa faveur, Claudio – qui révèle qu’il a été pardonné par le roi et qu’il voulait
venger l’honneur de sa fille avant de retrouver ses biens et ses titres – donne à
Emilia la permission de se marier.
–82–
L’amour s’avère plus fort que la haine et une Emilia abasourdie mais
heureuse donne la main à Tomson.
Pour vraiment comprendre sa joie, déclare-t-elle, il faut avoir connu son
tourment, car le bonheur ne peut être parfait que s’il a été tempéré par la
souffrance.
© Jeremy Commons
Traduction: Mireille Ribière
–83–
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
Die Handlung
Die Oper spielt in einem ‘gebirgigen’ Tal einige Meilen außerhalb von
London, wo auf einem Hügel eine Eremitage steht. Davor warten geduldig
einige zerlumpte Bauern, denn um diese Stunde – der Morgen dämmert –
verteilt Emilia jeden Tag Almosen.
Von Candida, der Haushälterin der Eremitage, erfahren wir, dass Emilia vor
achtzehn Monaten bei ihrer damals noch lebenden Tante, Candidas
Vorgängerin, hier Zuflucht suchte. Emilias Vater hatte die Eremitage
gegründet, ist mittlerweile aber, so glaubt Candida, als Sklave in einem
afrikanischen Kerker gestorben.
Emilia erscheint, von Gram gebeugt. Nirgends kann sie Frieden findet, denn
wo immer sie hingeht, wird sie vom rachsüchtigen Geist ihrer Mutter verfolgt.
Sie verteilt ihre Almosen, was kurzzeitig ihren Kummer lindert.
Als die beiden Frauen wieder alleine sind, bittet Candida sie, mit ihrer
unglückseligen Geschichte fortzufahren, die sie zuvor zu erzählen begonnen
hatte. Sie hatte berichtet – wie Candida ihr in Erinnerung ruft –, dass ihr Vater
Claudio als Kapitän zur See fuhr, als sie noch ein Säugling war, und sie der
Obhut ihrer Mutter überließ. Doch der Stellvertreter, dem Claudio seine
Geschäfte anvertraute, wirtschaftete schlecht – absichtlich, wie wir später
erfahren –, und schließlich traf die Nachricht ein, dass Claudio von
barbarischen Afrikanern ermordet worden sei.
Emilia selbst lernte einen jungen Offizier kennen, der um ihre Hand anhielt,
aber ihre Mutter lehnte die Partie ab mit der Begründung, ihre Tochter sei
–84–
bereits einem wohlhabenden neapolitanischen Adeligen versprochen. Der
Offizier überredete Emilia, mit ihm zu fliehen, doch noch in derselben Nacht
kehrte sie von Reue übermannt nach Hause zurück – nur, um ihre Mutter tot
vorzufinden. Verzweifelt suchte sie die Eremitage auf und lieferte sich der
Gnade ihrer Tante aus.
Ihre Schilderung wird von einem heftigen Sturm unterbrochen. Hilferufe
sind zu hören. Unten im Tal ist eine Kutsche umgestürzt, die Dorfbewohner
eilen den Verunglückten zu Hilfe.
Das Unwetter lässt nach, und die geretteten Reisenden erscheinen. Don
Romualdo, ein neapolitanischer Adeliger, beklagt, dass sein Sekretär Federico
zwar ihn selbst gerettet hat, seine Verlobte Luigia jedoch im Fluss ertrinken
ließ. Federico hingegen versichert seinem Herrn, dass Luigia in Sicherheit ist,
gesteht allerdings auch, dass er sie, wenn er könnte, selbst verführen möchte.
Luigia erscheint und erklärt, dass sie alle ihr Leben einem zufällig
vorbeikommenden Matrosen verdanken, der die durchgehenden Pferde
bändigen konnte. Ihr alter Vater, der taube Graf, wird nun von den Bauern
ebenfalls hereingeführt, und die ganze Gruppe wird in die Sicherheit der
Eremitage gebracht.
Nun tritt auch der zerlumpte Matrose auf, mit dichtem Bart und in
Sklavenkleidung. Er erklärt, dass er nach zwanzig Jahren Fron in Afrika nach
Hause zurückgekehrt ist – natürlich handelt es sich um niemand anderen als
Claudio. Als er bei seiner Rückkehr vom Tod seiner Frau erfuhr, machte er sich
auf die Suche nach seiner Tochter, die er für deren Tod verantwortlich wähnt,
und ist zerrissen zwischen Rachegedanken und der Hoffnung, dass er Emilia
bußfertig antreffen möge.
–85–
Im Inneren der Eremitage erfahren wir, dass sich die Reisenden auf dem
Rückweg nach Italien befinden, wo Luigia Don Romualdo ehelichen
soll. Doch sie und Federico sind entschlossen, diesen Plan zu vereiteln. Luigia
gibt sich dem Glauben hin, dass Federico sie heiraten wird, er jedoch will
sie täuschen, ebenso wie er – wie er nun enthüllt – ehedem die gutgläubige
Emilia täuschte.
In seiner Freude, in ein Kloster von hübschen Frauen geraten zu sein, erzählt
Don Romualdo Emilia, dass er nach England kam, um die Tochter eines
englischen Lords abzuholen, mit der sein Onkel eine Ehe für ihn arrangiert
hatte. Die Ähnlichkeit der Umstände ist allzu groß, um Emilia zu entgehen,
schließlich war sie vor ihrer Flucht und Schande mit eben einem solchen
neapolitanischen Adeligen verlobt. Als Don Romualdo seinen Namen nennt,
sind alle Zweifel beseitigt – dies ist eben der Mann. Emilia gesteht, dass sie die
Braut ist, die bei seiner Ankunft bereits entflohen war.
Romualdo berichtet Federico, dass Emilia, die einstmals ihm versprochen
war, nun die Vorsteherin der Eremitage ist. Von Schuldgefühlen übermannt,
erschrickt Federico zutiefst.
Claudio tritt hinzu und lehnt jeden Lohn für seine Hilfe ab. Als er
unheilvolle Bemerkungen über Federicos Ähnlichkeit mit dem Schurken
macht, der ihm seine Ehre raubte, erkennt Emilia Federico. Ihr schwinden die
Sinne, doch rasch kommt sie wieder zu sich und verdammt ihren Verführer.
Auch Luigia wütet gegen Federico, gibt dabei ihre Liebe zu ihm allerdings
allzu deutlich zu verstehen, und Romualdo wird bewusst, dass beide seine ihm
zugedachten Bräute von ein und demselben Schurken verführt wurden.
–86–
Claudio trifft Emilia alleine an. Zuerst sagt er, er sei ein Freund ihres Vaters,
doch als ihre aufrichtige Reue all seine Zweifel zerstreut, gibt er sich als ihr
Vater zu erkennen. Versöhnt fallen sie sich in die Arme.
Romualdo sinniert über sein glückloses Schicksal, seine Grübelei wird aber
durch einen Aufruhr unterbrochen: Claudio hat Federico angegriffen.
Niemand versteht, weshalb ein unbekannter Matrose unvermittelt derart
gewalttätig werden sollte. Emilia hindert Claudio daran, seine wahre Identität
preiszugeben, und erklärt, er sei ein Freund ihres Vaters, der gekommen sei,
um ihr von dessen Tod zu berichten. Nach vielerlei Bemerkungen über die
bewegten Umstände hoffen alle, dass nun wieder Ruhe einkehren möge.
Im zweiten Akt versucht Luigia, nun, da sie Federicos wahren Charakter
erkennen musste, Don Romualdo wieder für sich zu gewinnen, doch dieser ist
unfähig, die Verwirrung um sich zu begreifen.
Federico fleht Candida an, sich für ihn bei Emilia zu verwenden. Zudem
hofft er auf Hilfe von Don Romualdo, und als die beiden Männer sich
begegnen, reicht er ihm einen Dolch mit der Bitte, ihn zur Strafe zu töten.
Sein Argument, er trage nicht allein die Verantwortung für seine Tändelei mit
Luigia, da diese ihn angespornt habe, vergrößern Romualdos Zorn noch.
Dann tritt Emilia dazu und macht ebenso wie Romualdo ihrer Empörung
über den glücklosen, aber reumütigen Federico Luft.
Claudio fordert Federico auf, ihm zum unterirdischen Grab von Emilias
Mutter zu folgen, wo er Rache zu üben gedenkt. Candida hört seinen Plan
zufällig mit und warnt Emilia. Zusammen mit Romualdo, dessen Beistand sie
erbeten hat, eilen sie in die Krypta hinab.
–87–
Bei der Gruft der Familie Liverpool lehnt an einem neu errichteten Grabmal
ein Porträt von Emilias Mutter. Federico erkennt es und ist noch betroffener
als zuvor. Nun endlich offenbart Claudio seine wahre Identität und verlangt
von Federico, eine der beiden Duellpistolen zu wählen, die er ihm reicht;
gleichzeitig verlangt er, dass Federico ein Schuldgeständnis unterschreibt.
Federico ist bereit, alles zu tun, was von ihm verlangt wird, weigert sich aber,
die Waffe gegen Emilias Vater zu heben. Gerade als Claudio ihn erschießen
will, hasten Emilia, Romualdo, Luigia, der Graf und die Bauern die
Stufen hinab.
Nun erfahren alle, um wen es sich bei Claudio in Wirklichkeit handelt.
Federico verkündet, dass Claudios Unschuld festgestellt wurde, und da nun
der treulose Stellvertreter seine gerechte Strafe bekommen hat, wird der
gesamte Besitz wieder förmlich Claudio übertragen. Großzügig verzeiht dieser
daraufhin Federico, und da Emilia überzeugt ist, dass ihr ehemaliger Verführer
sein Tun von Herzen bereut, reicht sie ihm die Hand. Luigia macht sich die
allgemeine Stimmung des Vergebens und Vergessens zunutze, um Don
Romualdo Verzeihung zu erbitten, und am Ende der Oper freuen sich alle auf
die bevorstehende Doppelhochzeit.
–88–
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
Die Handlung
Die Oper spielt in der Eremitage Liwerpool und Umgebung, die unweit von
London auf einem Berggipfel liegt.
Ein heftiges Unwetter bricht los, und Giacomo, der Haushofmeister der
Eremitage, drängt die Bergbewohner, ins Tal zu eilen, wo eine Kutsche
umgestürzt ist.
Als der Sturm nachlässt, kommen die geretteten Reisenden auf den Berg.
Der erste ist Asdrubale, ein neapolitanischer Graf. Er ist in Sorge um seine
Nichte Bettina und ihren Begleiter Tomson. Doch auch diese beiden treffen
wohlbehalten ein, wobei Tomson nicht nur beschwichtigend auf Bettina
einredet, sondern auch mit ihr schäkert.
Asdrubale belohnt die Bergbewohner für ihre Hilfe, bedauert aber, dass ein
zufällig vorbeikommender Matrose, der bei ihrer Rettung eine wesentliche
Rolle spielte, nirgends zu erblicken ist. Die Gruppe wird in die Sicherheit der
Eremitage geführt.
Dann tritt auch der Matrose auf, mit dichtem Bart und in Sklavenkleidung,
und erklärt, dass er nach zwanzig Jahren Fron in Afrika nach Hause
zurückgekehrt ist – niemand anderer als Emilias Vater. Bei seiner Rückkehrt
hat er vom Tod seiner Frau erfahren und sucht nun nach seiner Tochter, die er
für ihren Tod verantwortlich glaubt. Er fragt, ob sie vielleicht in dieser von
seinen Vorfahren gegründeten Eremitage Zuflucht gesucht habe. Er ist
zerrissen zwischen Rachegedanken und der Hoffnung, dass er Emilia bußfertig
antreffen möge.
–89–
Giacomo entdeckt ihn vor der Tür stehend und bestellt ihm, dass alle,
die er gerettet hat, ihm seine Hilfe vergelten möchten, doch er lehnt jeden
Lohn ab. Als er erfährt, dass Emilia sich tatsächlich hier an diesem einsamen
Ort aufhält, erklärt er, dass er den wahren Sachverhalt um ihren Vater kennt.
Durch üble Verleumdung sei Claudio als Verräter gebrandmarkt worden,
während er in Wirklichkeit sein Leben für den König aufs Spiel gesetzt
habe mit dem Ergebnis, dass er ins Exil verbannt und sein Hab und Gut
konfisziert wurde.
Giacomo will ihn in die Eremitage bringen, aber Claudio zögert, seine
Tochter zu sehen, die sich von einem Schurken namens Villars verführen ließ.
Die Schande, die sie damit über sich brachte, bedeutete für ihre Mutter
den Tod, und zudem vertat Emilia dadurch auch die Möglichkeit, den
wohlhabenden Neapolitaner zu ehelichen, mit dem sie verlobt war. Doch
Claudios Bedürfnis zu erfahren, ob sie wirklich reumütig ist, gewinnt
die Oberhand.
Im Hof der Eremitage verteilt Emilia Almosen an die Armen des Dorfes. Sie
erklärt Candida, dass sie keinen Frieden finden kann, denn wo immer sie auch
hingehe, werde sie vom rachsüchtigen Geist ihrer Mutter verfolgt.
Asdrubale tritt auf, um ihr seine Aufwartung zu machen. Emilia erfährt, dass
er ein Neapolitaner ist, der in Begleitung seiner Nichte nach England
gekommen ist, um seine ihm versprochene Braut abzuholen. Allerdings musste
er bei seiner Ankunft feststellen, dass diese Dame mit einem anderen Mann
entflohen war. Die Ähnlichkeit der Umstände ist allzu groß, um Emilia nicht
stutzig zu machen. Als Graf Asdrubale sich namentlich zu erkennen gibt,
gesteht Emilia, dass sie die entflohene Braut ist, und zieht sich bestürzt zurück.
–90–
Claudio wird von Tomson hereingeführt und Asdrubale vorgestellt. Tomson
erschreckt, denn nun hört er, dass Emilia die Vorsteherin der Eremitage ist,
und wir erfahren, dass er kein anderer als Oberst Villars ist, der Mann, der sie
verführt hat. Nun sieht Claudio die Möglichkeit zur Rache gekommen.
Herausfordernd sagt er Tomson, dass er dem Schurken, der ihm seine Ehre
raubte und seine ganze Familie zerstörte, sehr ähnlich sehe. Zwar wird
er immer erregter, beherrscht sich aber doch so weit, dass er nicht seine
Identität preisgibt. Tomson bleibt furchtsam und voll böser Vorahnungen
zurück, weiß aber noch immer nicht, wer dieser Mann ist, der ihm so drohend
gegenüber trat.
Tomson beginnt, sein früheres Verhalten zu bereuen. Er möchte Bettina die
Wahrheit sagen und erklären, dass er ihr falsche Hoffnungen gemacht hat, und
Frieden mit Emilia schließen. Doch bevor er das tun kann, kehrt Asdrubale
zurück und verlangt Satisfaktion dafür, dass er ihm Emilia geraubt hat. Bettina
glaubt irrtümlicherweise, dass die beiden Männer von ihr sprechen, wirft sich
ihrem Onkel zu Füßen und beteuert, dass Tomson ehrenhaft sei und ihr ein
Heiratsversprechen gegeben habe. Nun ist Asdrubale doppelt erzürnt: Nicht
nur hat Tomson ihm Emilia genommen, nun will er auch noch Bettina haben.
In dem Moment tritt Emilia hinzu und bittet die Anwesenden, ein frugales
Mahl mit ihr zu teilen. Sie und Tomson erkennen sich sofort, und Emilia
schwinden die Sinne, doch rasch kommt sie wieder zu sich und verdammt
ihren Verführer. Claudio und Asdrubale bedrängen Tomson, und als die
Situation auszuufern droht, bitten Emilia, Candida und Bettina die
Bergbewohner und Giacomo, den Frieden zu wahren.
–91–
Im zweiten Akt fragen sich die Bergbewohner, angeführt von Bettina und
Candida, warum ein unbekannter Matrosen derart großen Aufruhr
hervorrufen konnte.
Bettina möchte die wahre Identität des Matrosen erfahren, doch Giacomo
kann ihr nur sagen, dass er sich als Gefährte im Unglück von Emilias Vater
ausgibt. Giacomo seinerseits macht sich mehr Sorgen, weil Tomson erregt
nach Asdrubale sucht. Als sie dem Grafen wenig später begegnen, warnen sie
ihn deshalb, dass er möglicherweise in großer Gefahr sei.
Claudio trifft Emilia alleine an. Zuerst sagt er, er sei ein Freund ihres Vaters,
doch als ihre aufrichtige Reue all seine Zweifel zerstreut, gibt er sich als ihr
Vater zu erkennen. Versöhnt fallen sie sich in die Arme.
Als der Angst erfüllte Asdrubale auf Tomson stößt, glaubt er, dieser sei auf
Rache aus, doch in Wahrheit will Tomson ihn lediglich bitten, sich bei Emilia
für ihn zu verwenden.
Als Tomson abtritt, um Claudio zu suchen, erscheint Candida in großer
Aufruhr. Sie weiß mittlerweile, dass Claudio Emilias Vater ist und Tomson zur
unterirdischen Gruft der Familie Liwerpool locken will, um ihn vor dem Grab
von Emilias Mutter zu töten. Sie fleht Asdrubale an, den Mord zu verhindern,
und eilt selbst davon, um Emilia zu warnen.
In der Gruft lenkt Claudio den Blick seines Opfers auf ein Porträt von
Emilias Mutter, das an einem neu errichteten Grabmal hängt. Erschrocken
erkennt Tomson das Bildnis und fleht Claudio an, ihm seine wahre Identität
zu offenbaren. Langsam gibt Claudio sich zu erkennen. Dann besteht er
darauf, dass Tomson sich mit ihm duelliert, und verlangt von ihm, eine der
–92–
beiden Duellpistolen zu wählen, die er ihm reicht; gleichzeitig fordert er von
ihm, ein Schuldgeständnis zu unterschreiben.
Gebrochen fällt Tomson auf die Knie und bittet Claudio, ihn zu töten. Das
will dieser soeben tun, als Emilia, Asdrubale, Bettina, Giacomo und die
Bergbewohner die Stufen hinabeilen.
Tomsons Reue und sein Wunsch, Emila Abbitte zu leisten und sie zu
ehelichen, ist für alle offenkundig, und als Asdrubale sich für ihn einsetzt,
erteilt Claudio – der nun erklärt, dass er vom König begnadigt wurde, aber erst
die Ehre seiner Tochter verteidigen wollte, bevor er wieder in Amt und
Würden tritt – Emilia seine Erlaubnis zu heiraten.
Die Liebe erweist sich als stärker als Hass, und eine verwirrte, aber
glückliche Emilia reicht Tomson die Hand.
Niemand, so sagt sie, könne ihre Freude verstehen, der nicht ihre früheren
Qualen erlebt habe, denn Glück könne nur vollkommen sein, wenn es durch
Leiden geläutert werde.
© Jeremy Commons
Übersetzt von Ursula Wulfekamp
–93–
EMILIA DI LIVERPOOL
La Trama
La vicenda si svolge in una valle a poche leghe di distanza da Londra: qui si
trova un eremitaggio su una collinetta. Alcuni contadini laceri attendono
pazientemente all’aperto perché in questo momento, all’alba, compare ogni
giorno Emilia per distribuire le elemosine.
Da Candida, la governante dell’eremitaggio, veniamo a sapere che Emilia
è arrivata diciotto mesi prima in cerca di rifugio; allora era ancora in vita
la governante precedente, zia della fanciulla. Il padre di Emilia, fondatore
dell’eremitaggio, è morto, così crede Candida, schiavo in una prigione
africana.
Compare Emilia, in preda a un profondo dolore. Non riesce a trovare pace:
dovunque vada sembra essere inseguita dallo spettro vendicatore di sua madre.
Quando distribuisce l’elemosina la sua sofferenza si alleggerisce
momentaneamente.
Quando rimangono sole, Candida le chiede di terminare la storia delle sue
sventure che aveva iniziato prima. Emilia aveva narrato, ricorda Candida, che
suo padre Claudio, capitano di un vascello, era partito quando lei era piccola,
affidandola alle cure della madre. Ma l’agente a cui Claudio aveva affidato
le sue finanze le aveva amministrate male – di proposito, come scopriremo
dopo – e alla fine era arrivata la notizia che Claudio era stato ucciso dai
selvaggi africani.
Emilia aveva conosciuto un giovane ufficiale, un colonnello che aveva
chiesto la sua mano. Ma l’unione era stata ostacolata dalla madre di lei, che
–94–
l’aveva già promessa a un ricco nobile napoletano. Per non perderla,
il colonnello l’aveva convinta a fuggire con lui, ma la sera stessa in cui la
fanciulla era tornata a casa, sopraffatta dal rimorso, aveva trovato la madre
morta. Per disperazione era venuta all’eremitaggio e si era affidata alla
compassione di sua zia.
Il racconto viene interrotto da una violenta tempesta. Si odono invocazioni
d’aiuto. Una carrozza si è rovesciata nella valle e gli abitanti del villaggio si
affrettano a prestare soccorso.
La tempesta si placa e arrivano gli occupanti della carrozza ormai soccorsi.
Don Romualdo, un nobile napoletano, si lamenta di essere stato salvato dal
suo segretario Federico, che ha lasciato annegare la sua fidanzata Luigia.
Federico assicura il padrone che Luigia è salva, ma rivela che se potesse
rubargliela e averla per sé lo farebbe.
Entra Luigia e dichiara di dovere la vita a un marinaio di passaggio che è
riuscito a fermare i cavalli imbizzarriti. Entra anche il Conte suo padre, vecchio
e sordo, aiutato dai contadini, e il gruppo viene condotto al riparo
nell’eremitaggio.
Adesso entra il marinaio cencioso, con una folta barba, vestito da schiavo.
Rivela che ritorna in patria dopo vent’anni di schiavitù in Africa. Si tratta
naturalmente di Claudio. Venuto a sapere della morte di sua moglie, adesso va
in cerca della figlia che ritiene responsabile. È lacerato tra il desiderio di
vendetta e la speranza di trovare Emilia pentita.
Nell’eremitaggio veniamo a sapere che i viaggiatori sono sulla via del ritorno
in Italia, dove Luigia è promessa sposa a Don Romualdo. Lei e Federico sono
–95–
però decisi a mandare in aria questi piani. Luigia è convinta che Federico la
sposerà, ma lui intende ingannarla, esattamente come – si lascia sfuggire – ha
fatto prima con l’ignara Emilia.
Felice di trovarsi in un convento pieno di belle donne, Don Romualdo
racconta a Emilia di essere venuto in Inghilterra per conoscere la figlia di un
lord con cui suo zio aveva convenuto il matrimonio. Le circostanze sono
troppo somiglianti per non colpire Emilia: proprio lei, prima della sua fuga e
del disonore, era stata fidanzata con un nobile napoletano del genere. Quando
Don Romualdo rivela il suo nome ogni dubbio svanisce: è proprio lui e la
donna confessa di essere la promessa sposa che poi era fuggita.
Romualdo rivela a Federico che Emilia, la sua fidanzata del passato, oggi è
direttrice dell’ eremitaggio. Federico, colpevole, è preso dal timore.
Entra Claudio, che rifiuta ogni ricompensa per i suoi servigi. Mentre fa
commenti minacciosi a proposito della somiglianza tra Federico e il
mascalzone che gli ha rubato l’onore, Emilia riconosce Federico. Sviene, ma
poi si riprende per denunciare il suo seduttore.
Anche Luigia inveisce contro Federico, rendendo anche troppo manifesta la
propria infatuazione e Romualdo capisce che lo stesso mascalzone ha rubato il
cuore di entrambe le sue promesse spose.
Claudio trova Emilia sola. Inizialmente le dice di essere un amico di suo
padre, ma poi, quando la sincerità del rimorso di lei non lascia spazio ad altri
dubbi, rivela la propria identità. I due cadono l’uno nelle braccia dell’altra e la
riconciliazione è presto completa.
Mentre rimugina sulla sua sorte infelice, Romualdo viene interrotto da un
trambusto: Claudio si è avventato su Federico. Nessuno riesce a capire come
–96–
mai un marinaio sconosciuto faccia ricorso alla violenza così all’improvviso.
Emilia impedisce a Claudio di rivelare la sua vera identità dicendo che è un
amico di suo padre venuto a comunicarle la morte di quest’ultimo. Tutti
commentano la situazione e si augurano un ritorno della calma.
Nel secondo atto Luigia si dimostra ansiosa di placare Don Romualdo, ora
che la vera natura di Federico le è stata rivelata. Ma Romualdo è incapace di
comprendere la confusione intorno a lui.
Federico supplica Candida di intercedere per lui presso Emilia. Inoltre si
augura di assicurarsi l’aiuto di Don Romualdo e, quando si incontrano, gli
consegna una spada e gli chiede di ucciderlo per punirlo. Sostiene che non è
tutta colpa sua, dal momento che Luigia lo aveva incitato, ma questo non fa
che accrescere l’ira di Romualdo. Arriva Emilia e insieme con Romualdo sfoga
la propria indignazione sullo sfortunato Federico, nonostante il suo
pentimento.
Claudio chiede a Federico di seguirlo nei sotterranei fino alla tomba della
madre di Emilia, dove intendere compiere l’estrema vendetta. Candida lo
ascolta per caso e avverte Emilia. Le due donne chiedono l’aiuto di Romualdo
e si affrettano nel sotterraneo.
Nel sepolcro della famiglia di Liverpool un ritratto della madre di Emilia
sormonta una tomba fresca. Riconoscendolo, Federico è più demoralizzato che
mai. Claudio rivela finalmente la sua vera identità e gli chiede di scegliere una
pistola, esigendo allo stesso tempo che firmi una confessione di colpevolezza.
Federico è disposto a tutto, ma si rifiuta di prendere le armi contro il padre
di Emilia. Claudio sta per ucciderlo quando Emilia, Candida, Romualdo,
Luigia, il Conte e gli abitanti del villaggio entrano affollandosi sulle scale.
–97–
L’identità di Claudio viene svelata a tutti. Federico rivela che l’innocenza
di Claudio è stata accertata, l’agente disonesto che aveva amministrato male i
suoi beni è stato punito, e gli sono stati ufficialmente restituiti tutti i suoi averi.
La generosa reazione di Claudio è quella di perdonare Federico ed Emilia,
convita che il suo seduttore del passato oggi sia veramente pentito, gli dà la sua
mano. Luigia sfrutta l’universale impulso al perdono per chiedere perdono a
Don Romualdo, e l’opera si conclude con la previsione di una doppia
cerimonia di nozze.
–98–
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
La Trama
L’azione si svolge all’eremitaggio di Liwerpool, situato in cima a una montagna
e a breve distanza da Londra.
Si scatena una violenta tempesta e Giacomo, maggiordomo dell’eremitaggio,
sollecita gli abitanti del posto ad affrettarsi verso la valle, dove una carrozza si
è rovesciata.
Mentre la tempesta si placa, entrano i viaggiatori soccorsi. Il primo è
Asdrubale, conte napoletano. È in ansia per sua nipote Bettina e il compagno
di viaggio, Tomson. Ma poi arrivano anche gli altri due, sani e salvi: Tomson
fa coraggio a Bettina – addirittura, la corteggia.
Asdrubale ricompensa i montanari, ma gli dispiace non riuscire a ritrovare
un marinaio di passaggio, che ha svolto un ruolo importante nel salvataggio. Il
gruppo viene portato al riparo nell’eremitaggio.
Entra il marinaio: ha il volto coperto da una folta barba ed è vestito da
schiavo. Rivela di essere tornato in patria dopo vent’anni di schiavitù in Africa.
Si tratta del padre di Emilia, Claudio. È tornato, ha trovato la moglie morta e
adesso cerca la figlia che ritiene responsabile. Si chiede se si sia rifugiata in
questo eremitaggio, fondato dai suoi antenati. È combattuto tra il desiderio di
vendetta e la speranza di trovare Emilia pentita.
Giacomo, che lo trova alla soglia dell’eremitaggio, gli comunica che le
persone salvate con il suo aiuto sono ansiose di ricompensarlo, ma l’uomo
rifiuta ogni minimo accenno a una ricompensa. Informato che è proprio
Emilia a vivere in questo posto solitario, rivela di conoscere la sorte di suo
padre. Accusato di tradimento a causa di una calunnia infame, Claudio in
–99–
realtà aveva rischiato la vita per il suo re, ma alla fine era stato esiliato e i suoi
beni venivano confiscati. Poi era finito schiavo in Africa e rinchiuso in
prigione.
Giacomo lo invita nell’eremitaggio, ma Claudio è incerto: non è sicuro di
poter sopportare la vista di sua figlia che si è fatta sedurre da un mascalzone di
nome Villars. La sua onta ha portato la madre alla tomba e lei ha perso ogni
possibilità di matrimonio con il ricco napoletano con cui era un tempo
fidanzata. Ma l’ansia di sapere se la figlia è sinceramente pentita alla fine ha il
sopravvento.
Nel cortile dell’eremitaggio, Emilia distribuisce elemosine ai poveri del
villaggio. Confessa a Candida che non riesce a trovare pace perché, dovunque
si rivolga, le sembra di essere inseguita dallo spettro vendicativo di sua madre.
Entra Asdrubale per porgere i suoi omaggi. Emilia viene a sapere che il
napoletano era venuto in Inghilterra in compagnia della nipote, per conoscere
la sua promessa sposa. Al suo arrivo però aveva scoperto che la donna era
fuggita con un altro. La somiglianza delle circostanze è troppo evidente per
non colpire Emilia. Quando il Conte Asdrubale rivela la propria identità,
Emilia confessa di essere la sposa fuggiasca e si ritira in preda all’angoscia.
Entra Claudio, accompagnato da Tomson, e viene presentato ad Asdrubale.
Tomson è allarmato perché in questo momento scopre che la direttrice
dell’eremitaggio è Emilia e veniamo a sapere che è lui il suo seduttore, il
Colonnello Villars. Adesso Claudio ha la vendetta a portata di mano. Dichiara
significativamente a Tomson di trovarlo simile a un malvagio che gli ha rubato
l’onore e ha distrutto la sua famiglia. Si infiamma sempre di più, ma riesce a
padroneggiarsi e a non rivelare la sua identità. Tomson rimane preda di paure
–100–
e presentimenti, ma ignora ancora l’identità dell’uomo che lo osserva in
maniera tanto minacciosa.
Tomson comincia a rimpiangere la sua condotta passata. Sarebbe felice
di disilludere Bettina e fare pace con Emilia. Ma prima che possa farlo, rientra
Asdrubale e gli chiede soddisfazione per avergli rubato Emilia. Bettina pensa
per errore che stiano parlando di lei e si getta ai piedi dello zio, protestando
che Tomson è onesto e ha promesso di sposarla. Asdrubale è doppiamente
furioso: oltre ad avergli rubato Emilia, adesso Tomson cerca di portargli via
anche Bettina.
A questo punto entra Emilia per invitarli a un frugale pasto. Lei e Tomson
si riconoscono immediatamente. Emilia sviene, ma si riprende e denuncia il
suo seduttore. Tomson viene aggredito da Claudio e Asdrubale. Mentre la
situazione si fa potenzialmente sempre più violenta Emilia, Candida e Bettina
chiamano Giacomo e i montanari per mantenere la pace.
Nel secondo atto i montanari, guidati da Bettina e Candida, si chiedono
come mai un marinaio sconosciuto abbia scatenato questo putiferio.
Bettina è curiosa di sapere chi sia veramente il marinaio, ma Giacomo può
solo dirle che sostiene di essere compagno di sventure del padre di Emilia.
Giacomo è più preoccupato dal fatto di aver visto Tomson, andare in cerca di
Asdrubale, con lo sguardo allucinato. Un attimo dopo, quindi, quando
incontrano il Conte, i due lo avvertono: temono che sia in grave pericolo.
Claudio trova Emilia da sola. Le dice inizialmente di essere un amico di suo
padre ma poi, commosso dalla sincerità del suo rimorso, si rivela. I due cadono
l’uno nelle braccia dell’altra e la riconciliazione è completa.
Quando incontra Tomson, Asdrubale è terrorizzato perché ritiene che voglia
vendicarsi. In realtà Tomson vuole solo chiedergli di intercedere presso Emilia
per suo conto.
–101–
Mentre Tomson esce per incontrare Claudio, entra Candida in preda
all’angoscia. Adesso sa che Claudio è il padre di Emilia e che intende attirare
Tomson nella cripta sepolcrale sotterranea della famiglia Liwerpool per
ucciderlo davanti alla tomba della madre di Emilia. Supplica Asdrubale di
affrettarsi a impedire il delitto mentre lei va ad avvisare Emilia.
Nella tomba sotterranea Claudio chiede alla sua vittima di levare lo sguardo
verso un ritratto della madre di Emilia che sormonta una tomba fresca.
Tomson lo riconosce con sgomento e supplica di conoscere la vera identità di
Claudio. A poco a poco Claudio si rivela. Insiste perché Tomson si batta in
duello e gli offre la scelta delle pistole, esigendo allo stesso tempo che firmi una
confessione di colpevolezza.
Senza speranza, Tomson cade in ginocchio e chiede a Claudio di ucciderlo;
l’uomo sta per farlo quando Emilia, Candida, Asdrubale, Bettina, Giacomo e
i montanari arrivano affollandosi sulle scale.
Il rimorso di Tomson e il suo desiderio di ravvedersi sposando Emilia sono
evidenti e quando Asdrubale intercede in suo favore, Claudio – che rivela di
essere stato perdonato dal re e desiderava vendicare l’onore della figlia prima di
riprendere possesso dei suoi averi e dei suoi titoli – concede a Emilia il
permesso di sposarsi.
L’amore si dimostra più forte dell’odio ed Emilia, stordita ma felice, porge la
mano a Tomson. Nessuno può comprendere la sua gioia se non ha provato lo
stesso tormento: la felicità può essere perfetta solo se è stata temprata dalla
sofferenza.
© Jeremy Commons
Traduzione: Emanuela Guastella
–102–
Cover of the original
1824 libretto
A note on the translation
The spoken dialogue – which does not appear on the recording – is presented complete in the
libretto in blue text.
Don Romualdo speaks and sings in Neapolitan – not a dialect, but a different Italic language. The
only viable translation is standard English.
The Count is deaf. What he says is largely the result of mishearing the preceding line or cue. To
indicate this ‘gag’, these lines are not translated literally, but suitable puns are inserted.
Note sur la traduction
Les dialogues parlés ne figurent pas dans l’enregistrement. Ils sont toutefois reproduits
intégralement, en bleu, dans le livret.
Don Romualdo parle et chante en napolitain. Plutôt qu’un dialecte, c’est une variété d’italien qui
ne peut être rendue qu’en anglais standard.
Le comte est sourd. Ses paroles procèdent le plus souvent d’une incompréhension des répliques
précédentes. Au lieu d’en proposer une traduction littérale, on leur a substitué des jeux de mots
susceptibles de produire un effet humoristique équivalent.
Anmerkung zur englischen Übersetzung
Die gesprochenen Dialoge – die auf der Aufnahme nicht enthalten sind – sind im
englischsprachigen Libretto durchgängig in Blau wiedergegeben.
Don Romualdo spricht und singt Neapolitanisch. Das ist kein Dialekt, sondern eine eigene
Sprache, die nur durch Standard-Englisch wiedergegeben werden kann.
Der Graf ist taub. Mit seinen Repliken bezieht er sich meist auf vorhergehende Bemerkungen, die
er allerdings missverstanden hat. Um die Komik seiner Antworten zu erhalten, wurden diese
Zeilen nicht wörtlich ins Englische übertragen, sondern durch entsprechende Wortwitze ersetzt.
Nota sulla traduzione
Il testo dei dialoghi parlati, che non compaiono nella registrazione, è riportato integralmente in
blu nel libretto.
Le battute parlate e cantate di Don Romualdo sono in dialetto napoletano e sono state tradotte in
normale inglese.
Il Conte è sordo e generalmente fraintende quello che ha sentito dire prima. La traduzione in
inglese delle sue battute pertanto è stata adattata e include giochi di parole ad hoc.
–104–
CD1
72’00
ACT ONE
[1]
SCENE I
A mountainous landscape; to the left, on the brow of a hill, there is a hermitage with an
adjoining chapel in gothic style; below, some cypresses; in the distance, cottages of the
villagers. It is dawn.
The poor of the village; subsequently Candida enters from the hermitage.
[2]
Attendiam tranquilli, e cheti,
Già risplende in ciel l’aurora:
Questo è il punto, questa è l’ora:
La pia donna a noi verrà.
Ci sollevi la sua mano
D’indigenza dalle pene:
L’autor sommo d’ogni bene
Il suo duol mitigherà.
Con i doni consueti
Giunge a voi la sventurata:
Da rimorsi è lacerata,
Pace, oh Dio! trovar non sa.
L’autor sommo d’ogni bene
Il suo duol mitigherà.
VILLAGERS
Calmly and quietly we wait.
Dawn already shines in the sky.
This is the place, this is the time.
The pious lady will come to us.
May her hand raise us
From the harshness of poverty.
The great author of all that is good
Will lighten her grief.
CANDIDA
The unfortunate woman will come to
you
With her usual gifts.
She is tortured by remorse,
Peace, oh God, she cannot find.
VILLAGERS
The great author of all that is good
Will lighten her grief.
–105–
CANDIDA
Emilia scenderà tra poco, buona gente;
Emilia will be down shortly, good
people.
In mezzo alle sue angosce sempre rammenta In the midst of her anguish she always
i suoi poverelli.
remembers her poor people.
A VILLAGER
Ne abbiamo le pruove più sicure:
Of that we have most positive proof.
son varj mesi da che
For some months now we have
riceviamo i suoi soccorsi.
received her help.
CANDIDA
Dicciotto mesi or sono Emilia qui giunse.
It was eighteen months ago that Emilia
arrived here.
Viveva allora la vecchia direttrice sua zia.
Her aunt who used to run the retreat
was alive then.
Il padre suo fu il fondatore di questo ritiro.
Her father founded the hermitage.
L’infelice, per quanto sua figlia mi ha
He, poor man, from what his
raccontato, è morto schiavo ne’ bagni
daughter tells me, died as a slave in
dell’ Affrica.
prison in Africa.
A VILLAGER
Nè sarà, possible di dileguare la di lei
Will it not be possible to relieve her
tristezza?
unhappiness?
CANDIDA
E come, se i più terribili rimorsi le
How can we when the most terrible
raddoppiano ognora l’affanno?
remorse constantly increases her
distress?
A VILLAGER
Ma si apre la porta del ritiro!
The hermitage door is opening!
Che sia d’essa?
Is it she?
–106–
SCENE II
Emilia enters from the hermitage, immersed in deep sadness.
[3]
Ecco miratela.
Qua volge il piè.
CANDIDA
Look at her!
Here she is!
VILLAGERS
Oh, come è mesta!
Oh, how sad she is!
Par fuor di sé!
She seems beside herself.
EMILIA
Quest’aura mattutina,
The morning breeze,
Quest’astro risplendente,
The shining sun,
Mi par che in dolce calma
Seem to calm my senses
Riponga i sensi miei…
With sweet repose…
Sventurata ch’io son! che dissi mai?
How unfortunate I am! What have I
said?
Non vi è pace per me… dovunque inoltro,
There is no peace for me… wherever
I go,
Ovunque io volgo il passo,
Wherever I turn my step.
La squallid’ombra di mia madre irata
The bleak shadow of my wrathful
mother
Sempre… ahi! sempre rimiro!
Always, alas, always I see again!
Mi persegue il rimorso ov’io mi aggiro!
Remorse follows me wherever I
wander!
[4]
Madre! deh placati!
Mother! Forgive me!
Misera me!
Poor Emilia!
–107–
Patric Schmid
(producer)
and Yvonne Kenny
(Emilia)
Ti spinse a morte
Il fallo mio…
Mi rende un Dio
Giusta mercè!
Ondeggio, e palpito!
Avvampo, e m’agito!
E resa stupida
Mi manca il piè!
My misdeeds
Brought on your death.
God gives me
My just reward.
I waver and palpitate!
I am flushed and agitated
And stupefied!
My footstep falters!
CANDIDA
Emilia, a voi d’intorno
Emilia, around you
Mirate i poverelli:
See the poor.
Attendon, meschinelli,
They await, unfortunate wretches,
L’usata carità.
Your habitual charity.
EMILIA
Amici miei, prendete…
My friends, here you are…
(rousing herself and giving alms to the poor)
Preghiere al ciel volgete…
Offer prayers to heaven…
VILLAGERS
Che siate benedetta
May you be blessed
Di tanta carità!
For such charity!
[5]
Ah! di contento
Ah, with contentment
Ripiena ho l’alma!
My heart is now full!
Il vostro giubilo
Your joy
Ripone in calma,
Calms me again
E il cor più lieto
And makes my heart
Brillar mi fa!
Bright again.
Sì!
Yes!
–109–
CANDIDA/VILLAGERS
Peace be with you
Always.
CANDIDA
Grazie al cielo! vi veggo alquanto
Thanks to heaven, I see you
rasserenata.
somewhat calmed again.
EMILIA
Ah! cara amica, questi sono lampi di
Ah, my dear friend. This serenity is
serenità passaggiera; i miei rimorsi non
but fleeting. My remorse prevents
me la fanno gustare molto tempo.
me from savouring it for long.
CANDIDA
Andate, amici e siate pronti ad accorrere,
Go, my friends, and be ready to come
se mai nella sottoposta valle qualche
running if by chance some traveller
viandante si trovasse in pericolo.
finds himself in danger in the valley
below.
(The villagers leave.)
Or che siam sole, è tempo che voi
Now we are alone it is time that you
terminiate il racconto delle vostre sventure.
finished the tale of your misfortunes.
L’arrivo importuno delle nostre suore lo ha
Inopportune arrival of our sisters
altra volta interrotto.
interrupted it the last time.
EMILIA
A che riaprirmi una ferita, che versa ognora Why reopen a wound which still
tiepido sangue?
weeps warm blood?
CANDIDA
Giova anzi talvolta il deposito delle proprie
But it helps sometimes to entrust
pene nel seno di una fedele amica.
one’s troubles to the heart of a
Mi diceste
faithful friend.
che voi siete figlia di Claudio, signore
You were telling me that you are the
Ognor la pace
Con voi sarà.
–110–
di Liverpool, Capitano di un vascello. Che
il suo dovere lo chiamò altrove, mentre voi
eravate bambina: che i vostri beni furono
malamente amministrati da un agente,
prescelto da vostro padre medesimo. Intenta
ad educarvi, la ottima genitrice fu colpita
dal ferale annunzio della morte di Claudio,
ucciso in un combattimento da barbari
Affricani, che predarono il vascell.
daughter of Claudio, Lord of
Liverpool, Captain of a Man of War.
That his duty called him away when
you were a child. That your estate
was badly administered by an agent
chosen by your father himself.
Your good mother devoted herself
to your upbringing, but was
struck by the funereal news of
Claudio’s death, killed in combat
by barbarous Africans, who plundered
his ship.
EMILIA
Ah! mi è sempre presente quell’istante
Ah, that fatal moment is with me
fatale!
always!
CANDIDA
Mi diceste che v’incontraste al passeggio in
You told me that while out walking
un giovane Uffiziale, che fece molta
you met a young officer who made a
impressione sul vostro spirito. Che costui
deep impression on you, that he
vi chiese in isposa alla madre, e n’ebbe
asked your mother for your hand
un rifiuto, perché essa vi aveva
but was refused as she had
impegnata ad un ricco signore
arranged a match with a rich
Napolitano, di origine Spagnuolo,
Neapolitan gentleman of Spanish
che in breve doveva a quest’
origin who was due shortly to
oggetto giungere in Inghilterra.
arrive in England for that very purpose.
EMILIA
Oh infausta circostanza, che decise del
Oh! unfortunate circumstance which
mio destino!
decided my destiny!
–111–
CANDIDA
Che il Colonello, vostro amante, riuscì a
That your lover, the Colonel,
sollecitarvi ad una fuga…
persuaded you to flee with him…
EMILIA
Ah! il barbaro mi sedusse, e mi trasse in
The wicked man led me astray and
una casa di campagna, come trofeo della sua carried me off, dragged me to a house
perfidia!
in the country as a trophy of his
perfidy!
CANDIDA
Ma subito il pentimento si fece sentire
But your heart was immediately filled
nel vostro core e non potendo esistere lungi with repentance and unable to exist
dalla genitrice, meditaste, ed eseguiste
far away from your mother, you
il disegno di rientrare la notte
conceived and carried out the plan to
istessa nelle vostre domestiche mura.
return to your home that very night.
EMILIA
Ah! vi regnava il pianto, e la desolazione!
Ah, there weeping and desolation
La sventurata mia madre pel dolore della
reigned. My unfortunate mother,
mia perdita, sorpresa da una terribile
through the pain of losing me,
convulsione, era spirata.
overtaken by a dreadful convulsion,
had breathed her last.
CANDIDA
Oh Dio!
Oh, God!
EMILIA
Come una forsennata, e spinta dalla
Like a mad woman, driven by
disperazione, qui venni a gittarmi ai
desperation, I came here to throw
piedi di mia zia; ella mi accolse, perché
myself at the feet of my aunt.
io avessi in questa solitudine pianto
She took me in that I might
i miei falli: accolse, volle anche il cielo
repent my wrongdoing in solitude.
–112–
di lei privarmi, ed io, sola, e priva di
ogni soccorso, vivo per mia eterna
sciagura in un pelago di amarezze.
Heaven took her from me too,
and now alone and deprived of all
comfort, I live to my eternal shame,
in a sea of bitterness.
CANDIDA
Consolatevi. Avete in me una leale amica.
Be comforted. In me you have a loyal
Ma il tempo si fa burrascoso!
friend. Look how blustery it has
become!
(A storm begins and becomes increasingly violent.)
EMILIA
Eppure il nascente giorno sembrava così
And yet the weather was so promising
ridente!
at daybreak!
CANDIDA
Ritiriamoci. I contadini saranno solleciti
Let us go inside. The villagers will
ad assistere i viandanti. Appunto nella
take care of any travellers.
valle si vede una carrozza! oh come cresce
You can see a carriage in the valley.
il turbine!
The storm is getting worse!
VOICES IN THE DISTANCE
Ajuto! ajuto!
Help! Help!
EMILIA
Infelici! il legno è ribaltato!
Poor wretches! The vehicle has
overturned!
CANDIDA
Correte amici… andate a soccorrere quei
Run, friends… go and help those
meschini.
unfortunate people.
(The villagers hurry off into the valley.)
–113–
EMILIA
Sommo Nume! ah! la tua celeste mano
Highest Being! Let your heavenly
accorra a sottrarli dal periglio!
hand be present to snatch them from
danger!
(They go into the hermitage. The storm grows more violent and then, little by little,
abates, and all is calm.)
SCENE III
Federico, with difficulty, leads on Don Romualdo, both bedraggled from the accident.
[6]
Via calmatevi, signore,
Che cessata è la tempesta.
Già più bello il sol tornò.
[7]
Fate coraggio; il ciel si calma…
VILLAGERS
Come, calm yourself, sir,
The storm is over.
Now the sun is shining even brighter.
FEDERICO
Have courage, the sky is clearing…
DON ROMUALDO
E uscìa
And you, sir,
M’ha strascenato ccà, mente la sposa
Have dragged me here, while my
Dinto a no lavarone
Betrothed, sitting in a puddle,
Addeventanno sta na granavotta!
Is turning into a frog!
FEDERICO
Son seco i servi e il padre: in questo
The servants and her father are with
luogo
her.
Dalla sofferta scossa
Would it please you to rest a little
Vi piaccia alquanto riposar.
In this place after the shock you’ve
had?
–114–
Chris Merritt
(Federico)
(Potessi così dal mio tesor strapparti
(Could I but dispose of you now,
Ognora, abborrito rival!)
Abhorred rival, from my beloved!)
DON ROMUALDO
Vì la mmalora!
What a disaster,
[8]
A n’ommo che allancato
For a man who, dying
Di abbramma nuziale,
Of nuptial longing,
Vicino al bene amato
Was having a ball
Faceva carnevale,
Beside his darling.
Mancava na tropea
It only needed a storm
Pe’ farlo disperà!
To ruin everything!
La sciorta m’è matrea,
Fate is my stepmother
Maje mamma me sarrà!
But she’ll never be my mum!
FEDERICO
Ma ormai sereno è il cielo;
But the sky is clear now
Ma dissipato è il nembo:
And the clouds have blown away.
Di bella calma in grembo
Once more you breathe
Tornate a respirar.
The calm, wondrous air.
DON ROMUALDO
Ma mo’ che s’è ammaccata
But now that she has been bruised
Da la tremenda botta,
By that tremendous crash,
Co n’anca sdellommata,
With her hip dislocated
Co quacche coscia rotta,
And several ribs cracked
Cioncata int’a no lietto
My fiancée will have to stay
La sposa avrà da stà.
In bed, paralysed.
E de no lazaretto
And what the devil
Che cancaro ho da fà?
Can I do about it?
–116–
FEDERICO
It is only a passing distress
That has overtaken her;
Her strength is already returning;
She will soon be merry again.
DON ROMUALDO
L’aje vista?
Did you see her?
FEDERICO
Lo assicuro.
I assure you.
DON ROMUALDO
É sana?
Is she alright?
FEDERICO
Qual timore?
There’s nothing to worry about.
DON ROMUALDO
Sta’ bona?
She’s really alright?
FEDERICO
Ve lo giuro;
I swear;
Or vi raggiungerà.
She will join you directly.
DON ROMUALDO
Ah! ca da’morte a bita
Ah! I feel myself coming back
Me sento sorzetà!
From death to life!
FEDERICO
(Ma ti sarà rapita,
(But she will be stolen from you.
Ma tua giammai sarà.)
She never shall be yours.)
[9]
DON ROMUALDO
Zompa… va lesto… vì comme sta…
Jump to it… look smart… see how
she is…
Si è revenuta, portala ccà.
If she has come round, bring her here.
É un passaggiero affanno,
Che i sensi suoi sorprende;
Ma il suo vigor riprende,
Ma lieta tornerà.
–117–
Che benga all’uoglio, mbraccia, o
nseggetta.
Vedè la voglio, pe’ me calmà.
Dille, che st’arma – chiù
n’arricetta,
Che squase a sarma – le aggio da fà.
Bring her on oiled wheels, in your
arms, or a sedan chair.
I want to see her, to calm myself.
Tell her my arms are better than a
prescription,
That I have a cargo of caresses to give
her.
Ah! no morzillo accossì bello
Ah! Divinities of London!
Numi di Londra! per me serbate,
Keep my pretty morsel safe.
E in questa rezza quel fecatello,
And, Divinities, keep this tasty tidbit
Numi! voi fate me arravoglià!
Wrapped up safely for me!
FEDERICO
A lei mi affretto… vi servirò…
I hasten to her side… I will do your
bidding…
Le vostre pene tutte dirò.
I will tell her all your anxieties.
E in ascoltarle – la vostra bella,
And as she hears them, your
betrothed
Per consolarle – volar saprà.
Will fly to you to console you.
Oh voi felice! – ridente stella
Oh happy man! – a radiant star
Già vi predice serenità.
Already predicts your serenity.
(Ah! freno a stento l’acerbo affanno!
(Ah! with difficulty I restrain my
bitter
Di gelosia mi ange il veleno!
Feelings; jealousy poisons me!
Amor, dispetto già sento in seno
Already I feel in my breast that love
and spite
Che il cor mi stanno fieri a straziar.)
Will ferociously tear my heart apart.)
DON ROMUALDO
E ancora te staje ccà? mmalora, segretà,
You’re still here? The devil, secretary!
–118–
si cchiù pesante tu de lo cchiummo…
You are as hard to move as lead…
e cammina, tartaruca mia!
trot along, my little tortoise!
FEDERICO
Ecco appunto Luigia, che, rinvenuta dal
But look, here comes Luigia
suo smarrimento, qui viene a consolarvi.
recovered from her fainting spell
to calm your fears.
(Oh gelosia!)
(Oh jealousy!)
SCENE IV
Luigia with villagers and servants, later the Count.
DON ROMUALDO
Oh ammennolella mia monnata! comme
Oh, my little peeled almond, how do
te siente? sbattuta ancora dalla
you feel? Still shaken by that
tremenda sbattitura?
frightful shake-up?
LUIGIA
Meno che lo spavento, altro male non ho
Apart from fright, I have suffered no
sofferto, grazie al cielo!
other harm, thank heavens!
DON ROMUALDO
Eh! “poteva essere pejore” dicette chillo, che Ha! “It could have been worse”, as the
se rompette doje gamme e uno vraccio.
man said who broke two legs
and an arm!
LUIGIA
Dobbiamo la nostra salvezza a questi villani, We owe our safety to these villagers,
ed a quel marinaro, che con coraggio
and to that sailor who with
straordinario, fermando i cavalli, riuscì
extraordinary courage, succeeded in
a liberarci dal pericolo.
stopping the horses and saved us
all from danger.
–119–
DON ROMUALDO
Te! figliù scacquate, e mbriacateve pè me
Here, my damp lads! get drunk on beer
de birra, a chillo marenaro le voglio fà fà
at my expense. I want to have an
no purpo arricamato. Vi ca l’avimmo
embroidered jacket made for that
obbrecazione de lo cuorio!
sailor. We owe our skins to him!
LUIGIA
Ma come ad un tratto i cavalli, spaventati
The way the horses suddenly,
dal temporale, ci han trascinato in questa
frightened by the storm, pulled us
valle!
into this valley!
FEDERICO
Disgrazie solite a succedere a’ viaggiatori.
The usual things that happen to
travellers.
DON ROMUALDO
E pò, Federì, addò lo si ghiuto a scavà no
Just a moment, Freddy! Why did we
cocchiero co n’uocchio cecato, e coll’auto
have to end up with a coachman
che poco ce vede? si no strellava io ntiempo blind in one eye and who can hardly
l’audo juorno, ce strascenava tunno dinto a
see out of the other! If I hadn’t
no lago, che isso aveva pigliato pe na
shouted in time, the other day, he
bella prataria.
would have dragged us into a lake
which he’d mistaken for a pretty
meadow.
FEDERICO
Il fatto adesso non ha più rimedio: pensiamo What’s done can’t be undone. Let’s give
a ristorarci in qualche modo.
some thought to refreshing ourselves
in some way.
A VILLAGER
In quel ritiro sarete accolti con tutta la
In this retreat you will be received with
ospitalità, ed amicizia.
all hospitality and friendship.
–120–
LUIGIA
Uno de’ contadini, accorsi ad ajutarci, mi ha One of the villagers who came to our
detto esser quel romitaggio da sole donne
rescue told me that the hermitage
abitato.
is inhabited solely by women.
DON ROMUALDO
Tanto meglio! mo ce arrivammo nuje, che
So much the better! We were men
simmo uommene, e addeventammo tutte
when we arrived, and now we’re all
neutre: approposeto de neutre pateto che se completely neutered! Talking of
n’è fatto? se fosse restato comme a
neutered, what happened to your
ruospo a ngrassà dinto all’acqua?
father? Was he left to swell up like a
toad in the water?
LUIGIA
Eccolo, egli arriva sostenuto da’ contadini.
Here he is, helped along by the village
folk.
FEDERICO
Povero vecchio! la caduta è stata più fatale
Poor old man! The fall was harder for
lui che a noi.
him than it was for us.
DON ROMUALDO
Chesta è una delle tre ce de li viecchie!
That fall was one of the three ‘F’s of
videtillo si non pare n’uosso de presutto
old age: falling, forgetting and farting.
caroliato? Nè gnò! comme te siente?
He looks like a gnawed bone. Well, sir!
poverommo! staje tutto nfuso!
how are you feeling? Poor old thing!
You’re all sopping!
COUNT
(who is very deaf )
Se son confuso? oh bella! Volete che io non
Stopping? Not here. We have to
lo sia dopo la disgrazia avvenutaci?
continue our journey?
–121–
DON ROMUALDO
I said that you ought to take a bath.
COUNT
Quale cognato? che dite? e sempre siete
On the path? What do you mean?
sullo scherzo?
Have you gone completely crazy?
DON ROMUALDO
Benedica! che belle recchie! Eppure cierte
God help us! What fine hearing! But
bote è fortuna: poco nnanze nuje
there’s a bright side to a handicap.
ste-va-mo tremmanno pe’lo
A little time before, while we were
fracasso de li truone,
trembling at the noise of the
e isso m’addimmannava
thunderclaps,
chi era che mmiezo a lo vallone
he asked me who in the valley
sonava lo controbasso.
was playing the double bass.
COUNT
E cosa si fa adesso? resteremo qui a disagio
What shall we do now? Sit here in
fino a che non sia accomodata la vettura?
discomfort until the carriage
has been repaired?
DON ROMUALDO
Gnernò: mo ce jamimo a ristorà dinto a
No way! Now we are going to refresh
chillo romitaggio.
ourselves in this hermitage.
COUNT
E perchè è Maggio volete che io mi
Infirmity? Don’t worry about me, I can
asciughi questi abiti in dosso?
hear quite well, really.
DON ROMUALDO
Jammoncenne, ca si no mo vedite n’auta
We had better move then, or else
tempesta tra nuje duje! Viene commico.
another storm will blow up – between
the two of us! Come on!
Aggio ditto si te si bagnato.
–122–
COUNT
Where to?
DON ROMUALDO
A la conciaria, a farte spilà le recchie!
To the jewellers to have your ears
pierced!
Federì, appoja tu la sposella mia, ca io
Freddy, you give your arm to my
carrejo sto casciabanco.
betrothed, while I load up this
bean bag.
(Romualdo, the Count and the villagers go into the hermitage.)
FEDERICO
Mia cara Luigia!
My dearest Luigia!
LUIGIA
Ah Federico!
Ah, Federico!
FEDERICO
Voi sposerete Don Romualdo?
Will you marry Don Romualdo?
LUIGIA
Prima morire, che abbandonare
I would die before abandoning
il mio Federico.
my Federico.
(They go into the hermitage.)
Dove?
SCENE V
Claudio, in rags, dressed as a slave, with a heavy beard.
[10]
In dura schiavitù
Il fato mi dannò!
Il cor giammai provò
Che sia contento!
CLAUDIO
To cruel slavery
Fate condemned me!
My heart never knew
What it is to be content!
–123–
Ovunque io volgo il piè,
Non trova il mio dolor
Che immagini d’orror,
E di tormento!
[11]
Ah Claudio sventurato
Quando avranno un confin gli affanni tuoi?
Di dura schiavitù dopo venti anni
Sull’Affricano lido al patrio suolo
Celere il passo io muovo.
Misero me! non trovo
Che pianto, che terror! perfida Emilia!
Tu la morte recasti
Co’ tuoi delitti infami
Alla tua genitrice, e sposa mia!
Cielo! vendica il duol di un padre afflitto
Col fulmin punitore del delitto!
[12]
D’una tradita madre
L’ombra tuttor sdegnata
Non scenda invendicata
Ne’ regni dell’orror.
Ah no… che dissi mai?
Wherever I turn my step,
My sorrow finds naught
But images of horror,
And torment!
Ah, unfortunate Claudio!
When will your troubles come to an
end?
After twenty years of cruel slavery
On the African shore, to my native soil
I speed my step.
Unhappy man! I find
Only weeping and terror! Treacherous
Emilia!
With your infamous crimes
You brought death
To your mother, to my wife!
Heaven! Revenge the wound of an
afflicted father
With a thunderbolt to punish the
crime.
O may the shade, still angry,
Of your betrayed mother
Not descend unavenged
To the realms of horror.
Ah no! What am I saying?
–124–
Geoffrey Dolton
(Claudio di Liverpool)
Mi trasportò lo sdegno…
Cielo! sospendi il fulmine,
Lo implora il genitor.
[13]
S’è ver, che sei pentita,
Misera, afflitta figlia,
Stendi le braccia tenere
A chi ti diè la vita,
E sulla muta cenere
Noi spargeremo unanimi
Lagrime di dolor.
Ah, questa soave imagine
Lieto mi rende il cor.
I was carried away by anger…
Heaven! Arrest the thunderbolt,
Her father implores you.
If it is true that you are penitent
Unhappy, afflicted daughter,
Reach out your sweet hand
To him who gave you life,
And on those mute ashes
Together we will shed
Tears of suffering.
Ah, this sweet picture
Gladdens my heart
(He departs.)
SCENE VI
A corridor in the retreat. Various doors lead off to cells.
Federico, Luigia, the Count, later Don Romualdo.
COUNT
Spero che domattina proseguiremo il
I hope that tomorrow we will
nostro viaggio per l’Italia, e giunti a
continue our journey to Italy, and
Napoli, si faranno subito le tue nozze con
that when we reach Naples, your
Don Romualdo.
marriage to Don Romualdo will be
celebrated at once.
LUIGIA
Nol voglia il cielo!
Heaven forfend!
–126–
COUNT
What did you say?
LUIGIA
Ho detto lo voglia il cielo!
I said “heaven sent”!
COUNT
Brava figlia!
Good girl!
LUIGIA
(Domani sarai mio marito.)
(Tomorrow you will be my husband.)
FEDERICO
(A quest’ora saremo di già lontani.)
(By this hour we will be far away.) (I’ll
(Anche questa sarà da me corbellata:
fool her too. But yet the memory
eppure la memoria di Emilia da me
of Emilia, whom I betrayed, does not
tradita non lascia di turbarmi.
cease to haunt me. A weakness
Eh, debolezza indegna di me!)
unworthy of me!)
LUIGIA
Ecco Don Romualdo.
Here is Don Romualdo!
DON ROMUALDO
Cattera! e comme so cassese ste femmene
Ye Gods! They do themselves very well,
ritirate! tutte de belle cere; si te vedono
the ladies who have retreated here. All
s’accovano nzì a nterra, e te fanno
nice lookers: when they see you they
na resella nfaccia: ora vì? cca dinto
drop a curtsey to the ground and a
s’hanno da ngrottà tutte ste bitelle
smile in your face. Have you noticed?
To think of all that fresh young veal
sorrentine, e nuje cierte bote ce
shut away in here and how often we
avimmo da acconcià cò cierte bufare,
have to put up with some old buffalo
che te fanno votà lo stommaco!
who makes your stomach turn!
LUIGIA
Evviva Don Romualdo!
Hooray for Don Romualdo!
Cos’hai detto?
–127–
DON ROMUALDO
Luigia mia, non te fa brutta, ca pe te
My Luigia, don’t get nasty, for you
sempre ce sia la primma cammera
will always have first place in my
dinto a lo core mio. Io so pazziariello,
heart. I am a madcap. I like being
me piace de sta tra le gonnelle,
among the skirts, but then Naples,
ma po lo sape Napole, Londra,
London and the whole wide world
e tutto lo munno, non song’ommo
knows that I am not really such
de malizia.
a bad lot.
LUIGIA
Oh divertitevi pure, io non sono gelosa.
Oh, amuse yourself by all means, I’m
not jealous.
DON ROMUALDO
Tutto lo contrario de mammeta, che a
Quite the opposite of your mama,
comme m’aje ditto tu stressa, ha fatto
who, from what you yourself have
sempre ì co li barcune all’uocchie a lo sì
told me, always made your father
Conte, ch’è stato no brutto
go around in blinkers – what a nasty
piezzo d’artiglieria! sanfason…
blow! How inconsiderate! But…
sciampagne! l’uocchie so fatte pe bedere.
champagne! To eyes – meant
to see with.
LUIGIA
E le mani per non toccare.
And to hands – not to touch with.
DON ROMUALDO
Ebbiva la guagliona! moscia sì, ma le risposte Good for the girl! A bit boring, but
non te le faje mancare: approposito, aggio
not short with the back answers:
visto apparecchià da magnare: sarrà pe nuje by the bye, I saw them laying the table
sicuramente: sì Cò, adesso avremo l’onore di for dinner. It will surely be for us.
esser serviti da ste peccerelle a la menza.
Hey, mister Count, we will have
the honour of being served by those
cuties at table.
–128–
COUNT
Able? To do what?
DON ROMUALDO
A lo diavolo cecato!
Go to Hell, you’re deaf!
COUNT
Cavoli in insalata? non mi piacciono.
You smell the chef? I don’t like the
sound of that!
DON ROMUALDO
No? e tu magna cappucce: e io non bolgio
No? Well, I’m not taking a vow to
fa vuto de parlà co sto surdo!
converse with this old chap.
LUIGIA
Se lo permette lo sposo, vorrei riposarmi un With my betrothed’s permission, I
poco nell’altra stanza.
would like to retire for a while to the
other room.
DON ROMUALDO
Uscia è la padrona.
As your ladyship wishes.
FEDERICO
Vuole compagnia la signorina?
Does the young lady wish to have
company?
LUIGIA
E non sai che sola ho timore?
Don’t you know I am afraid to be by
myself?
DON ROMUALDO
Vuò che bengo io?
Shall I come with you?
LUIGIA
Non conviene, che voi siate a me vicino,
It is not proper that you should be
come prossimo sposo, in un luogo di ritiro: with me, my future husband, in a
A che si pensa?
–129–
farà le vostre veci il segretario:
così vi sarà un poco
più di decenza.
private room. Your secretary will take
your place, and that will be
a little more proper.
DON ROMUALDO
E mbè segretà me raccomanno a la tua
Very well, secretary, but keep to your
segretaria. Ne gnò? e tu non baje co essa?
secretarial duties. Now then, go and
keep her company!
COUNT
Viene la badesa?
Frumpery?
DON ROMUALDO
Mo te dò no priore de punio nfaccia, e la
I’ll give your face priority with my fist
fenesco!
and finish off this matter!
COUNT
Che dite?
What did you say?
DON ROMUALDO
E ba da figlieta mo, ca po parlammo.
Go to your daughter now, then we’ll
talk.
COUNT
Costui mi fa girare il cervello!
This chap makes my brain spin!
(They depart.)
DON ROMUALDO
Eppure sta sposa pare che che commico
Although she’s my fiancée, it seems
magnà sempre aloja pateca! gnorsi è
that with me she always eats with
bellina quanto ce ne cape, ma da grazia
a wry face. Lord yes! Pretty as they
soja pare che la venne a mille ducate
come, but her smiles seem to
a lo trappiso! oh, ma quanno me
cost a thousand ducats a roll!
sarrà mogliera me l’acconcio a genio mio… Oh, but when she’s my wife,
Oh! e bì che bella figliola se ne vene a
Oh! I’ll sort her out my way…Oh!
–130–
chesta via! chesta mo è faccia de ritirata?
vi che castoro de picugno s’ha di carolià
dinto a sto stipo!
look at the pretty girl coming
this way. That isn’t the face of a nun!
Look what a nice piece of stuff is
getting moth-eaten in this closet!
SCENE VII
Emilia enters.
EMILIA
Voi siete, o signore, uno dei nostri ospiti?
Are you one of our guests, sir?
DON ROMUALDO
A farvi grazia… e vuje site la nostra ospitaAt your service. And you are the
lera? E chi non starria mente campa
hospitality lady? Well, I suppose you’d
dinto a sto spitale
have to be, living in a hospice!
EMILIA
A che tanto mi guardate, o signore?
Why are you staring at me, sir?
DON ROMUALDO
Io so appassionato de belle pitture, e
I am mad about beautiful paintings
quanno vedo no quadro de Franceschiello
and when I see a picture by
comm’a buje mo… non me sazio maje de
Franceschiello like you… I’m not
sorchiaremillo coll’ uocchie e ba non
satisfied just drinking it in with my
credere a lo mutio quanno dice,
eyes, and don’t believe the dumb
ca ogne disgrazia non bene pe fa male!
one when he tells you that
benedette le tronole de stamminatina.
an ill wind never blows good! Bless
che ce hanno procurato lo piacere
this morning’s thunderbolts that
de vedè sto ritiro de belle nenne,
gave us the chance to see this cloister
e de vuje specialmente,
of pretty nuns, and you especially.
–131–
che tra la belle site la capotrotta.
In this shoal of beauties you’re
obviously the big catch.
EMILIA
A quel che veggo, amate molto il nostro
I see you are a great admirer of our sex?
sesso?
DON ROMUALDO
Ma si site la chiù bella opera de la natura!
Only those that are the fairer works of
è lo vero che attuorno a ste rose
nature! It’s true that around
addorose ce so le spine,
the sweetest-smelling roses
ma io sempe me ne so riso
there are thorns, but I have always
delle loro punture.
laughed at their pricks.
EMILIA
Vi chiedo licenza; debbo assistere alle mie
Will you excuse me? I must go and
compagne.
help my companions.
DON ROMUALDO
Addò jate? non signore: io so no povero
Where are you going? No sir, here I
bagnato da la tempesta, e mo che steva
am, poor chap soaked by the storm,
piglianno no poco de calimma nfaccia
warming myself a little in front of
a sto fuoco, uscia me vo levà
your fire, when you suddenly take
la vampa da vicino?… gnernò…
away the warmth from me…
uscia si azzezzi, e facimmo no poco
Lord no!… sit down, madame
de commersazione.
and let’s have a little chat.
EMILIA
Come vi piace, sediamo pure. Conosco dal
As you please, let us sit by all means. I
vostro accento che siete Napolitano?
can tell from your accent that you are
Neapolitan.
DON ROMUALDO
Gnernò. Napoli non mi sbucciò, ma mi
Lord no! Naples didn’t pup me, but
–132–
poppò, Spagna fu quella che mi devacò
she gave me suck. It was Spain who
.
spawned me.
EMILIA
Vale dire che nasceste in Ispagna?
You mean you were born in Spain?
DON ROMUALDO
Addò senza pregiudicà i tuoi colori, ce
Where, with all respect to your
stanno porzì de’quadri vivaci, ed
brushwork, there really are some lively
apprettatori.
and exciting pictures.
EMILIA
(Qual somiglianza di circostanze!)
(What a similarity of circumstances!)
E come siete in Inghilterra?
And why are you in England?
DON ROMUALDO
Eh! de la storia mia se ne potarriano stampà Ha! They could already have published
diece volume in foglio! na sposa che a uso
the tenth volume of my autobiography!
de trasformazione teatrale me sparesce dall’
A fiancée who disappears from view
uocchie, me fa ire ancora spierto, e demierto. by a theatrical transformation, while
I wander round like the Flying
Dutchman.
EMILIA
(Oh Dio!)
(Oh God!)
DON ROMUALDO
(Chesta che ave?) No Prencepo che m’era
(What’s the matter with her?) A Prince,
zio, volette farme fa no matrimonio degno
who was my uncle, wanted to have
della mia nobile nobilità e me ncaparraje co me make a match worthy of my noble
na figlia de noble no Milordo, che steva a
nobility and fixes me up with the
Londra. Io, che state sempre amico
daughter of an English Milord from
de viaggià, subeto partette da Napole
London. I, who have always been a
pè ghi a Londra a trovà la sposa;
lover of travel, immediately set off
–133–
ma statte a sentì, ca mo vene no
punto de scena pè farce cadè justo no
bello piezzo de museca!
from Naples to go to London to meet
my fiancée. But just listen to this,
because now here comes a coup de
théâtre that ought to be set to music!
[14]
EMILIA
(Che sia desso! oh sventurata!)
(Can it be he! How unfortunate I am!)
DON ROMUALDO
(Sta signora è attarantata!)
(Has this lady been bitten by a
tarantula!)
EMILIA
(Or che far mi converrà?)
(What should I do now?)
DON ROMUALDO
(Se contorce! che sarrà?)
(Why is she squirming? What can it
be?)
E accossì pè seguitare,
And so, to continue,
Jette a Londra, e non trovaje
I went to London and did not find
Llà la sposa…
My betrothed there…
EMILIA
Ah!
Ah!
DON ROMUALDO
La briccona,
The villainess
L’aveva fatta la frittata…
Had done a bunk…
EMILIA
Ah!
Ah!
DON ROMUALDO
E di casa era scappata
She’d run off from home
con un uom di tristo cuorio,
With a bad lot
–134–
E un marito provisorio
Se trovaje primma de me.
And found a provisional husband
Other than me.
EMILIA
(Sì… ch’è desso! io gelo… oimè!)
(Yes…it is he! I freeze… Alas!)
DON ROMUALDO
(Che cos’ha se pò sapè?)
(What on earth is the matter with her?)
[15]
EMILIA
Dite in grazia il vostro nome?
Please tell me your name?
DON ROMUALDO
É no poco longariello:
It is a little lengthy:
Don Romualdo d’Occhiobello,
Don Romualdo d’Occhiobello,
De’ Marchesi Calobragos,
De’ Marchesi Calobragos,
Y Figueros, y Moncados,
Y Figueros, y Moncados,
Castanassos, Camposellos…
Castanassos, Camposellos…
EMILIA
Ah! son morta!
Ah! I am dying!
DON ROMUALDO
Mia Signora!
Madame!
Si si ossessa va a mmalora!
If you’re possessed, go to the devil!
Me ne fujo mo mo da te.
I must escape from you now.
EMILIA
Ah! fermate, e ravvisate
Ah! Stop and behold,
Quella rea, che v’ha tradito…
That guilty one who betrayed you…
DON ROMUALDO
Va a mmalora!
What a disaster!
EMILIA
Sono Emilia…
I am Emilia…
–135–
DON ROMUALDO
Alas! What a blow!
EMILIA
Sì, mancai… ma fui sedotta
Yes, I failed you… but I was led astray
DON ROMUALDO
Ah!
Ah!
EMILIA
Da quell’empio traditore…
By that impious seducer…
DON ROMUALDO
Ih!
Eh!
EMILIA
Sì, fu debole il mio core…
Yes, my heart was weak…
DON ROMUALDO
Uh!
Eek!
EMILIA
Ma ben tosto il pentimento
But my repentance soon
Seguir seppe il fallo mio,
Followed on my fault,
E un rimorso, un fier tormento
And remorse, fierce torment
Strazia sempre il mesto cor. Sì! Ah!
Forever tears my unhappy heart.
Ah yes!
[16]
DON ROMUALDO
Ah! (Vi che muorzo dellicato
Ah! (See what a delicate mouthful
A sto fusto era stipato!
Was kept for this lad here!
Ne che faccio? la perdono?
What shall I do about it? Shall I
forgive her?
Me l’abbraccio? me l’afferro!
Embrace her? I shall grab her!
Ma sto stommaco de fierro
But an iron stomach like that
Giusti Dei, non ebbi ancor!)
Great Gods, I don’t have any more!)
Oimè! che botta!
–136–
EMILIA
(He is ecstatic and amazed!
He seems to look at me and scorn me!
Oh Heaven, my danger increases!
Who will advise me?
Ah! may my suffering appease you,
Fate, still my enemy!)
(They depart.)
DON ROMUALDO
Ora vì! io so restato de preta torchina!
I’ll be blowed! See how far my mouth
has dropped!
Chesta è Emilia, chella che me facette lo
She is Emilia, the one who stood me
bello chiantaruolo! e io so restato comme
up so nicely! And I stand there like a
a no ncantato senza dirle
man spellbound without saying one
na parola, mente
word to her when I should have been
l’aveva da carrecà de mproperie.
giving her a piece of my mind.
(Egli estatico è restato!
Par mi guardi, e sia sdegnato!
Cresce o Cielo! il mio periglio!
Chi mi dà qualche consiglio?
Ah! ti bastin le mie pene
Sorte a me nemica ognor!)
SCENE VIII
Candida enters.
CANDIDA
Quel lacero marinajo, che vi ha soccorso
That tattered sailor who helped you
allorchè ribaltò la vostra carrozza, è venuto
when your carriage overturned
per ubbidire al vostro comando.
has come, as you asked him to.
DON ROMUALDO
Gnorsì, è ghiusto che ha da avè no buono
Lord, yes! I’d like him to have a nice
regalo, ma mo tengo auti guai pè la capo:
present, but right now I have
–137–
dimme na cosa… la direttrice de sto luogo
è Emilia Lavapulle?
other problems on my mind: tell me,
the directress of this place, is it
Emilia Liverpuddle?
CANDIDA
Che sento! è come vi è noto?
What do I hear? How do you know?
DON ROMUALDO
Avimmo saputo tutto.
I know everything.
CANDIDA
E qual relazione avete voi con essa?
And what is your relationship to her?
DON ROMUALDO
Quà relazione! oh bella! Io songo il suo
What relationship? That’s a good one! I
destinato connubbio, che da Napole me
am her affianced bridegroom who got
portaje a Londra, pe fa sto
himself from Naples to London
bello matrimonio.
for a fancy marriage.
CANDIDA
(Costui!)
(Him!)
DON ROMUALDO
Che? tu pure patisce de storzille?
What? Are you a grimacer too!
CANDIDA
Voi siete quello? oh quale combinazione!
You are that man? What a coincidence!
DON ROMUALDO
Aggio risoluto: fa trasì lo marinaro, ca mo lo I’ve made up my mind: have the sailor
rialo e pò me la voglio fumà, sto retiro s’è
come in, for now I will reward him and
fatto periculuso pe mme.
then I want to leave. This retreat has
become too dangerous for me.
–138–
CANDIDA
I’ll do as you ask.
(Candida departs.)
DON ROMUALDO
Chiammammo a Federico; sto secreto lo
Let’s call Federico: this secret I can
pozzo confidà a lo segretatio…
confide to my confidential secretary...
Federico!
Federico!
Vado a servirvi.
SCENE IX
Federico enters.
FEDERICO
At your service.
DON ROMUALDO
Non saje la novità?
Have you heard the news?
FEDERICO
E quale?
What?
DON ROMUALDO
Aggio trovato la sposa, che m’era fojuta dal
I have found the fiancée who was
primo letto.
pinched from my first wedding bed.
FEDERICO
Che mai dite? Emilia?
What are you saying? Emilia?
DON ROMUALDO
Emilia è la capo de sto romitaggio.
Emilia is the head of this hermitage.
FEDERICO
(Che sento mai! ora si scopriranno i miei
(What do I hear? Now my double
raggiri.)
dealing will be discovered.)
A vostri commandi.
–139–
DON ROMUALDO
Chesto che d’è? lo nomme d’Emilia pare
What’s up with him? The name of
no talismano?
Emilia seems to cast a spell.
Tu puro te si smarizzato?
Are you seasick too?
FEDERICO
Certamente…partiamo al momento.
Of course… let us depart right away.
Mi fa orrore questo luogo!
This place gives me the horrors!
DON ROMUALDO
Che giovane d’onore! se nteressa pe lo
What an honourable young man,
patrone!
thinking only of his master!
FEDERICO
(Feci male ad unirmi a costui, come
(It was a mistake to become this man’s
segretario, ma chi poteva pensare…)
secretary, but who would have
thought…)
DON ROMUALDO
Chillo, che la carriaje a la tagliola, facette
The man who tricked her certainly
sette carrine.
made off with a handsome profit.
FEDERICO
(Egli non sa, che sono io quello.)
(If he only knew, that I am that man.)
DON ROMUALDO
Accossì fanno tutte li briccune.
Villains always get away with it.
SCENE X
Claudio enters.
CLAUDIO
(Eccolo! quegli è l’empio seduttore di
(There he is! That man is my
mia figlia: il suo finto nome nulla valse
daughter’s evil seducer. His false
–140–
a celarlo alle mie ricerche.
Oh mia vendetta! sarai paga alla fine!)
Signori, che volete da me?
name did not hide him from my
investigations. Oh my vengeance,
you will be assuaged at last.)
Gentlemen! What do you want?
DON ROMUALDO
Viene ccà, tu, che me pare asciuto da no
Come here, you, who seem to have
spetale, azzeccate, ca t’avimmo da ringrazià, just come out of hospital! Come
e regalà, pecchè ce aje sarvata la vita.
nearer, for we have to thank you
and reward you for saving our lives.
FEDERICO
(Con qual fierezza mi osserva colui!)
(How severely the man stares at me!)
DON ROMUALDO
Pigliate ste ghinee.
Take these guineas.
CLAUDIO
Io non vendo il mio dovere.
My duty is not for sale.
DON ROMUALDO
Oh mmalora! no pezzente è cchiù sguazzone The devil! A pauper more liberal than
de nuje!
we are!
FEDERICO
Chi sei? perchè così attento mi guardi?
Who are you? Why are you looking at
me like that?
CLAUDIO
Io ritrovo in voi la somiglianza di una
You remind me of someone that I
persona, che conosco.
used to know.
FEDERICO
Tu credi avermi conosciuto altrove forse?
You think you have met me
somewhere else?
–141–
CLAUDIO
No, but…
FEDERICO
Chi sei?
Who are you?
CLAUDIO
Un infelice bersaglio dell’ira della sorte:
An unhappy target of destiny’s anger:
l’empio, che vi rassomiglia m’involò
the evil man you so resemble took
tutto… fino l’onore…
everything from me… even my
honour…
FEDERICO
(Quai detti!)
(Such words!)
DON ROMUALDO
No, Federì! tu rassomiglie a no buono
No, Freddy! You resemble a fine
gallantommo!
gentleman!
FEDERICO
E che ti fece colui?
And what did this man do to you?
CLAUDIO
Portò la maledizione nella mia famiglia.
He brought a curse on my family; I was
Io era schiavo ne’ bagni dell’Affrica, ed al
a slave in the prisons of Africa, and
mio ritorno…
upon my return…
FEDERICO
Tu fosti schiavo? (Qual palpito!)
You were a slave? (My heart palpitates!)
DON ROMUALDO
E comme te sarvaste?
And how did you save yourself?
CLAUDIO
Col mio coraggio. Venti anni languii
With my courage. Twenty years I
miseramente fra quell’orrore. Intanto un
languished in misery amid that horror.
No, ma…
–142–
usurpatore s’impossessò de’ miei beni,
dopo avermi calunniato di gravi
misfatti che meritarono la mia
proscrizione, e mi ridusse nello
squallore, in cui mi vedete.
Mi restavano degli esseri
a me cari… Oh Dio!
Meanwhile a usurper possessed
himself of my goods, having slandered
me with grave misdeeds, which
earned me my banishment and
reduced me to the squalor in which
you see me. There remained to me
only those beings dear to me…
Oh God!
DON ROMUALDO
Federì, sto schiavo te saetta coll’uocchie!
Freddy! This slave’s giving you a look
che l’ha cottico?
that could kill. Is he annoyed with
you?
(Trembling, he looks at Federico.)
FEDERICO
(Io tremo!)
(I tremble!)
DON ROMUALDO
Appriesso.
And what happened next?
CLAUDIO
Covava nel mio seno il disegno di liberarmi In my heart I brooded over a plan to
come il fuoco nelle viscere di un Vulcano.
free myself, as does the fire in the
bowels of a volcano.
Finalmente mi riuscì di sedurre il mio
Finally I succeeded in suborning my
vigilante custode con lusinghiere promesse.
vigilant guard with flattering
Essendo un giorno al travaglio alla riva
promises. One day, working on
del mare, vidi un piccolo naviglio
the sea shore, I saw a small boat
abbandonato. Pregai, scongiurai
unattended. I begged: I entreated
il mio custode a profittarne: era vicina
my guard to profit from this.
la notte; una folta nebbia ci favoriva.
Night was near. A heavy mist
–143–
Attraversammo vogando a tutta possa
favoured us. Rowing with all our
un piccolo seno di mare.
might we crossed a small inlet
I barbari, fatti avvertiti della nostra fuga,
of the sea. The savages, discovering
vomitarono contro di noi da molte
our flight, bombarded us with
bocche di fuoco, a più riprese,
several salvos from the muzzles of
la morte; le armi del mio custode
their cannons. My guard’s weapons
ci servivono di difesa
served to defend us.
Il desiderio di conservarci la vita
The desire to save our lives gave
dava vigore al nostro braccio,
added strength to our arms, until,
fino che salvi e lieti inalzammo
safe and sound, at last we sent up to
all’Essere degli esseri i più
Heaven our most sincere thanks to
sinceri ringraziamenti.
that great Being of all Beings.
DON ROMUALDO
Tornaste a la casa toja?
Did you return home?
CLAUDIO
Tornai per trovarvi il pianto, il disonore, e
I returned to find weeping, dishonour
la morte. Ora mi mantiene in vita il
and death. Now the desire for
desiderio di vendetta. Scellerato! tu mi
vengeance keeps me alive. Wretch!
strappasti dal seno gli oggetti più
You tore the dearest objects from
cari, tu m’involasti l’onore… l’onore…
my bosom. You took my honour.
ecco ciò che dirò quando la sorte
My honour. There! That is what
mi farà trovare il mio nemico.
I will say when Fate leads me to
my enemy
DON ROMUALDO
Oh poverommo! io non lo vorria manco
Oh, poor chap! I wouldn’t care
conoscere! si me pare no diavolo,
to meet him, for he sounds to me
schitto pè lo pensiero de vederlo,
like a devil, just to think of him.
–144–
e quanno te ce ncuntre,
ne faje na vrenna?
And when you meet up with him,
will you make mincemeat of him?
SCENE XI
Candida enters.
CANDIDA
The directress will be here in a
moment.
CLAUDIO
Emilia!
Emilia!
CANDIDA
La conosci?
You know her?
CLAUDIO
La fama della sua virtù mi fa desiderare di
The fame of her virtue makes me long
conoscerla.
to meet her.
FEDERICO
(Sono così agitato, che non comprendo
(I am so agitated that I cannot
me stesso!)
understand myself!)
CLAUDIO
(Vedrò dunque mia figlia? essa non mi
(Will I see my daughter, then? She
conosce. Inosservato vedrò se è
does not know me. Unobserved
vero il suo pentimento.
I will see if her repentance is real.
Ella ignora che colui qui si trovi.
She is unaware that he is here. Oh,
Core di tenero padre, osserva,
heart of a tender father, observe,
soffri e taci!)
suffer and be silent!)
A momenti verrà la direttrice.
–145–
SCENE XII
Emilia enters. She is shocked to see Federico.
[17]
EMILIA
Giusto Ciel! chi vedo! oh Dio!
Great heaven! Who do I see? Oh God!
Chi mi aita!… io manco… io gemo…
Who will help me! I cannot breathe…
I faint…
(She faints.)
FEDERICO
(shocked)
(Ella è d’essa!… io gelo… io tremo!)
(It is she! I freeze… I tremble!)
CLAUDIO
(Di livor avampo, e fremo!)
(I burn with rancour… I tremble!)
CANDIDA
Soccorrete la meschina!…
Help the poor girl!…
Dal dolor mancando va…
She is fainting with unhappiness…
DON ROMUALDO
Chella cade in svenimento!
That one has passed out!
Chisto strilla, e fa sbaratto!
This one shrieks and plays the fury!
L’auto sgriscia comm’a gatto!
The other spits like a cat!
E stonato io resto ccà!
And I stand here dazed!
CLAUDIO
(Cor di padre! io già ti sento!
(Heart of a father! I already feel you!
Tu mi palpiti nel petto…
You beat in my breast…
Frenar deggio il vario affetto
I must curb the varied feelings
Di vendetta, e di pietà!)
Of vengeance and of pity!)
CANDIDA
Prende fiato!
She is recovering!
–146–
Va… curaggio!
Che v’affligge?
Ca tenete?
Dallo sguardo mio togliete
Quell’indegno traditor!
Chi è st’indegno? forse uscia?
Forse tu? donca io so chillo?
Ma vi comme lo tentillo
Me vò proprio carfettà!
Quest’asilo d’innocenza
Profanar osasti… audace!
[18]
Va! t’invola! la mia pace
Per pietà non disturbar!
Cara Emilia, a’ piedi tuoi
Il perdon prostrato imploro.
DON ROMUALDO
(to Emilia)
Come… courage!
CLAUDIO
What’s the matter?
DON ROMUALDO
What’s up?
EMILIA
Take from my sight
That worthless betrayer!
DON ROMUALDO
Who is this betrayer? Perhaps you,
sir?
Perhaps you? Then is it me?
See how this tempter
Really wants to punish me!
EMILIA
This refuge of innocence
You have dared to profane… bold
man!
Go! Take yourself off! For pity’s sake
Do not disturb my peace!
FEDERICO
Dear Emilia, at your feet
Prostrate, I implore your pardon.
–147–
Ma che d’è sto concistoro?
Chisto è lui?…
Parti, indegno,
Mi rendesti scellerata!
E una madre sventurata
Ei mi fece abbandonar.
Che sorpresa! che mai sento!
Chi le dà tanto tormiento
Alommanco se sa mo.
Dell’indegno il turbamento
Il delitto fè palese:
Il piacer del suo tormento
Il mio core sollevò.
Che sorpresa! che mai sento!
La cagion del suo tormento
Finalmente si svelò.
La vergogna, il turbamento
Come mai nasconderò?
[19]
Tu addonca si chillo
Che a me la ficcò?
Pe farme messere
DON ROMUALDO
Is this a revival meeting?
Is this the man?…
EMILIA
Go, worthless man!
You made me a sinner!
And my unfortunate mother
He made me abandon.
DON ROMUALDO
What a surprise! What do I hear!
At least one now knows
The cause of her torment.
EMILIA/CLAUDIO
The distress of that worthless man
Makes plain his crime.
The pleasure of his torment
Relieved my heart.
CANDIDA
What a surprise! What do I hear!
The cause of her torment
Is finally revealed.
FEDERICO
My shame, my confusion,
How can I conceal them?
DON ROMUALDO
So you’re the one
Who tricked me?
To deceive me
–148–
Lo nomme te cagne?
Tu! Sta quaglia era mia,
E tu te la magne?
Ah brutto majale!
Indegna marmotta!
De sango na votta
Cacciar ti saprò!
(Ah! l’ira nel seno
Frenar più non so!)
Venite Signore,
Parlarvi desio.
Qual volto! gran Dio!
Quai moti nel petto!
Andiamo!
Ma dove?
Garbato soggetto!
Io poi parlerò.
Lo sdegno frenate…
Qual’ira!
You changed your name?
You! This quail was mine
And you devoured it?
You dirty swine!
Filthy monkey!
I’ll have from you
A barrel of blood!
CLAUDIO
(Ah! I can no longer curb
the rage in my breast!)
(to Federico)
Come here, sir!
I want a word with you.
EMILIA
What a look! Dear God!
What a commotion in my breast!
CLAUDIO
(to Federico)
Let’s go!
FEDERICO
Where to?
DON ROMUALDO
Crafty character!
I’ll speak to you later.
EMILIA/CLAUDIO
Curb your contempt…
FEDERICO
What anger!
–149–
CLAUDIO
Tremble!
DON ROMUALDO
Ma ch’è stato?
What’s going on?
EMILIA
(to Claudio)
Lo sdegno ammorzate!
Soften your anger!
CANDIDA
Un momento!
Just a moment!
EMILIA
(to Federico)
Partite di quà!
Go from here!
ALL
Si sospenda per or la contesa,
For now, let the quarrel be suspended,
Sarà meglio partire di quà.
It will be better to leave here.
DON ROMUALDO
Si non tengo lo carro a la scesa,
If I don’t put the brakes on
No fracasso mo vide assommà!
I see a collision coming!
CLAUDIO
(Fuor di quà partir vorrei!…)
(I’d like to drag him out of here…)
FEDERICO
(Ah! di quà partir correi!…)
(I’d like to get away from here!…)
CLAUDIO
(Fuor di quà mi spinge l’ira…)
(My rage urges me away from here…)
EMILIA/CANDIDA
Tosto andate fuor di quà.
Quickly, away from here.
Tremate!
–150–
[20]
ALL
Già s’oscura la mia mente,
Already my mind is confused,
E consiglio più non sente!
I can no longer heed advice!
Lo stupore va crescendo!
Amazement grows and grows!
Più me stessa/o non comprendo!
I no longer understand myself!
Son confusa/o ed agitata/o
I am confused and agitated
E non so che mai sarà!
And I don’t know what will happen!
(All depart except Federico.)
SCENE XIII
Federico, then Luigia, Don Romualdo and the Count.
FEDERICO
Che mi avenne! qui Emilia? qui quella
What has happened to me? Emilia
donna infelice da me tradita?
here? Here that unhappy woman
I betrayed?
LUIGIA
Federico, che vuol dire, che qui si
Federico, what was all that about that
faceva tanto rumore?
they were making so much noise in
here?
FEDERICO
(Seguirò ad ingannare anche costei?)
(Shall I continue to deceive this one as
well?)
LUIGIA
Non mi rispondi?
Why don’t you answer me?
FEDERICO
(Conviene disingannarla. È tempo ormai
(It would be best to undeceive her. It is
–151–
di ricalcare il sentiero della virtù, e
detestare il reo costume, in cui vissi
finora.)
time now to tread again the path
of virtue and to detest the sinful way in
which I have lived until now.)
LUIGIA
Insomma tu a che pensi?
What are you thinking about?
FEDERICO
(Col finto nome del Colonello Villars
(Under the assumed name of Colonel
sedussi la povera Emilia, con
Villars I seduced poor Emilia, with
quello di Federico implorerò il suo
that of Federico I shall implore her
perdono; potrà negarmelo
pardon. Will that generous soul be
quell’ anima generosa?)
able to deny it to me?)
LUIGIA
E così, mi hai tu presa per un fantoccio?
So, I am only a plaything to you?
FEDERICO
(Emilia è mia moglie… i nostri legami non (Emilia is my wife… our bonds can
possono frangersi che dalla morte.)
only be broken by death.)
LUIGIA
Adesso adesso mi fai salir le furie,
Now, now you rouse my fury and
e ti dico…
I tell you…
DON ROMUALDO
Oh eccolo cca! lupus in fraveca! mo
Ah, here he is! Talk of the devil! Tell
dimme na cosa, tu chi mmalora si?
me, who the blazes you really are?
Federico, o lo Colonello Mallardo?
Federico or this Colonel Billiards?
FEDERICO
Signore…
Sir…
DON ROMUALDO
Non me fa lo cuollo stuorto!… anima
Don’t go all coy on me, you, a person
–152–
senza un callo di vereconnia!
without an ounce of shame.
s’è squagliato lo zuccaro a lo confietto,
The sugar has melted on the sweet,
e mmece de l’ammennola s’è scoverta la
and instead of an almond, a coriander
cogliandra; oh mmalora! e co sto
seed is uncovered. The devil!
musso asciutto stive secretarianno
Skinny face, you were supposed to be
commico,mentre m’avive arrobbata la
handling by affairs, instead you
mia sposa?
were handling my bride!
LUIGIA
Di chi parlate Don Romualdo?
Who are you talking about, Don
Romualdo?
COUNT
Alzate un pò la voce… che maledetto vizio è Raise your voice a little… what a
quello di parlare fra denti!
damned bad habit it is, talking under
your breath!
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò, levate da nanze…
For God’s sake, get out of the way.
(to Luigia)
…ca mo mme pare no moschillo
…to my eye he looks more like a
all’uocchie mieje! tu lo vi a chisto ccà!
fortune hunter now. Look at the chap,
non te pare no buono figlio? eppure è la
doesn’t he seem like a nice lad? But no,
quintassenza de le bricconarie, è no
he is the quintessence of rascality, a
nganna figlie de mamma.
deceiver of mama’s little darlings.
LUIGIA
Che dite?
What are you talking about?
DON ROMUALDO
Sto galantommo fuje chillo, che co lo
This gentleman was the one who,
nomme de lo Colonello Mallardo
under the name of Colonel Billiards
ngannaje a Emilia, chella che mo s’è
deceived Emilia, she who has now
–153–
ritirata a servì lo Cielo dinto
sto retiro, e che io pè pigliarme
pè mogliera me facette lo viaggio da
Napole a Londra.
withdrawn to serve Heaven in this
retreat, and for whom I made
the journey from Naples to London
to take as my wife.
FEDERICO
Ah! son perduto!
Ah! I am lost!
COUNT
Chi cerca ajuto?
What’s what cost?
LUIGIA
E dice il vero, Don Romualdo?
Is Don Romulado telling the truth?
DON ROMUALDO
Dico lo vero? e addimmanna a isso, e bi
Am I telling the truth? Ask him and see
si ave coraggio de lo negare.
if he has the courage to deny it.
LUIGIA
Tu taci, e abbassi gli occhi? ah
You are silent, you lower your eyes? Oh
indegno! è dunque vero,
wretch!
che sei un seduttore?
Then it is true, you are a seducer?
FEDERICO
Oh Dio!
Oh God!
LUIGIA
Perfido! dunque ancor io sono stata
You traitor! Then I too have been
da te ingannata?
deceived by you?
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò!… ngannata?
Good God!… Deceived?
comme ngannata?
How deceived?
chi t’ha ngannata?
Who has deceived you?
FEDERICO
Ah perdonatemi!
Ah, forgive me!
–154–
DON ROMUALDO
Perdonateme… oh mmalora!
Forgive me! The devil! What have I got
e che t’ave da perdonà? sta a bedere
to forgive you for? I bet you’re going
ca me volive fa st’auta mattonella!
to pull another dirty trick on me!
LUIGIA
No… non ti ascolto, scellerato!
No!… I refuse to listen to you, vile
man!
DON ROMUALDO
Ne, ntorcia a biento e tu non siente chille
You’re a candle in the wind and you
che ne vottano?
can’t feel who’s trying to blow you
out!
COUNT
Fiottano, e perchè fiottano?
Go out, who’s going out?
LUIGIA
Ah! che io son disperata! io piango dalla
Ah, what despair! I weep with rage!
rabbia!
DON ROMUALDO
Tu chiagne! te dispiere! se po sapè che t’è
You weep! You despair! May one know
afferrato?
what has wounded you?
LUIGIA
Se mi volete bene, ammazzate quel traditore. If you love me, slay this betrayer.
DON ROMUALDO
L’aggio accidere! e pecchè?
Kill him? Why?
LUIGIA
Perchè mi ha rubato il core, perchè mi ha
Because he has stolen my heart,
innamorata alla follia, e poi mi tradisce
because he has made me fall madly
crudelmente.
in love with him and then he cruelly
betrays me.
–155–
[21]
DON ROMUALDO
Comme! comme! nnammorata!
What! What! Madly in love!
Cera st’auto bazzicotto?
This one? This smooth talker?
E tu faccia d’ottantotto!
Hottentot face!
Mutria tosta, e mmiscottata!
Hard face! Cement face!
Na mogliera m’aje guastata,
One wife you ruined for me,
Me vuo l’auta mo arrobà?
Now you want to rob me of the other?
COUNT
Ma mi dite in carità…
But tell me, for pity’s sake…
DON ROMUALDO
Oh! si Cò! non me stonà!
Oh! Mister Count, don’t shout at me!
(to Luigia)
Te spassave a mano, e a ritto
You were amusing yourself left and
right,
Mo co mmico, e mo co chillo?
Now with me and now with him?
Che balea quel purpo fritto
And how did you value fishcakes
Co sta cernia, che sta cca?
Against this salmon trout?
COUNT
Ma si può saper che fu?
May one ask what’s going on?
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò! non starme a nfracetà!
Lord! Don’t keep drenching me!
(to Luigia)
Si tu appena aje quiannece anne,
If you’ve got such a bagful of tricks
E no secolo aje de mbroglie,
At the age of fifteen,
De vinte anne tu arravuoglie
By the time you’re twenty you’ll be
fooling
Tutta affè la umanità!
The whole human race, upon my
word!
–156–
COUNT
But what is going on?
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò! mmalora! fatte llà!
Lord! The devil! Go away!
(to Federico)
E de filo, o iniquo, fello!
As for you, you beggar, you felon!
Me vuò fa mori zetiello?
You want me to die a bachelor?
Ma sta vota sto voccone
But this time this tasty morsel
Ncanna affè t’annozzarrà.
Will stick in your gullet!
COUNT
Ma volete col malanno…
But will you…damn it…
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò! no chhiù! vi ca mo sferro!
Lord! Not again! You’re making me
swear!
COUNT
Chi va a terra?
Make what tear?
DON ROMUALDO
Va a mmalora!
Go to hell!
COUNT
Chi sta fuora?
Who’s not well?
DON ROMUALDO
Ah, ca mo schiatto!
Ah, I’ve had enough!
COUNT
Corre il gatto?
What’s rough?
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò! vattene,
Lord! Push off!
Ca l’arraggia m’è sagliuta!
You’ve got my temper up!
No maciello, n’arrostuta
I’ll butcher you,
Ma si può saper che fu?
–157–
Io de vuje ne faccio cca!
Ah! ca ncapo già me sento
No fracasso, na battaglia!
Ah, la vista me s’abbaglia,
Cchiù che faccio non se sa!
[22]
Se in tal smania non si more,
Quanno maje si creparrà?
Se spassavo me ne jicò.
I’ll make beefsteak of you!
Ah! In my head I can already hear
An uproar, a battle!
Ah, my sight is dimmed
I don’t know what I’m doing any more!
If one doesn’t die at a moment like this,
When will one perish?
If he was playing around…I’m going.
LUIGIA
Ma si può… si può…
But one can… one can…
DON ROMUALDO
Faccia tosta, non mi stonà!
Cheeky face! No need to deafen me!
LUIGIA
Così fiero tradimento
Who would imagine
Chi poteva immaginar?
Such a cruel betrayal?
FEDERICO
Così tristo avvenimento
Who would imagine
Chi poteva immaginar?
Such a sad happening?
COUNT
Domandando, interrogando
If I keep on asking and questioning
Qualche cosa mi dirà!
He will have to tell me something.
(Don Romualdo departs.)
LUIGIA
Guardami in fronte, se hai cuore!
Look me in the face, if you dare to!
FEDERICO
Ah! lasciatemi a miei rimosi… io più non
Ah! Leave me to my remorse… I can
reggo alloro strazio tormentatore.
no longer stand its racking torment.
(Federico departs.)
–158–
LUIGIA
Dear father, aid me…
COUNT
Che vuoi?
What do you want?
LUIGIA
Io sono la donna più infelice!
I am the most unfortunate girl!
(Luigia departs.)
COUNT
Va cercando Beatrice? sarà qualche suora di
Gone to look for Pearl? That must be
questo ritiro.
one of the sisters in the retreat.
(Count departs.)
Caro padre! soccorretemi…
SCENE XIV
Emilia, then Claudio.
[23]
EMILIA
Delle mie pene, o stelle,
Does not the depth of my suffering
Non vi basta il rigor? perchè più fiere
Appease you, Oh stars above? Was it
Scendano in petto a lacerarmi il core
To make it more bitterly rend my
heart
Offriste ai sguardi miei quel seduttore?
That you offered my seducer to my
gaze?
(She remains deep in thought.)
CLAUDIO
(Eccola! o di natura
(There she is! Oh soft voices of nature
Voci soavi! Io già vi sento in seno!
I already hear you within my breast!
Fra le mie braccia almeno… ah no! t’arresta In my arms at last… Ah no! Control
yourself,
–159–
Padre infelice, e il fallo suo detesta!)
Unhappy father, and detest her crime!)
(Emilia suddenly becomes aware of Claudio’s voice.)
EMILIA
Quell’uom! chi sei? che chiedi?
That man! Who are you? What do
you want?
CLAUDIO
(A quell’aspetto
(Just seeing her face I feel a
Di vario affetto un rio tumulto io provo!
cruel tumult of mixed emotions.
Furie! voi chieggo, e in me più voi non
Furies! I seek you and no longer find
trovo!)
you within me!)
EMILIA
Mi guardi, e taci?
You look at me and are silent?
CLAUDIO
Emilia, in me ravvisa
Emilia, behold in me
Dell’autor de’tuoi giorni
A loyal friend of the author
Un amico leal: sol per suo cenno
Of your days: only at his request
Qui spingo il piè.
I turn my step hither.
EMILIA
Che dici! ah! tu m’inganni!
What are you saying! Ah, you deceive
me!
Inesorabil morte
Inexorable death
Alla figlia, alla sposa
From his daughter, from his wife
Già lo rapì…
Already carry him away…
CLAUDIO
No… ancora,
No… still,
Ma per serbarlo a più crudeli affanni,
The tyrant stars support his days
Reggono i giorni suoi gli astri tiranni.
To preserve him for crueller sufferings
–160–
EMILIA
What do I hear!
CLAUDIO
Ei meco errante,
Wandering with me,
Sciolte di schiavitù l’aspre ritorte,
Slavery’s bitter bonds loosed,
Affronta il suo destin, sfida la sorte.
He confronts his destiny, defies his
fate.
[24]
EMILIA
Vive il padre? e a me non vola?
My father lives? And does not fly to
me?
E natura a me nol guida?
And nature does not lead him back to
me?
CLAUDIO
D’una figlia matricida
He hates you in the cruelty
Odia in te la crudeltà.
Of a matricidal daughter.
EMILIA
Taci… oh Dio! ciel la folgore
Be silent!… Oh God! Heaven’s
lightning
Cruda è men di questi accenti!…
Is less cruel than these words!…
Ch’io son rea tu mi rammenti,
That I am guilty, you remind me,
Che il mio fallo ugual non ha.
That my sin has no equal.
CLAUDIO
(Al suo pianto… a quei tormenti
(At her weeping… at these torments
Mi si desta in sen pietà!)
Pity awakes in my bosom!)
EMILIA
Ah! dov’è? m’addita almeno…
Ah, where is he? At least tell me…
CLAUDIO
(Quale istante!) ah, senti aspetta
(What a moment!) Ah, listen! Wait
Che ascolto!
–161–
EMILIA
I will do his vengeance for him…
At his feet I will expire.
CLAUDIO
Dell’error sei tu pentita?
You have repented of your error?
EMILIA
Non tel dice il dolor mio?
Does my sorrow not tell you so?
CLAUDIO
Ah! più regger non poss’io!
Ah! I can no longer resist!
Deh, ti appressa… ti perdono…
Come closer… I forgive you…
EMILIA
Che! fia ver?
What! Is it true?
CLAUDIO
Tuo padre io sono…
I am your father…
EMILIA
Come? oh ciel!
What? Oh heaven!
CLAUDIO
Fra queste braccia
To these arms
Vieni, o figlia!…
Come, my daughter!…
EMILIA
Ah, padre amato!
Ah, dearest father!
EMILIA/CLAUDIO
Se al tuo sen mi rende il fato,
If fate returns me to your breast
Non mi resta che bramar!
There is nothing more I can wish for!
[25]
CLAUDIO
Deh! ti consoli, o figlia,
Ah, may my paternal love
Il mio paterno amore…
Console you, oh daughter…
Io farò la sua vendetta…
Al suo piè spirar saprò.
–162–
Non ti delude il core…
Tu stringi il genitor.
Your heart does not delude you…
It is your father you embrace.
EMILIA
Alfin sarò felice
At last I shall be happy
Del genitore accanto…
Beside my father…
Ah no… quest’è un incanto…
Ah no… this is a spell…
Un sogno ingannator!
A deceiving dream!
Padre!
Father!
CLAUDIO
Mia cara!
My dear one!
EMILIA/CLAUDIO
Oh gioja!
Oh joy!
Oh qual diletto io sento!
Oh what delight I feel!
L’eccesso del contento
An excess of contentment
Fa ribalzarmi il cor!
Makes my heart leap once more!
[26]
Oh, come in un baleno
Oh how in the twinkling of an eye
Tutto cangiò d’aspetto!
Everything is suddenly changed!
Stringiti a questo seno…
Press yourself to this bosom…
Tu sai bearmi ancor!
You know how to make me happy
for evermore!
(They depart, arm in arm.)
SCENE XV
Don Romualdo, then Luigia and the Count, the others and the villagers.
[27]
DON ROMUALDO
Pensace buono Don Romuà!
Just think about it, Don Romuà!
–163–
Vì ca se ntrovola l’aria pe tè.
Chesta nennella, che buò sposà,
De fauzo quarto patesce affè.
E che so pazzo? vao mo a scocchià.
Ste mela fracete non so per me.
Ma vì la sciorte quante ne fa!
Na sposa in erba se ne scappò
E mo chest’auta me fa smiccià
Col segretario no bel flammò.
Mo a tutte doje le manno llà,
E sempre cerbero mi restarrò.
[28]
Deh correte, mio signore.
The air is getting stormy for you.
This girl you want to marry
Has been cheating on you.
And am I mad? I’m broken up!
These rotten apples are not for me.
See how many tricks fate plays on me!
One raw fiancée disappeared from
sight,
And now this other lights up
A bonfire with my secretary.
I’ll send both of them packing,
And I’ll keep my eyes open in future.
LUIGIA
Hurry up, sir.
LUIGIA/COUNT
Là succeed un brutto guajo…
A terrible scene is going on in there…
Quell’audace marinajo
That bold sailor
Federico osa insultar.
Is daring to insult Federico.
DON ROMUALDO
Songo amico de la pace,
I am a lover of peace
Non me voglio cimentà.
I don’t want any trouble.
VILLAGERS
Arrestiamo quell’audace…
Stop that audacious man…
FEDERICO
Importuno, a che mi offendi?
Importunate, why do you insult me?
CLAUDIO
Vo’ da te risarcimento…
I demand satisfaction…
Oltraggiasti l’onor mio…
You have outraged my honour…
–164–
Tu chi sei? palesa il nome…
Di conoscerti ho desio…
Io son tal, che tremerai
Il mio nome in ascoltar!
Parla…
Svelati.
(Oh cimento!)
Dell’ardimento
Darai conto…
Ah traditore!…
Sappi… io son…
Del padre mio
Fu compagno negli affanni…
E qui venne a farmi nota
Di sua morte sventurata
La crudel fatalità.
Ma la colpa invendicata
Giuro al ciel! non resterà.
FEDERICO
Who are you? Reveal your name…
I want to know who you are…
CLAUDIO
I am he that to hear my name
Will make you tremble!
FEDERICO
Speak…
VILLAGERS
Reveal yourself.
EMILIA
(What a trial!)
VILLAGERS
Of your foolhardiness
You will give account…
CLAUDIO
Ah, traitor!
Know… I am…
EMILIA
My father’s
Companion in suffering was he…
And came here to make known to me
The cruel circumstances
Of his unfortunate death.
CLAUDIO
But I swear to heaven
The crime will not remain unavenged.
–165–
EMILIA
(It is your wretched daughter
Who asks pity of you!)
FEDERICO
(Da rimorsi lacerata
(Torn by remorse
L’alma in sen penando sta!)
My soul is suffering in my breast!)
DON ROMUALDO
Vi che pessima jornata
See what a terrible day
Pè me aveva da spuntà!
Had to dawn for me!
EMILIA/LUIGIA/CANDIDA
(Sento l’anima agitata…
(I feel my spirit agitated…
Giusto Ciel! che mai sarà?)
Great Heaven! What is happening?)
COUNT
(Veggo ogni anima agitata,
(I see each soul agitated,
Ma la causa non si sa!)
but I don’t know why!)
[29]
ALL
Quanto è terribile
How dreadful
Questo memento!
This moment is!
Non basto a reggere
I do not understand
Al rio tormento,
The cruel torment
Che in petto l’anima
Which is tearing apart
Straziando va!
The soul within my breast!
Ah! non più fulmini
Ah! No more thunderbolts
Sorte spietata!
Pitiless fate!
Ma torni a splendere
But let the sweet
La desiata,
Amiable serenity
Soave, amabile
We long for
Serenità!
Shine out again!
(E una figlia sciagurata,
Che da voi chiede pietà!)
–166–
CD2
73’03
ACT TWO
SCENE I
A courtyard inside the hermitage.
Villagers, Luigia and Candida.
[1]
È partito?
SOME VILLAGERS
Has he left?
OTHER VILLAGERS
Non ancora.
Not yet.
ALL
Che insolente marinajo!
What an insolent sailor!
Ei di torbidi un vespajo
He came here to arouse
È venuto qui a destar!
A wasps’ nest of troubles.
Sbuffa, smania, ognor minaccia,
He fumes, he menaces, constantly
threatens,
Non si sa cosa pretenda,
One does not know what he wants,
Ma per lui questa faccenda
However, for him this affair
Andrà male a terminar!
Will finish badly.
LUIGIA
Ah perchè d’un traditore
Ah why, when a traitor is in danger
Al periglio ancor pavento?
Do I still feel fear for him?
Nè l’orror del tradimento
Not even the horror of betrayal
L’amor mio può superar?
Can overwhelm my love!
CANDIDA
Odio merta, e non affetto
He is worth only your hate, not your
affection,
–167–
Quell’indegno seduttore,
Che il candor d’un puro core
Sempre è intento ad ingannar.
That worthless seducer,
Who is still intent on deceiving
The candour of a pure heart.
LUIGIA
Fra l’amore, e la vendetta
My heart sways
Sento l’alma palpitar!
Between love and revenge!
VILLAGERS
Ah! d’Emilia poveretta
Ah! Who knows how to calm
Chi gli affanni sa calmar?
Poor Emilia’s suffering?
(Villagers depart.)
CANDIDA
Sì, del Cielo la vendetta
Yes, the vengeance of Heaven
Saprà l’empio fulminar.
Will strike down the evil man.
LUIGIA
Ma non si è penetrato ancora per qual
But it has not yet been made clear for
ragione quel marinajo tanto s’interessi
what reason that sailor is so interested
de’ casi di Emilia?
in the affairs of Emilia?
CANDIDA
Egli asserisce di essere un amico di suo
He claims he is a friend of her
padre.
father’s.
LUIGIA
Ah! quanto li son tenuta, se ha saputo
Ah, how grateful I am to him! He
palesarmi un traditore!
revealed a traitor to me!
CANDIDA
Ma non siete voi destinata alle nozze di
But are you not intended to be
Don Romualdo?
married to Don Romualdo?
LUIGIA
Conosco il mio fallo, e sento purtroppo la
I know I have done wrong and truly
–168–
forza de’ vostri rimproveri. Ma, giovanetta
ineserta, ho facilmente ceduto alle
premure di un perfido, che, profittando
della inclinazione del mio core,
prometteva farmi felice
colla sua mano.
deserve your most severe reproaches.
But, young and inexperienced,
I easily yielded to the attentions of
a faithless man, who, profiting from
the inclinations of my heart,
promised to make me happy as my
husband.
CANDIDA
Quanto sovente il nostro sesso si affida
How often our sex trusts itself to the
alle lusinghe degli uomini!
blandishments of men.
La sventurata Emilia ne offre un
Poor Emilia is a deplorable example.
deplorabile esempio. Permettete che io
Permit me to go to her. I would like,
vada presso di lei. Vorrei, se potessi,
if I could, even at the cost of my
a costo della mia vita calmare
own life, to calm her cruel
il suo crudele affanno.
suffering.
(Candida departs.)
LUIGIA
Ed ora cosa sarà di me? ecco Don
What will become of me now? Here
Romualdo: ah! mi convien placarlo,
is Don Romualdo: Ah, I had best
per non espormi allo sdegno del padre.
placate him so as not to expose
myself to the anger of my father.
SCENE II
Don Romualdo, Luigia and then the Count.
DON ROMUALDO
Oh staje cca, gallone a doje facce!
Oh here you are, my phantom
sposa fantasmagorica! ma sta
fiancée! Just like a reversible coat!
–169–
vota t’è benuto curto lo
jeppone: t’aje jocato tridece, e t’è
asciuto sittantanove.
But this time the skirt’s too short!
You thought you held a royal flush
and instead you busted.
LUIGIA
Voi tutto prendete sul serio, e non volete
You take everything so seriously, can’t
permettere ad una ragazza qualche scherzo
you let a girl have a little joke
talvolta?
sometimes?
DON ROMUALDO
Quà sghizzo? no, tu pazziave cò tutta la
More like a choke! You were losing
verità: oh Luì! tu saje, ca io aggio
your head in all truth: oh poo!
magnato pane de cchiù forne! vi si mo
I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.
na muccosella, comme a te, pò portà
Imagine a snotty-nosed thing like you
ncarrozza a no viaggiatore, che ha
expecting to catch a travelled man
smerzato dinto e for a l’orbe
like me who has been popping over
terragneo, ed aquatico!
land and sea and all over the globe!
LUIGIA
E vero, che pocanzi io mi adirai con
It’s true that a little while ago, I was
Federico, ma lo feci a solo oggetto di
taken up with Federico, but I did it
vendicarmi di voi, perchè, appena qui
to revenge myself on you, because
giunto, vi siete divagato a fare il bello
scarcely had we got here than you
colle donne di questo luogo.
began amusing yourself, flirting with
the ladies here.
DON ROMUALDO
Sta vota lo tentore ha sbagliata la tenta
This time the dyer has used the
caromosina, e la pezza n’e benuta a colore.
crimson and the rag hasn’t taken
Confessa, o fella! fefelli!
the colour. Confess, you cheat!
falsum! ca te piaceva
You butterfly! You want to sit in the
–170–
de cammenà co lo cavallo de sotta,
e lo pertechino…
carriage and ride on the horse’s
back as well…
LUIGIA
But I…
DON ROMUALDO
Sta zitta!…
Be quiet!…
LUIGIA
Ma voi…
But you…
DON ROMUALDO
Non parlà! ca mo anticipo i miei dritti
Don’t speak! Because now I will
dominicali, te taglio sto naso de
anticipate my rights as master, I will
poparuolo, e non te faccio bona
slice off your red pepper nose and
nè pè me, nè pè l’aute.
make you no good to me or
anyone else.
LUIGIA
Oh! queste ingiurie oltrepassano il segno!
Oh! These insults are unheard of!
COUNT
Vi trovo alla fine! posso o no sapere con
I’ve found you at last! Now that
tutto l’agio adesso, che siamo soli, che
we’re alone in peace and quiet, won’t
mai voglia dire tanto susurro, tante cere
you tell me what all the whispering is
torbide, e convulsive che veggo in questo
about and why I see so many
ritiro?
troubled and contorted faces in this
retreat?
DON ROMUALDO
Vattene, si Cò, ca mo non aggio golio de
Go away, Mister Count, because I
perdere nè capo, nè pacienzia, nè boce.
have no wish to lose my head,
nor my patience, nor my voice.
Ma io…
–171–
COUNT
The patient of your choice?
DON ROMUALDO
(very loudly)
Parla cò figlieta, ca essa sape tutto lo
Talk to your little girl, because she
mbruoglio.
knows the whole mess.
COUNT
Ah! dimmi dunque tu, Luigia mia.
Ah! Tell me then, my Luigia.
LUIGIA
Don Romualdo in piedi anche sogna.
Don Romualdo is dreaming while
he’s awake.
COUNT
Mi vedi, ed hai vergogna? qual male ho
You’re dreaming that I’m a snake?
fatto io?
Why, what had I done to you?
DON ROMUALDO
Vergogna a figlieta? chella tene na faccia,
Your daughter’s the snake! She’s got
la che può fonnere, e farne no cannone
so much brass you could melt her
dè corzea!
down and make a bedstead!
COUNT
Che? il bastone di Andrea?
A redhead? She’s not a redhead?
DON ROMUALDO
No…la varra de Tommaso, che starria
No…but over her head, and yours, I
bona ncapo a te, e a figlieta.
would gladly break my walking stick.
LUIGIA
(È meglio che io fugga, per evitare un
(I’d best be off, to avoid what is
dispiacevole sviluppo.)
going to be an unpleasant situation)
(He departs.)
Per la insolenza di quel feroce?
–172–
DON ROMUALDO
And now you’re fidgeting off!
You’re going to have to deal with me.
COUNT
Dove andate? e Luigia? l’avete fatta
Where are you going? And Luigia?
andar via, perchè non mi dicesse
You made her leave so she shouldn’t
la verità! oh ma io non vi lascio,
have to tell me the truth! Oh,
e voglio ad ogni costo sapere
but I’m not leaving you alone, and I
da voi fil filo tutto il fatto…
want to know from you, step
by step, the whole story…
[2]
DON ROMUALDO
Ca tu me ngutte, e stuzzeche
You shove me and push me
Per te contà lo fatto,
To tell you everything,
lo strillo comme a n’aquila,
I scream like an eagle,
Tu non me ntienne affatto,
You don’t hear me at all,
E a uscia pè farme ntennere
And I don’t wish to burst
Mo non borria crepà!
To make myself heard!
COUNT
Ma a cosa c’entra Venere?
You wish to be first
L’arpia chi mai sarà?
But take yourself third?
DON ROMUALDO
(very loudly)
Dico, ca Troja in cenere
I think that the worst
Priesto vedraje tu cca.
Has already occurred.
COUNT
Ma piano! cospettone!
Not so loud! Heaven protect us!
Più giù con quel vocione!
Keep down that great voice!
Un sordo io non son già!
I’m not deaf, you know!
E mo te ne sì fojuta! oh!
ma l’aje da fa commico.
–173–
DON ROMUALDO
After this I’ll have my way!
See this cuff?
I’m going to thump this Count
with it!
COUNT
Chi è quel marinaro?
Who is this sailor?
DON ROMUALDO
E n’animale anfibio.
He’s an amphibian.
COUNT
Chi è? Pasqual Polibio?
He doesn’t look Libyan?
DON ROMUALDO
Che fremma! è n’ommo quida…
Give me patience! He is a man who
might…
COUNT
Ti sfida? a quale oggetto?
Fight? What about?
DON ROMUALDO
Ah! ca na vena mpietto
Ah, I can feel a blood vessel
Me sento già schiattà!
On the verge of bursting!
COUNT
Perchè con Federico
Why was he making those
Gesti facea da matto?
Mad gestures at Federico?
DON ROMUALDO
Ca chisto è chillo fatto,
That’s the very thing
Che non se pò appurà.
That nobody knows.
COUNT
Che dici?
What’s that?
E appriesso vo ragione!
Ma vi che scoppolone
Al Conte ho da sonà!
–174–
Ca non saccio.
Che cosa? un gallinaccio?
Puozz’essere scannato!
Davver? glie l’ha rubato?
Na vranca de saette!
Poi se lo fè in polpette?
No vero porpettone
Ncoscienza sì papà!
Ma piano! cospettone!
Un sordo io non son già!
Figlieta è na briccona.
Briccona! e perchè mai?
Ca tene famma assai.
È carne, che ha da crescere,
Lasciala satollar.
DON ROMUALDO
I haven’t a clue!
COUNT
What do you say? You haven’t a shoe?
DON ROMUALDO
May he choke!
COUNT
No, I’m not joking!
DON ROMUALDO
A fistful of thunderbolts!
COUNT
Who’s a dunder-dolt?
DON ROMUALDO
(very loudly)
You are a dunder-dolt,
You old fool!
COUNT
Quieten down, for heaven’s sake!
I’m not deaf, you know!
DON ROMUALDO
Your daughter is a minx.
COUNT
A minx! Why?
DON ROMUALDO
Because she has a big appetite.
COUNT
She’s flesh and blood, a growing girl,
Let her satisfy it.
–175–
[3]
Puozze morì de subeto.
Tu, Federico, e figlieta.
E io, che fra ste ntapeche,
DON ROMUALDO
Why don’t you drop dead!
You, Federico, and your daughter,
And I who in the middle of all these
intrigues,
Fra surde, mbroglie, e diavole
Among the deaf, troublemakers and
devils
So lo sollenne arcaseno,
Am the only sobersides,
Che ancora stongo cca!
Amongst the lot of them!
Ma si accommenza a chiovere,
But it’s beginning to pour,
Cca vide lo delluvio,
There’s going to be a flood,
La lava corre a furia,
The lava will run furiously,
Se senteno le tronola,
Listen to the thunder,
E a te lo primo fruvolo
And the first bolt of lightning
Le recchie ha da spilà!
Will burst your eardrums!
E a te lo primo fruvolo
And the first bolt of lightning
In capo ha da spilà!
Will burst inside your head!
COUNT
Oh povero mio genero!
Oh, my poor son-in-law!
Diventa già frenetico!
He’s going frantic!
Se cresce più il delirio,
If his delirium gets worse
La cosa si fa seria…
It could be serious…
Spavento inver mi dà!
He really is giving me a fright!
Acqua! salasso! subito!
Water! A bleeding bowl! Quickly!
(He runs off, pursued by Don Romualdo.)
–176–
SCENE III
Federico and Candida
FEDERICO
Deh, non mi fuggite…ascoltatemi per
Don’t run away…listen to me for
pietà…
pity’s sake…
CANDIDA
Che potreste dirmi? osereste giustificarvi
What can you say to me? Would you
della vostra inescusabile perfidia?
dare to try to justify your inexcusable
non contento abbastanza di aver resa
treachery? Aren’t you happy at
infelice una credula donna, avreste
having made a woman who trusted
altri lacci da tenderle, per
you unhappy? Have you other tricks
vieppiù tormentarla?
to play on her, to torment
her even more?
FEDERICO
Ah no… io provo in vece i più crudi
Ah, no… I feel the most cruel
rimorsi, e rientrato in me stesso,
remorse. I am myself once again, and
vorrei render la pace al desolato
I wish to give peace once more to
core di Emilia.
Emilia’s desolate heart.
CANDIDA
E come sperarlo? richiamando dalla
And how do you hope to do that? By
tomba la sua genitrice, vittima del
bringing her mother, that victim of
vostro barbaro inganno?
your cruel deception, back from
the grave?
FEDERICO
Riparando in parte i miei torti, mercè la
By making good in part my misdeeds,
offerta della mia mano. Ah, voi
by offering her hand once again.
che tanto amate la vostra amica,
Ah, if you care for your friend, advise
–177–
consigliatela al mio perdono.
Io non posso, non so esistere in
odio a colei, che ora un sincero
pentimento mi rende tanto cara!
Io son pronto a dare qualunque
pruova del mio ravvedimento.
her to forgive me. I cannot, I do
not know how to, live at war with her
whom now my sincere repentance
makes so dear to me. I am ready to
give whatever proof is needed to show
that I have seen the error of my ways.
CANDIDA
Con un’altra amante al fianco?
With another lady friend at your side?
FEDERICO
Luigia mi è indifferente. Emilia ha saputo
Luigia is nothing to me. Emilia
spegnere la mia nascente inclinazione
quenched my dawning interest in her.
per essa.
CANDIDA
(Non sarebbe veramente questo il
(This really would not be the
primo caso di conciliare tutto
first case of a wedding
il mal fatto con un imeneo.)
reconciling all wrongs done.)
FEDERICO
Voi siete commossa…ah! lo veggo! la vostra You are moved…ah, I see it! Your
bell’anima è già di me impietosita.
lovely mind already takes pity on me.
CANDIDA
Di voi non già…son sincera, e vi dico
Not on you, indeed…I will be
che il vostro fallo non merita perdono;
frank and tell you your crime does
ma la sola speranza di temprare le pene
not deserve forgiveness; only the
dell’amica mi determina ad aprire il
hope of alleviating my friend’s
labbro in vostro favore. Possano le mie
suffering convinces me to speak on
premure produrre il desiato effetto!
your behalf. May my solicitude
produce the desired effect!
–178–
FEDERICO
Oh, quanto vi son grato! a sgombrare
Oh, how grateful I am to you!
ogni dubbio da Don Romualdo,
To clear up any doubt of Don
e calmarlo sul possesso di Luigia,
Romualdo’s and to assure him of his
ho anche pensato d’implorare
possession of Luigia, I had also
i suoi uffizj presso Emilia.
thought of asking his help with
Emilia.
CANDIDA
Mi sembra difficile che egli voglia a
It seems to me unlikely that he should
vostro prò impiegarsi, mentre voi li
employ himself on your behalf when
avete insidiate due amanti.
you have ensnared two of his fiancées.
FEDERICO
Io conosco il suo core, e mi auguro di
I know his heart and I hope to
riuscirvi.
succeed in this.
CANDIDA
Fatelo pure. Io vado in cerca di Emilia:
Do so then. I’ll go and find Emilia:
sarei felice, se potessi tergere le sue
I would be happy if I could stem
lagrime.
her tears.
(Candida departs.)
FEDERICO
Giunge opportuno Don Romualdo:
Here comes Don Romualdo right on
coraggio!
cue: chin up!
SCENE IV
Don Romualdo, later Emilia.
DON ROMUALDO
Aggio visto chillo briccone de Federico,
I saw that rascal Federico going after
–179–
che ghieva appriesso a chella porputa,
that well-developed sister who is
solitaria ch’è la confidente d’Emilia
Emilia’s confidante: what if the
se volesse lo malandrino acconcià
villain wants to fit himself out
n’auta mogliera pè l’inverno?
with another wife for the winter?
FEDERICO
(humbly)
Don Romualdo!
Don Romualdo!
DON ROMUALDO
Uh! sta cca lo faccio d’acciso!
Ha! This one I’m going to have killed!
FEDERICO
(offering him a knife)
Prendete…
Here…
DON ROMUALDO
No cortiello!
A knife!
FEDERICO
Sì, uccidetemi…ecco il mio petto
Yes, kill me…see, my breast is bared
esposto a’ vostri colpi…
for your blow…
DON ROMUALDO
A me? e pè l’ultimo complimento me
For me? And as a last wish,
vorrisse fa provà porzì no poco de
would you like to let me try just a
cannavo d’Inghilterra?
little Indian hemp?
FEDERICO
Conosco con mio estremo cordoglio di
I recognise with deepest distress that I
avervi tradito, e desidero che la
have deceived you and I desire
vostra mano istessa vendichi il
that your own hand should avenge
ricevuto oltraggio…
the outrage you have suffered…
DON ROMUALDO
E che abbasta sto cuorio tujo,
But what can that heart of yours,
–180–
che non bà na decinco,
pè pagarme tutte
le bricconarie che m’aje fatte?
which isn’t worth ten cents, do
to pay for all the rascally tricks
you’ve played on me?
FEDERICO
Se parlate di Luigia, io non ho tutto il
If you mean Luigia, all the wrong’s
torto…
not on my side…
DON ROMUALDO
No? embè lo tuorto l’avvarraggio io,
No? Well I’ll average the wrongs
che non te l’aggio consegnata
out, as I haven’t posted all the
ancora cò doje detella…
details to your account yet…
FEDERICO
Fu essa, che mi premurava ad
It was she who pestered me to love
amarla, ed io sempre
her, and I was forever trying to
dissuadendola, l’ho anzi consigliata
dissuade her. Actually I advised her
all’adempimento de’ suoi doveri:
to fulfil her duties. Ask her yourself,
dimandatelo a lei stessa, e non saprà
and she won’t be able to deny
negarlo alla mia presenza.
it in my presence.
DON ROMUALDO
Ah! fuje essa la contumace? e
Ah! She was wilfully disobedient?
pò lo Conte gnore dice ca è carne,
But the Count says she’s flesh and
che ha da crescere.
blood and has to grow up.
FEDERICO
Allora che Emilia fu da me sedotta,
When I led Emilia astray, I had
io non aveva la sorte di conoscervi:
not had the chance of meeting you,
non sarei stato
for otherwise I would not have
altrimenti capace di farvi
been capable of doing you the
la menoma ingiuria
slightest harm.
–181–
DON ROMUALDO
Nzomma, a chello che bedo, stammo
In short, from what I understand,
parapatta, e, pace: anze pè contentino
we’re even Steven. Indeed to average
t’avarraggio da mannà porzì
things out nicely I may even have to
quacche regalo?
give you a present?
FEDERICO
Ah sì, un regalo il più prezioso è quello
Ah yes, a most precious gift that I
che io attendo dal vostro ottimo core.
would like from your good heart.
DON ROMUALDO
Ma vi si la mutria de chisto non è
An apology from this chap is as good
la calamita de la ponia nfaccia! va
as a poke in the eye! He tells me
dicenno, che t’avarria
I have to give him a present, he must
da rialà, pè spedirme la vera patente de
think I’ve got a diploma in going
chillo, che bà co la campana ncanna!
about with my bell muffled!
[4]
FEDERICO
Essa è lì.
She is there.
DON ROMUALDO
Embè che buò?
So what?
FEDERICO
Io son qui…
I am here…
DON ROMUALDO
Ed io costà…
And I’m over here…
FEDERICO
Ah voi, sì…
Ah yes, you…
DON ROMUALDO
Sapè se pò
May one know what all this ‘here’
Che bò dì sto ‘qui’, sto ‘llì’?
and ‘there’ is about?
–182–
FEDERICO
Ah, sir! For pity’s sake!
DON ROMUALDO
Va dicenno alò, ciaferro!
Hello, it sounds as though the cheat
N’auta mbroglia, n’auto perro
Is preparing for me
Me vorrisse preparà?
Another trick, another fraud!
FEDERICO
Ah voi, che amico del bel sesso,
You, a lover of the fair sex,
Accogliete in petto amore,
Who harbours love in your breast.
Ah voi, che in sen chiudete un core,
You, who in your bosom houses a
heart
E sensibile, e pietoso,
Both sensitive and kind,
Accorrete, generoso,
Hasten, generous man,
Le mie pene a ristorar!
To relieve my suffering!
DON ROMUALDO
M’arrobaste na mogliera,
You pinched a wife from me,
M’aje sbotata mo na sposa:
Dislodged a fiancée,
Quacche sora pè refosa
Would you like to add
Me vorrisse sgraffignà?
A nun on top of it all?
FEDERICO
Il mio labbro… oh Ciel! non osa…
My lips would not dare…Oh
Heaven!…
DON ROMUALDO
Vi che bernia è chesta ccà!
This man is a walking indecency!
FEDERICO
Sappiate… Emilia è lì…
You must know… Emilia is there…
Chiamatela voi qui…
Call her here…
Perdono a’ falli miei
Your authority
Ah signor! per carità!
–183–
Mi ottenga alfin da lei
La vostra autorità.
Shall finally obtain from her
Forgiveness for my crimes.
DON ROMUALDO
Vattenne, o a lo paese
Buzz off, or I shall really
Mo proprio te ce manno!
Send you to hell.
Mmalora! il turcimanno
The devil! You even want me
Porzì me vuò fa fà?
To play the go-between?
FEDERICO
Che smania! oimè!… che affanno!
What a rage! Alas! Such suffering!
Per me non vi è pietà!
There is no pity for me!
DON ROMUALDO
Vattenne, o mo te scanno…
Push off, or I’ll throttle you…
Me lasso a paccarià!…
I’ll forget myself and thump you!…
[5]
EMILIA
(entering)
Quai strida?
What’s all this noise?
FEDERICO
Emilia!
Emilia!
EMILIA
Oh stelle!
Oh, stars!
FEDERICO
A’ piedi tuoi, deh, mira…
See, I fall at your feet…
EMILIA
E ancor fra queste mura
Still within these walls
Il traditor si aggira?
The traitor prowls around?
E non è sazio ancora
And is still not sated
Del mio crudel tormento?
By my cruel torment?
–184–
In rimirarlo io sento
L’anima vacillar!
Seeing him again I feel
My spirit weaken!
DON ROMUALDO
Doje ntorce a quatto lume
Two good lamps
Smicciai pè st’animale,
I’ve had put out by this animal,
E mo n’auto stutale
And now he wants me to trim
me vo fa smoccolà?
Another candle for him?
FEDERICO
Mi ascolta…
Listen to me…
EMILIA
Indegno! parti…
Unworthy man! Go…
DON ROMUALDO
Arronza, o mo te smosso…
You’ve botched it, now I’ll thump
you…
(As he assails Federico, Emilia prevents him.)
EMILIA
Fermatevi…
Stop…
FEDERICO
Non posso
I cannot
Da te partir…
Leave you…
DON ROMUALDO
Te scresto!
I’ll bash your head in!
EMILIA
Fermatevi…
Stop…
FEDERICO
Funesto
Sad
Sarà il mio fin…
Will be my end…
–185–
T’accido!
Fermatevi…che puoi
Tu dirmi, anima ria?
Che della colpa mia
Pentito io son…
Tè! piglia!
Fermatevi…
[6]
Mmalora!
Me pare, o mia signora,
Che mente lo vuò muorto,
O ha ragione o tuorto
Lo fatto vuò impattà.
Un barbaro voi siete,
Che ancor mi tormentate,
Nè compatir sapete
Lo stato del mio cor!
La vostra crudeltade
Spietata a me si rende!
DON ROMUALDO
I’ll murder you!
EMILIA
Stop…What can you
Say to me, cruel man?
FEDERICO
That I have repented of
My crime…
DON ROMUALDO
There! Take that!
EMILIA
Stop…
DON ROMUALDO
The devil!
It seems to me, Madame,
That while you wish him dead,
Whether he is right or wrong,
The matter needs to be sorted out.
EMILIA
(to Don Romualdo)
You are a savage,
You continue to torment me,
You have no sympathy
For my feelings.
FEDERICO
Your cruelty
Is directed pitilessly against me!
–186–
Di triste mie vicende
Io veggo in voi l’autor!
Mannà chi v’ha allattate!
Volite avè ragione,
E la remessione
V’avesse da fà mo?
Amor, crudele Amore!
Tiranno de’ mortali.
Per lacerare un core
Mai cessa il tuo rigor!
Ah! comme a n’ariatella
La capo sta votanno!
Fra Scilla, e fra Carella
Sbauzato ajemmè! ce sò!
In you I see the author
Of my unhappiness!
DON ROMUALDO
Damn whoever gave you suck!
You want to be in the right,
And now expect
To be given Absolution!
EMILIA/FEDERICO
Love! Cruel Love!
Tyrant of mortals.
Your inflexibility never ceases
To tear the heart!
DON ROMUALDO
Ah! My head is spinning
Like a wheel!
I am thrown, alas,
Between Scylla and Charybdis!
(They depart separately.)
SCENE V
Claudio stops Federico as he leaves. Candida watches.
CLAUDIO
Ove ten vai? arrestati! non fuggirmi, è
Where are you going! Stop, do not
giunto il tempo, onde io ti sveli il mio
run away. The time has come
nome, e la cagione del mio
to tell you my name and the reason
risentimento!
for my resentment!
–187–
FEDERICO
(This man’s voice has the same power
over my heart as Emilia’s.)
CLAUDIO
(Appresi il luogo, ove riposano le ceneri
(I learned the place where rest the
invendicate della infelice mia sposa.
unavenged ashes of my unhappy
Appiè di quella tomba costui
wife. At the foot of her tomb this
pagherà la pena de’ suoi misfatti.)
man will pay the penalty of his
crimes.)
FEDERICO
E così che pretendi da me?
So, what do you want of me?
CLAUDIO
Vendetta, già tel dissi…sieguimi.
Vengeance, I told you already…follow
me.
FEDERICO
E dove?
Where to?
CLAUDIO
Nel sotterraneo di questo ritiro.
To the crypt of this retreat.
FEDERICO
Vorresti forse?
What will you do to me?
CLAUDIO
Non credermi capace di una viltà.
Do not think me capable of a base
Vieni.
act. Come.
FEDERICO
(Che può accadermi? morire? si segua
(What can befall me? I can die?
il mio fato.)
Let me follow my destiny)
CLAUDIO
Risolvi...
Make up your mind…
(La voce di costui ha sul mio core il
potere istesso di quella di Emilia.)
–188–
Ti seguo…
Ah! sarò pago una volta!
Che intesi! oh scompiglio!
Oh quale altra trista avventura
è per succedere! Ah! Emilia!
Oh Dio! se sapeste...
FEDERICO
I follow you…
CLAUDIO
Ah, at last I shall be satisfied!
(They depart.)
CANDIDA
What have I heard! How upsetting!
Oh, now what sad event is
going to happen! Ah! Emilia!
Oh God! If only you knew...
SCENE VI
Emilia, then Don Romualdo.
EMILIA
What happened?
CANDIDA
Il marinajo trascina seco Federico
That sailor is taking Federico into
nel sotterraneo per sacrificarlo
the crypt to sacrifice him to his
alla sua vendetta.
vengeance.
EMILIA
Ah! son perduta! corriamo, amica, a
Ah! I am lost! Hurry, my friend, to
trattenerli, ad impedire che avvenga
hold them back, to prevent a worse
un mal peggiore. Don Romauldo,
evil from happening. Don Romualdo,
giungete a tempo! deh, unitevi
you have come at the right moment!
a noi. Soccorrete in questo
Come with us. Help poor Emilia now.
momento la sventurata Emilia.
Che avvenne?
–189–
DON ROMUALDO
Ch’è stato! quacche auta bricconata de
What’s happened? Another dirty
Federico?
trick of Federico’s?
CANDIDA
Vi è chi minaccia i suoi giorni.
Someone threatens his life.
DON ROMUALDO
E lassalo accidere! avrimmo no birbante
Let them kill him! We’ll have one less
de meno.
rogue.
EMILIA
Ma non sapete in qual rischio sia per
But you don’t know the risk being run
cadere una persona a me cara…ah!
by someone dear to me…Ah!
è questo l’istante di farmi conoscere
This is the moment to show me
la vostra sensibilità.
your sensitivity.
DON ROMUALDO
Veramente la mia sensibilità cca dinto
Actually, my sensitivity has
è addevenuta bestialità.
turned to bestiality inside me.
EMILIA
Restate dunque, inumano! basteremo
Stay here then, inhuman man!
noi sole a dissipare il fulmine
Alone, we two will be strong enough
che sta scoppiando.
to disperse the coming storm.
CANDIDA
No, no…venite…voi non dovete
No, no… Come…You must not
abbandonarci in circostanza cosi.
leave us in such terrible circumstances.
DON ROMUALDO
Ma addò jammo?
But where are we going?
EMILIA
Negli abissi, se fia d’uopo, per salvar
To the abyss, if we have to, to
chi mi è caro...
save one who is dear to me…
–190–
DON ROMUALDO
No, a l’abbisse vance tu, ca lo caudo
No, to the abyss you can go on
m’ha fatto sempe male.
your own. Heat always makes me feel
poorly.
CANDIDA
Venite, e non dubitate.
Come, stop dithering.
DON ROMUALDO
E ghiammo…vota, gira, e martella,
Alright then, let’s go. No
eppuro no guajo ce l’aggio da passà
matter how I twist and turn, I
dinto a sto romitaggio.
know something nasty’s going to
happen to me in this hermitage.
(They depart.)
SCENE VII
A rough-hewn dungeon, artificially hollowed out of the sandstone. The way down is by a
long row of steps. This place serves as the burial chamber of the Liverpool family. In the
middle is a newly constructed tomb where a portrait of Emilia’s mother hangs. A lantern is
lit before it. Several other tombs fill the stage.
[7]
Claudio with a lighted torch precedes Federico, who remains on the last step.
[8]
E a che t’arresti?
Ove mi traggi? e in questo
Mesto asilo di morte
Perchè mi guida il tuo furor?
CLAUDIO
Why have you stopped?
FEDERICO
Where are you taking me?
Why has your fury led me
To this melancholy refuge of death?
–191–
CLAUDIO
To feed the vengeance of my
tortured heart A fitting funereal
abode, impious man, awaits you.
FEDERICO
Chi sei? qual d’oltraggiarmi
Who are you? What right do you
Dritto t’arroghi?
assume to insult me thus?
CLAUDIO
(pointing to the portrait)
In quella effigie il guardo
Turn your gaze on that likeness
Volgi, o crudel! la vittima in lei mira
Cruel man! See in her the victim
Del tuo delitto, e se rimorsi intendi,
Of your crime, and if you understand
Del giusto furor mio l’oggetto
remorse, learn the purpose of
apprendi.
my just fury.
FEDERICO
Che! la madre d’Emilia! oh Cielo!
What! Emilia’s mother! Oh Heaven!
Mi sento le chiome sollevar!
I feel my hair stand on end!
CLAUDIO
Vedi quel ciglio
Do you see those eyes
Molle di pianto? il sangue tuo mi
damp from tears? They ask me for
chiede, e il verserò.
your blood and I will shed it.
FEDERICO
(Del fallo mio l’orrore
(The horror of my crime
Il coraggio mi toglie!) Ah! per pietade
Takes my courage from me!) Ah!
Dimmi chi sei?
For pity’s sake tell me who you are?
CLAUDIO
Comuni a me le offese
Sacred family ties
Rende d’Emilia un sacro
Make Emilia’s offences mine,
Del mio straziato core a pascer
la vendetta. Giusto feral
soggiorno, empio! ti aspetta.
–192–
Vincol di sangue, e a vendicar qui
vengo la madre sua, che il tuo
misfatto ha spenta. In me d’un
Dio la ultrice man paventa!
[9]
Nel campo del valore
Seppi sfidar la morte;
Senno, virtude, onore
I passi miei guidò,
E un vile, un traditore
Mai perdonar saprò.
Di giovanile errore
Mi trasportò l’eccesso:
Del grave fallo io stesso
Soffrir l’idea non so.
Ma dal mio duol oppresso,
Estinto alfin, orror, cadrò.
Che giova il pentimento,
Se Emilia è già infelice?
Se nel crudel tormento
Già langue il genitor?
Ma il genitor già spento…
No, traditore! in vita
Lo serba il Cielo ancor.
And I come here to avenge
Her mother, whom your misdeed
has killed. Fear in me the avenging
hand of God!
On the field of valour
I defied death;
Wisdom, courage, honour
Guided my steps,
And I will never be able to forgive
A coward, a traitor.
FEDERICO
Excess of youthful folly
Carried me away:
I myself do not know how to bear
The burden of my wicked deed.
But oppressed by my grief,
I will at last, oh horror! fall dead.
CLAUDIO
What use is repentance,
If Emilia is already ruined?
If her father already lingers
In fierce torment?
FEDERICO
But her father is already dead…
CLAUDIO
No, traitor! Alive
Heaven still keeps him.
–193–
FEDERICO
Ah! who will point out the path to
me to extract myself from this
horror? Could you be? Speak...
CLAUDIO
Son Claudio… alma rubella!
I am Claudio…rebel heart!
Che non da vil, qual sei,
Who comes, not as a base man,
Ma vengo i torti miei
as you are, to revenge
A vendicar così.
the wrongs done to me
(He takes out two pistols and offers them to Federico.)
Scegli…
Choose…
FEDERICO
Che fai? non fia!
What are you doing? Let it not be
this way!
CLAUDIO
Scegli, ti dico, e pria
Choose, I tell you, but first
Quel foglio sottoscrivi,
Sign that paper,
Ove del tradimento
In which it is set down
Espresso e in te l’autore...
That the author of the betrayal
is you…
FEDERICO
Ah! per pietà…signore!
Ah! For pity’s sake…My Lord!
CLAUDIO
Tu non l’avesti un dì!
You had none, once!
[10]
Per te son misero
Because of you I am a poor
Padre dolente…
Grieving father…
Ah! chi la via m’addita
Da trarmi a tant’orror?
Saresti mai? favella…
–194–
Di eterne lagrime
Tu sei sorgente…
Pietà non merita
Un seduttor!
Of my everlasting tears
You are the source…
A seducer
Deserves no pity!
FEDERICO
Se inesorabile
If unswayed
Al pianto mio
By my tears,
Di sangue t’anima
You are driven
Crudel desio,
By the cruel desire for blood,
Di morte il fulmine
Strike Death’s thunderbolt
Mi vibra al cor!
Into my heart!
FEDERICO/CLAUDIO
Ah! delle smanie,
Ah! I cannot express
Che provo in seno,
The harsh inflexibility
Non posso esprimere
Of madness
L’aspro rigor!
Which I feel in my heart!
CLAUDIO
Non più indugio, sottoscrivi quel foglio.
No more delay, sign this paper.
FEDERICO
Tutto farò, se il vuoi, ma giammai scenderò I will do anything you wish, but never
al cimento delle armi col genitor di
will I be so low as to take up
Emilia.
arms against Emilia’s father.
CLAUDIO
Speri invano di sedurmi, come facesti
If you hope to soften my heart, as you
coll’infelice mia figlia.
did my unhappy daughter, you hope
in vain.
–195–
FEDERICO
I hope to persuade a generous man for
forgiveness…
CLAUDIO
Perdono! e lo implori all’aspetto di colei,
Forgiveness! And you ask that before
che uccidesti, e che in questo
her whom you killed, and who
momento acende
at this moment fuels my fury
vieppiùil mio furore? difenditi…
even more… defend yourself…
o mori…
or die…
(As he aims the pistol, the others run in to prevent him from shooting.)
Spero di persuaderti ad un generoso
perdono…
FINAL SCENE
Emilia, Candida, Don Romualdo, Luigia, the Count and Villagers.
CANDIDA
Stop!
EMILIA
Ah per pietà!
Ah, for pity’s sake!
DON ROMUALDO
Non ve movite, ca cca è sciso n’esercito
Don’t move, because an army of
de gente pe farve stare a dovere…
people has come down here to make
you behave yourself…
COUNT
Rispetto, dico, ad un figlio di Marte.
Have respect, I say, for a son of Mars.
DON ROMUALDO
Sconcecato da Mercurio.
Inspired by Cupid.
Fermate
–196–
CLAUDIO
Importuni! a che trattenete la giusta mia
Untimely wretches! Why do you
vendetta?
restrain my just revenge?
DON ROMUALDO
Nzomma t’aje puosto ncapo, marenaro
In short, you damn sailor, you have
de la mmalora, de volè afforza fa sango?
got it into your head to have blood
at any cost?
FEDERICO
Rispettatelo… egli è il padre di Emilia.
Respect him…he is Emilia’s father.
COUNT
Che sento!
What’s that I hear!
EMILIA
Ah! egli si è scoverto!
Ah! He has revealed himself!
CLAUDIO
Sì sappiatelo…io sono quel Claudio di
Yes, know this… I am that very
Liverpool, che per vendicare una
Claudio di Liverpool, who to avenge
figlia, una moglie sacrificata da questo
a daughter and a wife sacrificed by
perfido, si espone a’ rigori di
this unworthy man, am exposing
una proscrizione, tornando nella
myself to the penalties of exile by
terra natìa.
returning to my native land.
FEDERICO
Consolati, Liverpool: la tua
Be consoled, Liverpool: your
innocenza si è conosciuta, e la giustizia
innocence has become known, and
de’ magistrati ha punito il calunniatore,
the justice of the courts has
restituendoti agli onori, ed al
punished the slanderer, restoring to
possesso delle tue sostanze.
you your titles and the possession
–197–
Fu pubblicato questo decreto
pochi giorni prima della
nostra partenza da Londra.
of your estates. This decree was
published only several days before
our departure from London.
CLAUDIO
E fia vero?
Is this true?
EMILIA
Ah! sono meno sventurata!
Ah! I am less unfortunate!
DON ROMUALDO
Chisto cambiamento de scena te potarria
This theatrical transformation could
fu cchiù doce, danno no trunco a sto guajo make you more attractive, putting
co no scampolo de matrimonio.
an end to this bad business with a
fag-end of a marriage.
CLAUDIO
Sì, Emilia, il verace ravvedimento di
Yes, Emilia, Federico has truly seen
Federico può farti cancellare le sue offese!
the error of his ways, which helps
non deve regnare eterno
to wipe away what he has done! Hate
il livore ne’ nostri cori, e
must not live forever in our hearts,
l’ombra della tua genitrice poserà
and the shade of your mother will
tranquilla nel vederti compagna
rest happy seeing you as Federico’s
di Federico, ed al fianco dell’autor
bride, and at the side of the author
de’ tuoi giorni.
of your days
DON ROMUALDO
E tu, si Lavapalle, si vuò sentì lo consiglio
And you, Mr Liverballs, if you want
mio, afferrate n’auta pollanchella,
my advice, grab the other chick, and
pe fa na bona vecchiaja, e accossì faje
spend a comfortable old age. That
stà cchiù cojeta la bonarma,
way, you’ll calm down your dear
che te vede porzì arrecettato.
departed once she sees you married.
–198–
EMILIA
(My heart is overwhelmed!)
FEDERICO
Emilia, Claudio, non siate tanto
Emilia, Claudio, do not be so
inesorabili…pende da un solo accento
inflexible…my happiness, and yours,
la mia, e la vostra felicità!
hang on but one single word!
DON ROMUALDO
Emilia aspetta n’auta piccola vottata, pe
Emilia needs only another little shove
lassarse comme a na funa fraceta, e lo
to give way like a piece of rotten
gnore farrà comme a tutte li gnure,
string, and the boys will do what all
che doppo che hanno strellato,
boys do, who after they have finished
fanno necessità della virtù.
scolding, make necessity of virtue.
CLAUDIO
Ah! son vinto! Federico, io ti perdono…
Ah, I am won over! Federico, I forgive
Emilia! sposalo, è tuo…
you… Emilia, marry him, he is
yours…
FEDERICO
Oh me felice!
Oh, lucky me!
EMILIA
Ah! qual momento!
Ah! what a moment!
DON ROMUALDO
Che aje da fa mò? strigne li diente,
What are you going to do now? Grit
e pigliatella pe l’ammore de lo cielo…
your teeth and take her, for heaven’s
io schitto co la caparra de
sake… I, having had the promise of
doje mogliere resto sulo a
two wives, am now left to play the
monnà nespole.
gooseberry.
(Quale assalto al mio core!)
–199–
LUIGIA
Se imitando l’esempio di Claudio,
Taking Claudio’s example, if you
vorreste generoso accogliere il
would care to be generous enough
mio pentimento…
to accept my repentance…
DON ROMUALDO
Già…tu faje ‘si turba il mar,
Of course…you’re playing ‘the sea’s
facciam ritorno al lido’
getting rough, let’s get back to shore’
E io pe non restà corrivo, te perdono,
And not to stay in a bad temper,
e te dongo la mano.
I forgive you, and we’ll get hitched.
COUNT
Come? vi sposate in un sotterraneo?
What? Get married in a crypt?
DON ROMUALDO
Gnò, n’accommenzare a scacatià, e po
Lord! Don’t start another fuss, and I’ll
dicimmo lo tutto.
explain everything to you.
CANDIDA
Oh, quanto è vero, che la bella serenità
Oh, how true it is that sweet serenity
sempre succede al più terribile nembo.
always follows the darkest clouds.
[11]
EMILIA/FEDERICO
Discenda fausto imene,
Come down, auspicious Hymen,
congiunga il nostro core:
Join together our happy hearts:
con l’auree sue catene
The knot will be doubled
Il nodo addoppierà.
By your golden chains.
LUIGIA/CANDIDA/FEDERICO
Amor, costanza, e fede
Love, constancy and fidelity
Sempre con voi sarà.
Shall always be between you.
CLAUDIO
Se un desiato nodo
If a longed-for tie
Unisce il vostro core,
United your hearts,
–200–
Il cor d’un genitore
Contento alfin sarà.
Amor, costanza, e fede
Sempre con voi sarà.
Non saccio si me chiammo
Io pure fortunato:
Me songo già nzorato,
Sarrà quel che sarrà.
Vivete, sposi amanti,
Giorni felici e lieti;
Regnino in voi costanti
La pace, e l’amistà!
Your father’s heart
Will be happy at last.
LUIGIA/CANDIDA
Love, constancy and fidelity
Shall always be between you.
DON ROMUALDO
I don’t know whether to count
Myself as happy too:
But I’m already hitched up,
‘Che sara, sara’.
COUNT/VILLAGERS
May you live, loving couples,
Happy and joyful days;
May peace and friendship
Reign with you forever!
END OF THE OPERA
–201–
Philharmonia Orchestra
Cover of the
original 1828
libretto
L’EREMITAGGIO DI LIWERPOOL
ACT ONE
[12]
SCENE I
A mountain on the summit, a hermitage with some adjoining buildings. In the foreground,
several cypress trees and stone seats. A storm comes up; it grows wilder and wilder.
[13]
Fosca nube a noi minaccia
Un terrible oragano,
Discendiamo preso al piano,
Pria che venga a imperversar!
MOUNTAINEERS
Gloomy clouds portend
A terrible storm for us!
Let us go down to the valley
Before it gets worse!
SCENE II
Giacomo enters, out of breath.
Accorrete, buona gente,
Impedite una sciagura.
Nella valle una vettura
Già pe’ flutti del torrente
In periglio se ne sta!
Su corriamo, presto andiamo,
Salvo ognun per noi sarà.
Via calmatevi, o signore,
Che cessata è la tempesta.
Rallegrate il vostro core,
Già più bello il sol tornò.
GIACOMO
Run, good people!
Prevent a disaster.
In the valley a carriage
Is in danger
From the rushing torrent!
MOUNTAINEERS
Run, let us hurry,
We will save everyone.
Come, calm yourself, sir,
The storm is over.
Cheer your heart,
Now the sun is shining even brighter.
–204–
SCENE III
The mountaineers, followed by Giacomo, hurriedly go down to the valley. The storm grows
fiercer, then slowly abates. The mountaineers re-enter with Giacomo, supporting Count
Asdrubale, followed by Bettina and Colonel Tomson.
[14]
MOUNTAINEERS
Via calmatevi, o signore,
Come, calm yourself, sir,
Che cessata è la tempesta.
The storm is over.
Rallegrate il vostro core,
Cheer your heart,
Già più bello il sol tornò.
Now the sun is shining even brighter.
[15]
ASDRUBALE
N’è? È passata veramente?
Lord! Is it really over?
La mia pelle stà sicura?
My skin is safe?
Ah ca ncuorpo la paura
The fright had my insides
Stà iocanno a carambò.
Playing snooker!
E Don Zogno? Ch’è squagliato?
And Mr Lard? Has he melted?
Gnò? E nepotema addò stà?
Lord! And where’s my niece?
MOUNTAINEERS
Sono entrambi già arrivati.
They have both arrived.
Li mirate. Eccoli qua.
You see, here they are!
[16]
TOMSON
(to Bettina)
Cara, serena i rai,
Dearest, dry your eyes,
Cessato è il gran periglio;
The great danger has passed.
Al fianco mio sarai,
You will be by my side.
Io per te sol vivrò.
I will live for you alone.
–205–
BETTINA
If you will be by my side
I will live happily ever after!
ASDRUBALE
(aside)
(Ma si non faccio arrore,
(But if I’m not mistaken,
L’amico di viaggio
Our travelling companion
Se spassa a fà l’ammore…
Is amusing himself by flirting…
E la si neposcella
And my little Miss Niece,
Vi comme se squasea…
Look at her simpering…
Attiento Donn’Asdrubale,
Watch out, Don Asdrubale
Non te fà arrovoglià.)
Don’t get into a tangle.)
BETTINA
(to Tomson)
Prudenza, il zio ci guarda.
Careful, Uncle’s watching.
TOMSON
(to Bettina)
Di cose indifferenti
So, let us talk
Or dunque parleremo…
Of unimportant matters…
ASDRUBALE
(to Bettina)
Bettina? A’ie chiù paura?
Bettina, are you still frightened?
BETTINA
No, no, mio caro zio,
No, no, Uncle dear,
Son già rasserenata.
I have calmed down already.
GIACOMO/MOUNTAINEERS
Ogni spavento in lei
Every fear she had
Alfin si dileguò.
Is finally dispelled.
Se al fianco mio sarai
Contenta ognor vivrò.
–206–
[17]
Mannaggia lo viaggio,
E chi l’escogitò:
Te porta na iummenta,
Se scapula o s’allenta;
Te tira na carrozza,
Lo capo sbatte e tozza;
Pe mare te ne vaie,
Nce sò chiù pene e guaie;
Si duorme a le locanne,
Se rompeno li scanne;
Si magne a n’ostaria,
Te danno porcaria.
Mannaggia lo viaggio,
E chi l’escogitò!
Ah sì, mio caro bene,
Costante ognor sarò;
E se ci annoda Imene
Infra le sue catene,
Oh come in quel momento
C’inonderà il contento,
E il più felice istante
Godrà quest’alm’amante.
Ah sì, mio caro bene,
Costante ognor sarò.
ASDRUBALE
Damn travelling,
And whoever thought of it:
A beast of burden carries you,
It runs away or tarries;
You go in a carriage,
Your head thumps and bumps;
If you go by sea,
You’ll find such pain and woe;
If you sleep at the inn,
The bedslats break;
If you eat at the hostelry,
They give you garbage.
Damn travelling,
And whoever thought of it!
BETTINA/TOMSON
Ah yes, my dear treasure,
I shall always be true;
And if Hymen should bind us
In his chains,
Oh, in that moment how much
Contentment would engulf us,
And this loving soul will enjoy
Its happiest moment.
Ah yes, my dear treasure,
I shall always be true.
–207–
GIACOMO/MOUNTAINEERS
This news alone can temper
Her cruel suffering.
Always to save people
From the ice and from the torrent,
Is the most grateful task
Which the desolate Emilia
Expects and asks of everyone,
And amply rewards…
This news alone can temper
Her cruel suffering.
ASDRUBALE
(to the Mountaineers)
Va faciteve sotta belli figliù, ca ve voglio
Here you go, my fine lads, I want you
fà ji a sciacquittià a la salute mia.
to have a good swill to my health.
(As he hands out money, he notices that Claudio is not there.)
E chillo marinaro che pe nce sarvà n’auto
And that sailor who, to save us, very
poco restava scamazzoto sott’a la carrozza
nearly ended up squashed under the
addov’è ghiuto?
coach, where has he gone?
GIACOMO
Non saprei. È solo da ieri in qua che lo
I wouldn’t know. It’s only since
veggiamo aggirarsi per questi monti.
yesterday that we’ve seen him
wandering through these
mountains.
ASDRUBALE
Val’a di ch’è no cavallo for a mano?
Does that mean he’s a dark horse?
GIACOMO
Non v’intendo.
I don’t follow you.
Tal nuova il rio martiro
Temprar in lei sol può.
Salvare ognor la gente
Dal gelo, dal torrente,
E l’opra la più grata
Ch’Emilia desolata
Da tutti esige e chiede,
Ed ampia dà mercede…
Tal nuova il rio martiro
Temprar in lei sol può.
–208–
ASDRUBALE
A’ie ragione, cheste non sò frase pe te,
You’re right, these aren’t phrases for
no le puoie capì. Famme no piacere,
you, you won’t understand them.
tu cà che rappresiente?
Do me a favour – what do you do
around here?
GIACOMO
Io sono Giacomo, il fattore di quel
I’m Giacomo, the steward of this
Romitaggio.
hermitage.
ASDRUBALE
Ah, ho molto piacere di fare la tua
Ah, I’m delighted to make your
conoscenza. Tiene na faccia che
acquaintance. You have a face that
veramente dice quacche cosa.
really says something.
GIACOMO
È tutta sua bontà.
You’re most kind.
ASDRUBALE
No, è chello che d’è, ed alla tua
No, it is what it is, and by your
fisonomia nce scommettarria, che
physiognomy I would bet on it that
sarrisse capace de farence alloggià
you would be able to put us up
là dinto.
in there.
GIACOMO
Anzi è questa la istituzione di quel
That’s exactly what this institution is
ritiro.
here for.
ASDRUBALE
A’ie visto che nc’àggio annevenato, Betti?
Do you see what I’ve fixed up, Betty?
TOMSON
(Eppur Emilia ho nel pensiero ognora!)
(And yet I am still thinking about
Emilia!)
–209–
BETTINA
Tomson, what are you thinking about?
ASDRUBALE
Betti?
Betty?
TOMSON
A te sola, mia cara.
Only of you, my dear.
ASDRUBALE
Oie Bettina? Betti?
Hey, Bettina? Betty?
BETTINA
Mio zio…
Uncle…
ASDRUBALE
(Malora! Chesta perde addirittura tutte li
(The devil! That girl loses her head
sense quanno vede n’ommo!)
entirely when she sees a man!)
BETTINA
E così?
Yes?
ASDRUBALE
E così diceva, e credo che anche Do do, il
Yes, I was saying that I think even Mr
vostro nome? sempre me scordo.
Mi… I can never remember your
name.
TOMSON
Tomson.
Tomson.
ASDRUBALE
Don Tizzone non se vorrà asciuttà li
Mr Timson won’t have to stay in his
panne ncuollo, mente nce potimmo ji a
wet clothes if we can go and freshen
ristorà dint’a chillo Romitaggio.
ourselves up in this hermitage.
TOMSON
Certo, quando vi è questo comodo.
Certainly, if we have that convenience.
Tomson, che pensi?
–210–
ASDRUBALE
Ecco qua presente ed accettante il fattore
Here is the steward of the place,
del luogo, il quale dice di essere incaricato
present and agreeable, who says he
de farence strata nnanze.
is charged to lead us there.
GIACOMO
Adempio al mio dovere.
I am only doing my duty.
ASDRUBALE
Non c’è di che. Sei tutto compito. Non te
Don’t mention it. You are very polite.
manca niente. Se vede proprio ch’è stato no You are perfection. One can see that
grann’ommo chi t’ha miso mano tutto il
the man who gave you this important
peso de sta fattoria.
job knew what he was doing.
(They go into the hermitage.)
SCENE IV
Claudio enters in rags, dressed as a slave, with a heavy beard.
[18]
In dura schiavitù
Il fato mi dannò!
Il cor giammai provò
Che sia contento!
Ovunque io volgo il piè,
Non trova il mio dolor
Che immagini d’orror,
E di tormento!
[19]
Ah Claudio sventurato!
Quando avranno un confin gli
CLAUDIO
To cruel slavery
Fate condemned me!
My heart never knew
What it is to be content!
Wherever I turn my step,
My sorrow finds naught
But images of horror,
And torment!
Ah, unfortunate Claudio!
When will your troubles come to
–211–
affanni tuoi?
Di dura schiavitù dopo venti anni
Sull’Affricano lido al patrio suolo
Celere il passo io muovo.
Misero me! non trovo
Che pianto, che terror! perfida Emilia!
Tu la morte recasti
Co’ tuoi delitti infami
Alla tua genitrice, e sposa mia!
Cielo! vendica il duol di un padre afflitto
Col fulmin punitore del delitto!
[20]
D’una tradita madre
L’ombra tuttor sdegnata
Non scenda invendicata
Ne’ regni dell’orror.
Ah no… che dissi mai?
Mi trasportò lo sdegno…
Cielo! sospendi il fulmine,
Lo implora il genitor
[21]
S’è ver, che sei pentita,
Misera, afflitta figlia,
an end?
After twenty years of cruel slavery
On the African shore, to my native
soil
I speed my step.
Unhappy man! I find
Only weeping and terror! Treacherous
Emilia!
With your infamous crimes
You brought death
To your mother, to my wife!
Heaven! Revenge the wound of an
afflicted father
With a thunderbolt to punish the
crime.
O may the shade, still angry,
Of your betrayed mother
Not descend unavenged
To the realms of horror.
Ah no! What am I saying?
I was carried away by anger…
Heaven! Arrest the thunderbolt
Her father implores you.
If it is true that you are penitent
Unhappy, afflicted daughter,
–212–
Stendi le braccia tenere
A chi ti diè la vita,
E sulla muta cenere
Noi spargeremo unanimi
Lagrime di dolor.
Ah, questa soave imagine
Lieto mi rende il cor.
È quello il sacro asilo fondato dagli
avi miei.
Possibile che quivi si ascondesse
mia figlia?
D’uopo è informarsi e penetrarne il vero.
Reach out your sweet hand
To him who gave you life,
And on those mute ashes
Together we will shed
Tears of suffering.
Ah, this sweet picture
Gladdens my heart.
There is the sacred home founded by
my ancestors.
Is it possible that my daughter hides
herself here?
I must find out for myself and
discover the truth.
SCENE V
Giacomo comes out of the hermitage.
GIACOMO
Here is the sailor.
CLAUDIO
(Da colui potrò sapere quanto desio.)
(From him I will be able to find out
everything.)
GIACOMO
Mi rallegro con te, buon uomo.
I am delighted for you, my good man.
Quei passaggieri che salvasti
The travellers you saved are
ti bramano, per darti
looking for you to give you a
larga ricompensa.
handsome reward.
Ecco il marinaro.
–213–
CLAUDIO
S’ingannano. Solo istinto di salvare
They’re wrong. Only the instinct to
il mio simile mi trasse ad impegnare il
save my fellow man led me to lend
braccio a lor favore, non
a hand on their behalf, not
pensiero mercenario.
mercenary intentions.
GIACOMO
Ciò ti fa lode, e mostra che non sei
That commends you, and shows you
uno schiavo quale apparisci.
are not the slave you seem to be.
CLAUDIO
Un profondo arcano custodisce
My life is a deep secret. Do not ask
l’esser mio. Non chiedere di vantaggio.
me to divulge it. But reveal to me
Svelami soltanto il nome di colei che
the name of the one who leads a
in quel romito soggiorno
life of solitude here in this
trae solitaria vita?
solitary abode?
GIACOMO
Ell’è la sventurata figlia del noto
She is the unfortunate daughter of the
Liwerpool
famous Lord Liverpool.
CLAUDIO
Che intesi! Oh Dio! (Ecco i miei dubbi
What do I hear! Oh God! (And so my
avverati!)
doubts are confirmed!)
GIACOMO
Che forse il conoscesti?
Perhaps you know of him?
CLAUDIO
Son pur troppo cogniti i suoi casi.
I am, alas, aware of his case. The
La più calunnia il fece comparire
blackest calumny made him seem
colpevole, mentre esponeva
guilty, while he risked his life for
la vita pel Sovrano.
his King. He was banished. They
Fu proscritto, gli si
confiscated his property; he was
–214–
confiscarono i suoi beni, cadde
schiavo fra Turchi, gemè ne’ bagni
dell’Affrica, ed alcuno non fuvvi che
avesse mai pensato al suo riscatto.
taken captive by the Turks, suffered
in the prisons of Africa, and there was
no one ever gave thought to his
rescue.
GIACOMO
Sei informato di tutta la sua istoria.
You know his whole story.
CLAUDIO
Divisi con lui il castigo della catena.
I shared the horrors of slavery with
him.
GIACOMO
Ah, vieni. Non tardare di narrar tutto ciò
Come. Don’t waste a moment to
alla sua buona figlia.
recount all this to his good daughter.
CLAUDIO
Buona! Colei che si diede in braccio ad
Good! She who threw herself into the
iniquo seduttore?… Che trasse a morte
arms of that wicked seducer? Who by
la madre pel delitto orrendo!
her awful crime drove her mother to
the grave!
GIACOMO
Ma poi lacerata da fieri rimorsi non ha fatto But since then, tortured by harsh
che sempre struggersi in pianto.
remorse, she has done nothing but
weep continually.
CLAUDIO
Non basta il pianto a ridonare una vita!…
Weeping will not bring back the
Mi si disse ancora, che il vile seduttore
dead! But they say that the wicked
si chiamava Villars, che disparve
seducer, Villars, abandoned her and
abbandonandola, e che sua madre
disappeared, and that her mother
l’avea già destinata a ricco Signore
had already arranged a match for her
–215–
Napolitano, che giugner dovea per
isposarla…
with a wealthy Neapolitan gentleman
who was on his way over to marry
her…
GIACOMO
Ma l’infelice Emilia, qui rinchiudendosi,
But poor Emilia shut herself in here
corse ad espiare tutt’i suoi falli!
and hastened to expiate all her sins!
CLAUDIO
(Oh come i detti di costui fanno gelarmi
(Oh how his words make my blood
tutto il sangue nelle vene! Che risolvo?
freeze in my veins. What to decide?
Che fo? Potrò mirarla senza fremere
What shall I do? Will I be able to look
d’orrore?… Ah sì, represso terrò lo
at her and not shudder with horror?
sdegno. Estinto ella mi crede. Potrò
Ah yes, I must keep my contempt
non conosciuto esaminarne il core, e
under control. She believes me dead.
se pentita il mio perdono implora…
Unrecognised I will look into her
Alfin...mi è figlia e genitore io sono!…)
heart; if she repentantly asks my
forgiveness… After all, she is my
daughter… I am her father!…)
GIACOMO
Che mai rifletti fra te?
What are you thinking about?
CLAUDIO
Penso inoltrarmi in quelle sacre mura.
Thinking of entering within these
sacred walls.
GIACOMO
Ebbene seguimi.
Good. Follow me.
(They go into the retreat.)
–216–
SCENE VI
A courtyard in the Liverpool hospice.
Emilia enters, deep in sorrow, observed by Candida and the villagers.
[22]
Ecco miratela.
Quà volge il piè.
CANDIDA
Look at her!
Here she is!
VILLAGERS
Oh, come è mesta!
Oh, how sad she is!
Par fuor di sé!
She seems beside herself.
EMILIA
Quest’aura mattutina,
The morning breeze,
Quest’astro risplendente,
The shining sun,
Mi par che in dolce calma
Seem to calm my senses
Riponga i sensi miei…
With sweet repose…
Sventurata ch’io son!
How unfortunate I am!
che dissi mai?
What have I said?
Non vi è pace per me… dovunque inoltro,
There is no peace for me…wherever I
go,
Ovunque io volgo il passo,
Wherever I turn my step.
La squallid’ombra di mia madre irata
The bleak shadow of my wrathful
mother
Sempre… ahi! sempre rimiro!
Always, alas, always I see again!
Mi persegue il rimorso ov’io mi aggiro!
Remorse follows me wherever I
wander!
[23]
Madre! deh placati!
Mother! Forgive me!
Misera me!
Poor Emilia!
–217–
Yvonne Kenny
and the
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Ti spinse a morte
Il fallo mio…
Mi rende un Dio
Giusta mercè!
Ondeggio, e palpito!
Avvampo, e m’agito!
E resa stupida
Mi manca il piè!
My misdeeds
Brought on your death.
God gives me
My just reward.
I waver and palpitate!
I am flushed and agitated
And stupefied!
My footstep falters!
CANDIDA
Emilia, a voi d’intorno
Emilia, around you
Mirate i poverellli:
See the poor.
Attendon, meschinelli,
They await, unfortunate wretches,
L’usata carità.
Your habitual charity.
EMILIA
Amici miei, prendete…
My friends, here you are…
(rousing herself and giving alms to the poor)
Preghiere al ciel volgete…
Offer prayers to heaven…
VILLAGERS
Che siate benedetta
May you be blessed
Di tanta carità!
For such charity.
[24]
EMILIA
Ah! di contento
Ah, with contentment
Ripiena ho l’alma!
My heart is now full.
Il vostro giubilo
Your joy
Ripone in calma,
Calms me again
E il cor più lieto
And makes my heart
Brillar mi fa!
Bright again.
Sì!
Yes!
–219–
CANDIDA/VILLAGERS
Peace be with you
Always.
CANDIDA
Sieno grazie al Cielo, vi veggio
Thanks to heaven, I see you a little
alquanto rasserenata.
calmer once again.
EMILIA
Mia cara amica, non è questo che un
My dear friend, this is only a ray of
lampo di calma passaggiera, ma ognora
passing calm, for I always have
ho nella mente una madre estinta,
in my mind my dead mother,
un traditore amante,
my treacherous lover and my lost
e un genitor perduto!
father!
CANDIDA
Avvastanza piangeste il vostro errore.
You have wept over your mistakes
Parliamo d’altro. Il forestiero cui
enough. Let us talk of something
demmo ricetto, unitamente alla
else. The foreigner we sheltered with
nipote ed un compagno,
his niece and companion, wishes to
brama ossequiarvi.
pay his respects.
EMILIA
Che venga.
Let him come here.
CANDIDA
Ma… sì, eccolo. Già si appressa.
But… Yes, here he is. He’s
approaching now.
EMILIA
Intanto disponi in modo che nulla loro
In the meantime make sure they
manchi.
lack nothing.
Ognor la pace
Con voi sarà.
–220–
Non dubitate. Farò di tutto perchè
sieno ben trattati.
CANDIDA
Don’t worry. I will make sure they are
well looked after.
(They depart.)
SCENE VII
Don Asdrubale enters.
ASDRUBALE
Uh! che sia sempe benedetta chella tempesta Ooh! Eternal blessings on that storm
che m’ha procurato lo piacere de vedè sta
that gave me the chance of getting an
bella romita.
eyeful of this pretty hermitess.
EMILIA
Moderate, o signore, cotesto fuoco, e serbate Sir! Moderate your ardour and keep
tutto il vostro brio per la città. Qui non si
all your brio for the city. Here you
richiede che serietà e silenzio.
need nothing but gravity and silence.
ASDRUBALE
Silenzio e serietà, quann’ussignoria
Silence and gravity, when your
farria venì la lengua a li mute, è li
ladyship would give a dumb man
tirre-petirre pure a no Platone.
speech and make even Pluto frolic.
EMILIA
O cambiate linguaggio, o sarò costretta
Either tone down your language or I
a lasciarvi.
shall be constrained to leave.
ASDRUBALE
E comm’haie da essere accossì spruceta
How can you have such an ugly
d’anema, mente sì tanto bona de cuorpo?
tongue and such a pretty face?
EMILIA
Non più. Ditemi, siete voi italiano?
No more! Tell me, are you Italian?
–221–
ASDRUBALE
Neapolitan, at your service.
EMILIA
E come in Inghilterra?
And why are you in England?
ASDRUBALE
Pe casareme, ma pe na casualità tutta
To get married, but by a recent
nova, mancaie de sposà, restaie vidovo
accident I lost my betrothed and
contra tiempo.
was left a disappointed widower.
EMILIA
Perdeste la consorte?
You lost your wife?
ASDRUBALE
Ecco cà, mò te conto in succinto ogne cosa. Look here, I’ll tell you everything,
Da Napole nziemmo co nepotema ch’avea
briefly. Together with my niece, who
piacere de viaggià partette pe Londra,
wanted a trip, I left Naples for
addov’io m’avea da sposà na signora già
London, where I was to marry a lady
ncaparrata pe procura.
who had been fixed up for me by
proxy.
EMILIA
(Oh Cielo! Quale somiglianza di
(Oh Heavens! The events are so
avvenimenti!)
similar!)
ASDRUBALE
(Che malora l’afierra!)
(What the devil’s up with her!)
EMILIA
Seguitate.
Go on.
ASDRUBALE
Mò vene lo bello. A Londra trovaie
Now comes the good bit. In London I
stornato lo viglietto. La sposa se n’era
found the ticket was cancelled.
Napolitano, al tuo comando.
–222–
fuiuta co n’aoto ncappato.
[25]
(Che sia d’esso! oh sventurata!)
(Sta signora è attarantata!)
(Or che far mi converrà?)
(Se contorce! che sarrà?)
E accossì pè seguitare,
Jette a Londra, e non trovaje
Llà la sposa…
Ah!
La briccona,
L’aveva fatta la frittata…
Ah!
E di casa era scappata
con un uom di tristo cuorio,
E un marito provisorio
Se trovaje primma de me.
My bride had hopped off
with another collector.
EMILIA
(Can it be he! How unfortunate I
am!)
ASDRUBALE
(Has this lady been bitten by a
tarantula!)
EMILIA
(What should I do now?)
ASDRUBALE
(Why is she squirming? What can
it be?)
And so, to continue,
I went to London and did not find
My betrothed there…
EMILIA
Ah!
ASDRUBALE
The villainess
Had done a bunk…
EMILIA
Ah!
ASDRUBALE
She’d run off from home
With a bad lot
And found a provisional husband
Other than me.
–223–
EMILIA
(Yes…it is he! I freeze…Alas!)
ASDRUBALE
(Che cos’ha se pò sapè?)
(What on earth is the matter with
her?)
[26]
EMILIA
Dite in grazia il vostro nome?
Please tell me your name?
ASDRUBALE
È no poco longariello:
It is a little lengthy:
Don Romualdo d’Occhiobello,
Don Romualdo d’Occhiobello,
De’ Marchesi Calobragos,
De’Marchesi Calobragos,
Y Figueros, y Moncados,
Y Figueros, y Moncados
Castanassos, Camposellos…
Castanassos, Camposellos…
[Note: Asdrubale here sings the 1824 version.
The unrecorded 1828 libretto reads as follows]
‘Il mio nome è Donn’Asdrubale,
‘My name is Don Asdrubale,
‘Il casato è Ventimiglia,
‘My surname is Ventimiglia,
‘Conte poi di Frattapiccola,
‘Thus Count of Frattapiccola,
‘E il mio titolo simpatico,
‘This is my given title,
‘Oltre gli altri che non cito…’
‘Together with others I won’t
mention.’
EMILIA
Ah! son morta!
Ah! I am dying!
ASDRUBALE
Mia Signora!
Madame!
Si sì ossessa va a mmalora!
If you’re possessed, go to the devil!
Me ne fujo mo mo da te.
I must escape from you now.
(Sì…ch’è desso! io gelo…oimè!)
–224–
EMILIA
Ah! Stop and behold,
That guilty one who betrayed you…
ASDRUBALE
Va a mmalora!
What a disaster!
EMILIA
Sono Emilia…
I am Emilia…
ASDRUBALE
Oimè! che botta!
Alas! What a blow!
EMILIA
Sì, mancai…ma fui sedotta…
Yes, I failed you…but I was led
astray…
ASDRUBALE
Ah!
Ah!
EMILIA
Da quell’empio traditore…
By that impious seducer…
ASDRUBALE
Ih!
Huh!
EMILIA
Sì, fu debole il mio core…
Yes, my heart was weak…
ASDRUBALE
Uh!
Eek!
EMILIA
Ma ben tosto il pentimento
But my repentance soon
Seguir seppe il fallo mio,
Followed on my fault,
E un rimorso, un fier tormento
And remorse, fierce torment
Strazia sempre il mesto cor. Sì! Ah!
Forever tears my unhappy heart.
Ah, yes!
Ah! fermate, e ravvisate
Quella rea, che v’ha tradito…
–225–
[27]
Ah! (Vi che muorzo dellicato
A sto fusto era stipato!
Ne che faccio? la perdono?
ASDRUBALE
Ah! (See what a delicate mouthful
Was kept for this lad here!
What shall I do about it? Shall I
forgive her?
Me l’abbraccio? me l’afferro!
Embrace her? I shall grab her!
Ma sto stommaco de fierro,
But an iron stomach like that,
Giusti Dei, non ebbi ancor!)
Great Gods, I don’t have any more!)
EMILIA
(Egli estatico è restato!
(He is ecstatic and amazed!
Par mi guardi, e sia sdegnato!
Or is he scornful when he looks at me!
Cresce, o Cielo! il mio periglio!
Oh Heaven, my danger increases!
Chi mi dà qualche consiglio?
Who will advise me?
Ah! ti bastin le mie pene
Ah! may my suffering appease you,
Sorte a me nemica ognor!)
Fate, still my enemy!)
(Emilia departs.)
ASDRUBALE
Ebbiva Donn’Emilia m’ha fatta sta
Long live Miss Emilia, she certainly
dichiarazione asciutta asciutta…
made that statement clear and
crisp enough.
SCENE VIII
Tomson and Claudio enter.
TOMSON
Signor Conte, ecco l’errante marinaio,
Your Lordship, here is the wandering
pel quale fummo salvi, allorchè
sailor by whom you were saved
ribaltò la carrozza.
when the carriage overturned.
–226–
ASDRUBALE
Oh amicone mio del core, viene ccà; si no
Oh, my dearest friend, come here. If it
nn’ avessemo avuto a te, a chest’ora
weren’t for you, by this time we’d
starriamo già facenno commersazione
be having a nice little chat with the
co li capitune. Pigliate ste monete.
worms. I want you to take this cash.
(offers him money)
CLAUDIO
Signore, io non metto a prezzo un dovere
Sir, I do not put a price on one of the
sacro di umanità.
sacred duties of humanity.
ASDRUBALE
(Un cancaro! mò pare che se verifica lo
(Golly! Now that seems to prove the
proverbio – Che non c’è pezzentaria
old saying that there’s no poverty
senza superbia.)
without pride.)
TOMSON
Ma il guaderdone de tuoi servigi?
But the reward for your services?
CLAUDIO
Io son misero assai, ma non vendo ciò che
I am very badly off, but I do not sell
dritto sociale, e legge di natura m’impone.
what social rights and the law
of nature commands.
ASDRUBALE
(Chisto stà sputanno sentenze comm’a no
(This chap spouts aphorisms like a
cattedratico de filosofia.) Dimme na cosa,
professor of philosophy.) Tell me
tu pure appartiene a la Direttrice de sto
something, are you also connected
ritiro? A Emilia de Liverpolle?
with the Directress of this retreat?
To Emilia of Liverpully?
CLAUDIO
A lei! Sì, le appartengo…
With her? Yes, I am connected
with her…
–227–
TOMSON
Emilia Liverpool!
ASDRUBALE
Sè, sè, Emilia Liverpolle, chella ch’io
Yes, yes, Emilia Liverpully, she who I
te dicette, che m’avea da sposà.
told you was to marry me.
TOMSON
(Oh scoperta! Oh stupore! Che mai sento!)
(What a discovery! I am amazed!
What do I hear!)
ASDRUBALE
Chesto che d’è? Tu pure te storzille!
What’s up with him? You’re hysterical
foss’aria de sto paese ch’ogne parola
too! Is there something in the air
ch’uno dice, fà venì dolore ncuorpo?
around here that everything you say
gives people stomach ache?
TOMSON
Partiamo sul momento. Mi fa orrore questo Let’s leave this instant. This place
luogo!
horrifies me!
ASDRUBALE
Che giovane d’oro! Comme se nteressa
What a nice boy! Always thinks of my
pe me!
best interests!
CLAUDIO
(A che quel suo terrore!
(What is he afraid of?)
TOMSON
Se voi volete rimanere, partirò io solo.
If you want to stay, I will leave on
my own.
ASDRUBALE
Aspetta aspè; tu me disciste na vota
Wait a mo. You told me once that
d’avè conosciuto chillo che se nn’era
you knew that chap who ran off
Emilia Liwerpool!
–228–
scappato co Emilia e po’ l’aveva lassata?
with Emilia and then left her.
No cierto Colonello Villaggio?
A certain Colonel Villages?
TOMSON
Villars.
Villars.
ASDRUBALE
E non saie addò se trova?
And you don’t know where he is?
TOMSON
Non cercate di più.
Ask no more.
ASDRUBALE
E pecchè? Mò che nce songo, è buono
Why not? While we’re about it, it’s as
che saccio tutto.
well that I know the lot.
TOMSON
(Mi palesa il rossore! Ove m’ascondo!)
(My blushes reveal me! Where can I
hide!)
ASDRUBALE
Un malora! La faccia de chisto se sta
Oooh, the devil! This man’s face is
facenno comm’a no tappeto verde!…
like a billiard table, all colours!
Tu fusse?..
Was it you?
TOMSON
Ah Conte, per pietà, non mi scoprite.
Your Lordship, please do not betray
Il Colonello Villars in me mirate.
my secret. In me behold Colonel
Villars.
ASDRUBALE
Comme! Comme! Tu si chillo del… Ah
What! What! You are the chap who…
faccia a doie forme, tenive sto poco de
You two-faced… you kept all that
robba ncuorpo, e me facive lo devoto e
tucked away while you played my
lo cuollo stuorto?
humble and devoted servant?
–229–
CLAUDIO
(Oh vengeance! I have found him,
but I must play the part until I catch
him alone and can plunge my
avenging steel into him!)
Sir, I am leaving…
ASDRUBALE
Mò, mò, tu pure cammine pe le poste, te
This minute! You keep disappearing
vuò piglia lo rialo sì o no?
too. Do you want this present or not?
CLAUDIO
Vi son grato. Voi mi donaste assai.
I am grateful to you. You have given
me so much.
TOMSON
(to Claudio)
Perchè mi guardi così fiero in volto?
Why are you staring at me so fiercely?
CLAUDIO
Poichè ritrovo in voi rassomiglianza tal
Because you look so much like an
d’un mio nemico, che mi fa fremere…
enemy of mine that it makes me
shudder…
ASDRUBALE
Chest’auta scena nce mancava pe
This is the other scene we’re missing
chiudere la commedia.
to round off the comedy.
TOMSON
Ma chi sei?
Who are you?
CLAUDIO
Un infelice bersaglio dell’ira della sorte!..
A wretched target of destiny’s wrath!
l’empio che vi rassomiglia, m’involò
The traitor you resemble took
(Oh vendetta! Il ritrovai, ma
simulare m’è forza, finchè solo il
rinvenga, e in seno
gl’immerga vindice ferro!)
Signore, io vado…
–230–
tutto… fino l’onore!...
everything from me… even my
honour!..
ASDRUBALE
No, tu rassomiglie a no buono galantommo. No, you look like a nice gentleman.
TOMSON
(Quai detti!) Ma che ti fece colui?
(Such words!) But what did this man
do to you?
CLAUDIO
Fu il distruttore di mia famiglia!…
He destroyed my family!.. He
L’uccisore di mia moglie!..
murdered my wife!..
(Almost out of his senses, he seizes Tomson’s hand.)
Trema iniquo!
Tremble, wretch!
(then immediately recovering)
Cielo! Che dissi!.. io deliro.. Perdonate al
Heavens! What am I saying!.. I must
mio dolore!..
be mad… Forgive my sorrow!..
[28]
TOMSON
(Ah, qual mistero in lui si asconde?
(Ah, what mystery is hidden with
him?
Par che porti in fronte scritto,
From his face it seems that he knows
Che l’offese il mio delitto,
Of my crimes against him,
Che a me volto è il suo furor!)
And his fury is directed at me!)
CLAUDIO
(Si raffreni ancor per poco
(Let my righteous anger be restrained
Nel mio seno il giusto sdegno,
For a little while yet in my breast.
Il represso ascoso foco
This repressed and hidden burning
Sarà incendio distruttor!)
Will become a fire of destruction!)
–231–
Sesto Bruscantini
(Don Romualdo,
Count Asdrubale)
(Colonnè, si non m’inganno,
Co te l’have il marinaro…
Il suo viso parla chiaro…
Statt’attiento Colonnè!)
[29]
Ma parle e dince
Chi te scasaie?
Tu co chi ll’haie,
Se pò sapè?
Perchè mi guardi
E irato fremi?..
Vacilli, tremi?..
Parla, perchè?
Ah, nulla… nulla…
Ognor deliro…
Piango, sospiro…
E in tutte l’ore,
Pel rio dolore,
Son fuor di me!
Non più. Palesa,
Qual è il tuo nome?
ASDRUBALE
(Colonel, if I’m not mistaken
This sailor has it in for you…
His face speaks clearly…
Be careful, Colonel!)
(to Claudio)
But speak, tell us,
Who ruined you?
Who have you got it in for,
May one know?
TOMSON
(to Claudio)
Why do you look at me
And tremble so angrily?..
Stagger?.. Shudder?..
Speak! Why?
CLAUDIO
(cowed)
Ah, nothing… nothing…
I rave all the time…
I weep, I sigh…
And at all hours
I am beside myself
With terrible sorrow!
TOMSON
Enough. Tell us,
What is your name?
–233–
CLAUDIO
A desperate man,
Who follows the trail
Of a traitor!
TOMSON/ASDRUBALE
(Oh qual sospetto!)
(Oh, what suspicion!)
CLAUDIO
Fui schiavo in Affrica…
I was a slave in Africa…
Là di catene
Thither, loaded
Carco n’andai!..
Down with chains I went!..
Ma seppi infrangerle…
But I managed to break them…
E al patrio tetto
And to my ancestral homeland
Lieto tornai!..
Joyfully returned!..
O giorno infausto!
Oh, unhappy day!
O mio terror!
Oh, the horror!
[30]
(taking Asdrubale and Tomson by the hand)
Ma tremi il perfido,
But let the traitor tremble,
Che in breve istante,
In a little while
Fra mille spasimi,
In a thousand agonies,
Alle mie piante,
As he expires at my feet,
Perdono chiedermi
He will beg
Vorrà spirante,
For my forgiveness.
Mentr’io disvellergli
While I prepare
Quel cor saprò!
To pluck out that heart!
TOMSON
A tanto fremito,
At such fuming,
A quell’accento,
At such words,
Quest’alma invadono
Terror and fear
Un disperato
Che in traccia corre
D’un traditor!
–234–
Terror, spavento!
Le fibre oscillano,
Gelar mi sento!
La forza mancami,
Più cor non ho!
Invade my soul!
My very fibres shake,
I feel myself freeze!
Strength fails me,
I can take it no longer!
ASDRUBALE
(to Claudio)
Chia non me stregnere,
Don’t try it on with me!
Porta creanza!
Treat me properly!
A un Conte Asdrubale
Count Asdrubale
Non se sbalanza!
Isn’t someone to be pushed around!
Trova a sto lazzaro
Go find this beggar.
E chella panza
Knock the daylights
Spertosa, e fanne
Out of him, and make
No fricandò!
A fricassee of him!
(Claudio and Asdrubale depart.)
TOMSON
Che affanno! Qui Emilia! Qui l’oggetto
What am I to do? Emilia here! Here,
della mia colpa! Che farò? Oh Dio!
the victim of my crime! What shall
Come più occultarmi? Potrò porre
I do! Oh God! How can I hide
l’atterrito mio sguardo sul volto di
myself? Can I raise my terrified
colei che fu de’ miei
gaze to the face of her who
deliri misero scherno!
suffered from my madness!
–235–
SCENE IX
Bettina enters.
BETTINA
Alfin ti trovo. Ma qual turbamento scorgo
Here you are at last! But why do you
ne’ tuoi sguardi? Son’io forse cagione del
look so distressed? Am I, perhaps, the
tuo affanno? Non credi sincero l’amor mio? cause of your unhappiness? Do you
not believe my love is sincere?
TOMSON
(Villars, che fai? Ingannerai anche questa
(Villars, what will you do? Will you
infelice? No, disingannarla è mio dovere.)
betray this poor girl, too? No, I must
do right by her.)
BETTINA
Ma quel silenzio m’oltraggia. Mancheresti
This silence upsets me. Are you
forse alla fede che mi giurasti?
perhaps going back on the promise
you made me?)
TOMSON
(Emilia è mia sposa, nè un tradimento potrà (Emilia is my bride, no betrayal can
mai frangere il più sacro legame!)
ever break that sacred bond!)
BETTINA
Nè mi rispondi ancora!
Why won’t you answer me!
SCENE X
Asdrubale enters.
Oh mò che simmo nfra nnie, si si
Cavaliero m’haie da dà sodisfazione
ASDRUBALE
Oh, now we’re on our own, fine
gentleman, I demand you give me
–236–
dell’ingiuria fatta a la figliola.
satisfaction for the wrong you
have done the poor girl.
BETTINA
(Ah lo zio di me parla, ha dovuto
(Ah, my uncle is talking about me, he
scoprire il nostro amore!)
must have found out about our love!)
ASDRUBALE
Fatte mprestà na spata, e biene co mico.
Get yourself a sword, quick, and come
with me.
BETTINA
Ah caro zio, eccomi a’ vostri piedi.
Ah, uncle dear, see me at your feet.
(She kneels.)
Perdonate a un innocente amore.
Forgive an innocent love.
ASDRUBALE
E tu, mò che nc’intre miezo a st’affare?
Now what have you got to do with
this business?
BETTINA
Egli mi promise e giurò di sposarmi.
He has promised to marry me.
ASDRUBALE
Pure a te vo’ sposà? E non te ne vaie
He wants to marry you, too? Why
n’Tunnese accossì là te faie aprì no
don’t you go to Tunisia and open
serraglio? Vuie vedite sto
a harem there? Will you look at this
maccarone all’erta che
long stick of spaghetti, how does he
femminile che se trova? E non
find so much skirt? Isn’t it enough
t’avasta avereme levata na mogliera,
you pinched my wife, you want to
te vorrisse afferrà pure a nepotema?
nick my niece as well!
BETTINA
Cielo! Che sento mai!
Heavens! What do I hear!
–237–
ASDRUBALE
Tutto, tutto aggio scommigliato. Sto
Everything, everything is quite clear
signorino è chillo che chiantaie comm’a
now. This is the little fellow who
no cetrulo la povera Emilia.
left poor Emilia in the lurch.
TOMSON
(Ah son perduto!)
(Ah, I am lost!)
BETTINA
Tu taci! Abbassi gli occhi!
You say nothing! You lower your eyes!
TOMSON
(Dove nascondere il mio rossore?)
(Where can I hide my shame?)
SCENE XI
Candida enters, followed by Claudio, who remains unobserved.
CANDIDA
La Direttice or qui verrà per invitarvi ad
The Directress is on her way to invite
una parca mensa.
you to our frugal table.
CLAUDIO
(Udirò da me stesso, inosservato, ciò che
(Unobserved, I will hear for myself
ad Emilia dir potrà l’indegno.)
what the wretch will say to Emilia.)
ASDRUBALE
(Mò vedimmo chella lengua fauza che
(Now we’ll hear a lying tongue at
ne votta!)
work!)
TOMSON
(leaving)
(Si fugga…)
(I will run away…)
–238–
ASDRUBALE
(holding him back)
Gnerò, uscia pazzea, e te ne vuò ji iusto
Lord, ho! You must be joking! You
all’ora de la tavola? Mò vide che piattine
want to leave at dinner time? Wait till
de rinforzo hanno d’ascì pe te fa
the main course is served. That will
aprì lo spireto!
help you open your soul!
CANDIDA
Ecco Emilia.
Here’s Emilia.
TOMSON
(Oh tormento!)
(Oh torment!)
CLAUDIO
(Ecco al cimento la virtude e ‘l delitto!)
(Now saintliness and sin will confront
each other!)
CD3
54’06
SCENE XII
Emilia enters and recognises Villars.
[1]
EMILIA
Giusto Ciel! chi vedo! oh Dio!
Great heaven! Who do I see? Oh God!
Chi mi aita!… io manco… io gemo…
Who will help me! I cannot breathe…
I faint…
(She faints.)
VILLARS
(shocked)
(Ella è dessa!… io gelo… io tremo!)
(It is she! I freeze… I tremble!)
–239–
Soccorrete la meschina!...
Dal dolor mancando va…
(Di livor avvampo, e fremo!)
Chella cade in svenimento!
Chisto strilla, e fa sbaratto!…
L’auto sgriscia comm’a gatto!
E stonato io resto ccà!
(Cor di padre! io già ti sento!
Tu mi palpiti nel petto…
Frenar deggio il vario affetto
Di vendetta, e di pietà!)
Prende fiato!
Va…curaggio!
Che v’affligge?
Ca tenete?
Dallo sguardo mio togliete
Quell’indegno traditor!
CANDIDA
Help the poor girl!…
She is fainting with unhappiness…
CLAUDIO
(I burn with rancour… I tremble!)
ASDRUBALE
That one has passed out!
This one shrieks and plays the fury!
The other spits like a cat!
And I stand here dazed!
CLAUDIO
(Heart of a father! I already feel you!
you beat in my breast…
I must curb the varied feelings
Of vengeance and of pity!)
CANDIDA
She is recovering!
ASDRUBALE
(to Emilia)
Come…courage!
CLAUDIO
What’s the matter?
ASDRUBALE
What’s up?
EMILIA
Take from my sight
That worthless betrayer!
–240–
Chi è st’indegno? forse uscia?
Forse tu? donca io so chillo?
Ma vi comme lo tentillo
Me vò proprio carfettà!
Quest’asilo d’innocenza
Profanar osasti… audace!
ASDRUBALE
Who is this betrayer? Perhaps you, sir?
Perhaps you? Then is it me?
See how this tempter
Really wants to punish me!
EMILIA
This refuge of innocence
You have dared to profane…
bold man!
[2]
Va! t’invola! la mia pace
Per pietà non disturbar!
Go! Take yourself off! For pity’s sake
Do not disturb my peace!
VILLARS
Cara Emilia, a’ piedi tuoi
Dear Emilia, at your feet
Il perdon prostrato imploro.
Prostrate, I implore your pardon.
ASDRUBALE
Ma che d’è sto concistoro?
But what is this consistory?
Chisto è lui?
Is this the man?
EMILIA
Parti indegno!
Leave, wretch!
Mi rendesti scellerata.
You made me wicked.
E una madre sventurata
You made me abandon
Ei mi fece abbandonar!
My unfortunate mother.
[3]
EMILIA/BETTINA/ASDRUBALE
(Dell’indegno il turbamento,
(The distress of the unworthy man
Il delitto fè palese;
Made his crime known.
Il piacer del suo tormento
The pleasure of his torment
Il mio core sollevò!)
Gives my heart a life!)
–241–
CANDIDA
(What a surprise! What do I hear!
His crime is known!
The cause of his distress
Is finally revealed!)
VILLARS
(Il suo detto in un momento
(Her words, in one instant,
Il delitto fè palese;
Made my crime known.
La vergogna, il turbamento
How will I ever be able to hide
Come mai celar potrò!)
My shame, my distress!)
[4]
CLAUDIO
(going over to Villars)
Venite, signore,
Sir! Come with me,
Parlarvi desio.
I wish to speak to you.
EMILIA
(turning round, seeing Claudio)
Qual volto! Gran dio!
That face! Great God!
Quai moti nel petto!
What emotions in my breast!
ASDRUBALE
(going over to Villars)
Mò viene co mico,
Now come with me,
Ch’avimm’ a parlà.
We have to talk.
VILLARS
(to Claudio)
Che brami?
What do you want?
CLAUDIO
Il saprete,
You will find out,
Lontano di qui.
But not here.
(Qual sorpresa! Che mai sento!
Il delitto fè palese;
La cagion del suo tormento
Finalmente disvelò!)
–242–
E voi?
A quattr’occhie
Tell’aggio da dì.
Che cosa tentate,
Che sì minacciate?
Tu ardisci!…
Tremate!
(Quai detti!)
Birbante!
N’andiamo.
Cammina.
Fermate.
VILLARS
(to Asdrubale)
And you?
ASDRUBALE
That I can only tell you
Privately.
EMILIA/CLAUDIO/BETTINA
(to Claudio and Asdrubale)
What are you trying to do,
That you threaten so?
VILLARS
(to Claudio)
How dare you!…
CLAUDIO
(fuming)
Tremble!
VILLARS
(Such words!)
ASDRUBALE
(to Villars)
Rogue!
CLAUDIO
Let’s go.
ASDRUBALE
March.
EMILIA/CANDIDA/BETTINA
Stop.
(calling out)
–243–
Amici, volate,
Correte, frenate…
Friends, fly,
Run, hold them…
SCENE XIII
Giacomo enters with the Mountaineers.
GIACOMO/MOUNTAINEERS
Che avvenne? Che chiasso?
What happened? What’s all the noise?
Che c’è Che si fa?
What’s up? What’s going on?
EMILIA/CANDIDA/BETTINA
Un’aspra contesa,
Let the bitter dispute
Che in questi s’è accesa
That has arisen between them
Per voi s’impedisca,
Be prevented by you,
Sia lunge di qua.
Before they go too far.
[5]
CLAUDIO
Venite!
Come!
VILLARS
Tremate!
Tremble!
GIACOMO/MOUNTAINEERS
Presto fuor di qua n’andate,
Quickly, get out of here,
Dal garrire alfin cessate.
Stop these harsh words at last.
Non si faccia alcun rumore.
You must not make any noise.
Si rispetti il sacro asilo.
Respect this sacred shelter.
Qui va in bando ogni rancore,
Here all rancour is prohibited,
Sol la pace regna qua.
Only peace reigns here.
ALL
Già s’offusca la mia mente,
Now my mind is clouded,
Più consiglio omai non sente:
Henceforth, I listen to no advice.
–244–
Lo stupore va crescendo.
Più me stesso/a non comprendo.
Son confuso/a ed agitato/a.
Nè so come finirà!
My amazement grows and grows.
I no longer know what I’m doing.
I am confused and agitated,
I do not know how it will all end!
ACT II
SCENE I
The courtyard of the hermitage.
[6]
È partito?
SOME OF THE MOUNTAINEERS
Has he gone?
OTHERS
Non ancora.
Not yet.
ALL
Che insolente marinaio!
What an insolent sailor!
Ei di torbidi un vespaio
He came here to stir up
È venuto qui a destar!
A wasps’ nest of trouble.
Sbuffa, smania, ognor minaccia,
He fumes, he menaces, he constantly
threatens,
Non si sa cosa pretenda,
One does not know what he wants,
Ma per lui questa faccenda
However, for him this affair
Andrà male a terminar!
Will end badly!
BETTINA
Ah perchè d’un traditore
Ah why, when the one who betrayed
me is in
Al periglio ancor pavento?
Danger do I still feel concern for him?
Nè l’orror del tradimento
Will even the horror of his betrayal
L’amor mio può superar?
Not overwhelm my love for him?
–245–
CANDIDA
He deserves your loathing, not
affection,
Quell’indegno seduttore,
That unworthy seducer,
Che il candor d’un puro core
Who is still intent on deceiving
Sempre è intento ad ingannar.
The candour of a pure heart.
BETTINA
Fra l’amore e la vendetta
My heart beats
Sento l’alma palpitar!
Between love and revenge.
MOUNTAINEERS
Ah! di Emilia poveretta
Ah, and poor Emilia’s suffering,
Chi gli affanni sa calmar?
Who knows how to calm that?
(They leave.)
CANDIDA
Sì, del Cielo la vendetta
Yes, the vengeance of Heaven
Saprà l’empio fulminar!
Will strike the impious man like
lightning.
BETTINA
Ma non sì è penetrato ancora per qual
But has no-one found out yet why
ragione quel marinaio tanto s’interessi
that sailor is so interested in Emilia’s
de’ casi di Emilia?
affairs?
CANDIDA
Egli asserisce di essere un amico di suo
He claims that he is a friend of her
padre.
father.
BETTINA
Oh, quanto gli son tenuta, se ha saputo
I am so obliged to him – he revealed a
palesarmi un traditore!
deceiver to me!
Odio merta, e non affetto
–246–
SCENE II
Giacomo enters.
CANDIDA
Well? Giacomo, what happened?
GIACOMO
Ho adempito perfettamente a quanto Emilia I did exactly as Emilia ordered. We
impose. Fra lo schiavo ed il Colonnello è
stopped the altercation between the
stato impedito ogni alterco, ed al primo
slave and the colonel, and the former
gli si è fatto noto ch’Emilia desidera
has been told that Emilia wishes to
parlargli da sola a solo.
speak to him privately.
BETTINA
Ma chi egli sia? Quale arcano nasconda? Hai But who can he be? What mystery is
tu saputo?
he concealing? Have you found out?
GIACOMO
Mi disse solamente, che una medesima
He only told me that, with her father,
sventura compagno il fece del padre di lei.
he was struck down by the same
Intanto debbo avvertirvi che incontrai
misfortune. What’s more, I must
il Colonnello, il quale tutto sconcertato
tell you that I met the Colonel, who
e con gli occhi stravolti, andava
was very upset, his eyes rolling. He
in traccia del Conte, nè volle
was looking for Count Asdrubale but
narrare ad alcuno il motivo
wouldn’t tell anybody the reason
che a tale ricerca lo spingeva.
that was driving him to look.
CANDIDA
Che volesse vendicarsi dell’offesa ricevuta?
Perhaps he wanted to revenge himself
Sarebbe necessario adoprar tutt’i mezzi
for the affront he received? We will
onde si eviti qualche altro disordine.
need to use all means to avoid
more disturbances.
Ebbene? Giacomo, che rechi?
–247–
BETTINA
Qual altro timore mi assale! Lasciate che
Something else worries me! I must run
corra da mio zio per renderlo di tutto
to my uncle to make him aware of
consapevole.
everything.
(She departs.)
CANDIDA
L’arrivo di questi forestieri veramente ha
The arrival of these strangers really has
cagionato uno scompiglio il più terribile
caused us the most terrible bother.
che mai.
GIACOMO
Ma ecco il Conte che di là ne viene.
But here comes the Count from the
other direction.
CANDIDA
Oh, allora possiamo avvertirgli che il
Oh, then we can warn him that the
Colonello il va ritrovando.
Colonel is looking for him.
SCENE III
Count Asdrubale enters.
CANDIDA
By the way, your Lordship…
GIACOMO
Par che siate giunto proprio in tempo.
It seems you’ve arrived just in time.
ASDRUBALE
Ch’è succiesso?
What’s up?
CANDIDA
Io ho tutt’i dati a creder che voi siate nel
From what I’ve been told, I believe
massimo de’ pericoli.
that you are in terrible danger.
A proposito, Signor Conte…
–248–
GIACOMO
And that you are seriously threatened.
ASDRUBALE
Nè? E comme?
What? How?
CANDIDA
Io direi, salvatevi…
I tell you, escape…
GIACOMO
Ed io stimerei nascondervi…
And I’d advise you to hide…
ASDRUBALE
Vuje dicite addavero?
Are you being serious?
CANDIDA
Contro di voi dev’esservi sicuramente
Truly, you could be ambushed…
un agguato…
GIACOMO
Al certo v’insidiano…
It’s true, they’re lying in wait for you...
ASDRUBALE
Belli figliù, parlammo che nce
Young people, let’s speak so that we
ntennimmo, ca chiste sò discurze de
understand each other, for this
fa chiava de faccia
talk makes a poor chap beat his
nterra no pover’ommo.
head on the ground.
GIACOMO
(heading towards the village)
Non vorrei che arrivasse…
I don’t want to be here when he
arrives…
CANDIDA
Che! Già viene?..
What! He’s here already?
ASDRUBALE
Ne? Chi vene?
Well, who’s here?
E che vi minacci un guaio serio.
–249–
GIACOMO
For the moment, nobody…
CANDIDA
Speriamo che vada altrove…
Let’s hope he goes somewhere else…
ASDRUBALE
Se po sapè chi cancaro ha d’arrivà?
May one ask what the devil’s going
on?
GIACOMO
Se giungesse sarebbe inevitabile un conflitto! What a battle if he turned up!
CANDIDA
Nel mentre che questo non è luogo da
Although this is hardly the place for
spargervi del sangue!..
shedding blood!..
ASDRUBALE
Già simm’arrivato a lo sangue!
I’ll be shedding some blood soon!
GIACOMO
Del resto poi il Conte sa maneggiar la spada, On the other hand, the Count knows
nè si farebbe uccidere.
how to manage a sword so he
wouldn’t get killed.
CANDIDA
Tu dici bene, ma quegli è giovane, e se lo
Well said, but the other one is young,
scanna?..
and if he cuts his throat?..
ASDRUBALE
Scanna li muorte de mammeta! Chest’aota
Cut my throat! On my mother’s
m’ha pigliato pe puorco!
grave, does this chap take me
for a porker?
CANDIDA
Se po volete cimentarvi, uscite fuori.
Go on then, if you want to face him.
Per ora non spunta alcuno…
–250–
ASDRUBALE
Tu fusse pazza? Pe mò stò buono addò me
Are you insane? For the moment I’m
trovo. Ma dico, nisciuno de vuie vole avè la happy where I am. But I don’t
compiacenza de spiegareme de che se tratta? suppose either of you would be
kind enough to explain what you’re
talking about?
CANDIDA
Era tutto furibondo quando incontrò
He was beside himself when Giacomo
Giacomo, e gli disse che aveva premura
met him, and told him he urgently
di ritrovarvi.
needed to find you.
GIACOMO
Èvero, qualche cosa meditava!.. Orsù
It’s true, he was planning something!..
permettete, perchè procurerò almeno di
Now allow me at least to get as far
allontanarlo da questo sito.
away from this place as possible.
(He departs.)
ASDRUBALE
Aspetta, aspè…
Wait a mo…
CANDIDA
Se poi giungesse regolatevi con prudenza… When he gets here… be prudent…
(She departs.)
ASDRUBALE
Addò te ne vaie? A me m’hanno lassata la
Where are you off to? They’ve left me
paura, e lo nommenativo se l’hanno portato the fear, the name they’ve taken with
co loro. E chi ha da essere chisto che me
them. Who can it be who’s going
và cercanno? Fosse lo Colonnello?
around looking for me? The Colonel,
È lo vero che poco nnanze l’haggio
perhaps? It’s true that I challenged
sfidato, ma pò nc’haggio pensato meglio
him a short while ago but then I
e àggio ditto a lo schiavo ch’avesse
thought better of it, and I told the
–251–
fatto le parte mie e soie…
E si non l’ha visto, l’amico vene cà,
e me trova sulo!..
slave that he should act for both of
us… but if he hasn’t found him yet,
then our friend will come here and
find me on my own!..
SCENE IV
Emilia enters.
ASDRUBALE
(Emilia grasps his arm and he cries out in fright.)
Ah!… Fatt’arreto!…
Ah!… Get back!…
EMILIA
Che cos’avete?
What’s the matter?
ASDRUBALE
Figlia mia, e parla primmo quann’haie
My girl, if you want someone, speak
besuogno de quarcuno, tu te miette
before you start going around
ad afferrà accossì nzicco nzacco…
grabbing hold of them… tzic tzac…
EMILIA
E che forse avreste timore d’una donna?
What? You’re frightened by a woman?
ASDRUBALE
Io? Gnernò. Ma stanno soprappenziero, e
Me? Lord, no! But being preoccupied
sentennome piglià pe ne vraccio, è sempe na and feeling myself grabbed by the
scossa che la machina riceve, e che può
arm is always a shock to the system,
portare del pregiudizio al mio fisico che
which can cause damage to my nerves,
non se trova perfettamente in calma.
which at this moment you do not find
in a state of perfect calmness.
EMILIA
Ditemi, vedeste il marinaio?
Tell me, have you seen the sailor?
–252–
ASDRUBALE
No, madame. Why, do you expect
him here?
EMILIA
Sì, a quest’ora di già avrei dovuto qui
Yes, I expected to find him waiting
ritrovarlo.
here by this time.
ASDRUBALE
Nè, e quann’è chesto, io me ritiro.
Well, in that case, I’ll leave you.
EMILIA
E perchè?
Why?
ASDRUBALE
Perchè me sento bastantemente indigesto,
Because I feel a little queasy, and I
e me vogl’i a piglià no pongio. (Nmece
wish to take a glass of punch.
de lo Colonnello avesse da essere lo
(Maybe it’s not the Colonel but the
schiavo l’amico che mò va cercanno?
slave who’s the friend that’s looking
Ora vedimmo de tirà li ponte da
for me!) I’d best drop the
tutte li parte.) Addio mia consorte sballata.
drawbridges on every front.) Farewell
my tall-story fiancèe.
(He departs.)
EMILIA
Qual contrasto di affetti in seno io sento!
What confused sentiments I feel in
E quando fine avranno i miei tormenti!
my breast! When will my suffering
ever end?
[7]
Delle mie pene, o stelle,
Does not the depth of my suffering
Non vi basta il rigor? perchè più fiere
Appease you, Oh stars above? Was it
Scendano in petto a lacerarmi il core
To make it more bitterly rend my
No, Signora. Pecchè ha da venì?
–253–
Offriste ai sguardi miei quel seduttore?
heart that you offiered my
seducer to my gaze?
(She remains deep in thought.)
SCENE V
Claudio enters, unseen.
CLAUDIO
(Eccola! o di natura
(There she is! Oh soft voices of nature
Voci soavi! io già vi sento in seno!
I already hear you within my breast!
Fra le mie braccia almeno…. ah no! t’arresta In my arms at last… Ah, no! Control
padre infelice, e il fallo suo detesta!)
yourself, unhappy father, and
detest her crime!)
(Emilia suddenly becomes aware of Claudio’s voice.)
EMILIA
Quell’uom! chi sei? che chiedi?
That man! Who are you? What do
you want?
CLAUDIO
(A quell’aspetto
(Just seeing her face
Di vario affetto un rio tumulto
I feel a cruel tumult of mixed
io provo!
emotions!
Furie! voi chieggo,
Furies! I seek you and no longer
e in me più voi non trovo!)
find you within me.)
EMILIA
Mi guardi, e taci?
You look at me and are silent?
CLAUDIO
Emilia, in me ravvisa
Emilia, behold in me
Dell’autor de’ tuoi giorni
A loyal friend of the author
–254–
Un’amico leal: sol per suo cenno
Qui spingo il piè.
Of your days: only at his request
I turn my step hither.
EMILIA
Che dici! ah! tu m’inganni!
What are you saying! Ah, you deceive
me!
Inesorabil morte
Inexorable death
Alla figlia, alla sposa
From his daughter, from his wife
Già lo rapì…
Already carried him away…
CLAUDIO
No…ancora,
No…still,
Ma per serbarlo a più crudeli affanni,
The tyrant stars support his days
Reggono i giorni suoi gli astri tiranni.
To preserve him for crueller sufferings.
EMILIA
Che ascolto!
What do I hear!
CLAUDIO
Ei meco errante,
Wandering with me,
Sciolte di schiavitù l’aspre ritorte,
Slavery’s bitter bonds loosed,
Affronta il suo destin, sfida la sorte.
He confronts his destiny, defies his
Fate.
[8]
EMILIA
Vive il padre? e a me non vola?
My father lives? And does not fly to
me?
E natura a me nol guida?
And Nature does not lead him back to
me?
CLAUDIO
D’una figlia matricida
He hates in you the cruelty
Odia in te la crudeltà.
Of a matricidal daughter.
–255–
EMILIA
Be silent… Oh God! Heaven’s
lightning
Cruda è men di questi accenti!..
Is less cruel than these words!..
Ch’io son rea tu mi rammenti,
That I am guilty, you remind me,
Che il mio fallo ugual non ha.
That my sin has no equal.
CLAUDIO
(Al suo pianto…a quei tormenti
(At her weeping…at these torments
Mi si desta in sen pietà!)
Pity awakes in my bosom!)
EMILIA
Ah! dov’è? m’addita almeno…
Ah, where is he? At least tell me…
CLAUDIO
(Quale istante!) ah, senti…aspetta…
(What a moment!) Ah, listen!…
Wait…
EMILIA
Io farò la sua vendetta…
I will do this vengeance for him…
Al suo piè spirar saprò.
At his feet I will expire.
CLAUDIO
Dell’error sei tu pentita?
You have repented of your error?
EMILIA
Non tel dice il dolor mio?
Does my sorrow not tell you so?
CLAUDIO
Ah! più regger non poss’io!
Ah! I can no longer resist!
Deh, ti appressa…ti perdono…
Come closer… I forgive you…
EMILIA
Che! fia ver?
What! Is it true?
Taci…oh Dio! del ciel la folgore
–256–
CLAUDIO
I am your father…
EMILIA
Come? oh ciel!
What? Oh heaven!
CLAUDIO
Fra queste braccia
To these arms
Vieni, o figlia!…
Come, my daughter!..
EMILIA
Ah, padre amato!
Ah, dearest father!
EMILIA/CLAUDIO
Se al tuo sen mi rende il fato,
If fate returns me to your breast
Non mi resta che bramar!
There is nothing more I can wish for!
[9]
CLAUDIO
Deh! ti consoli, o figlia
Ah, may my paternal love
Il mio paterno amore…
Console you, oh daughter…
Non ti delude il core…
Your heart does not delude you…
Tu stringi il genitor.
It is your father you embrace.
EMILIA
Alfin sarò felice
At last I shall be happy
Del genitore accanto…
Beside my father…
Ah no… quest’è un incanto…
Ah no…this is a spell…
Un sogno ingannator!
A deceiving dream!
Padre!
Father!
CLAUDIO
Mia cara!
My dear one!
EMILIA/CLAUDIO
Oh gioja!
Oh joy!
Oh qual diletto io sento!
Oh what delight I feel!
Tuo padre io sono…
–257–
L’eccesso del contento
Fa ribalzarmi il cor!
[10]
Oh come in un baleno
Tutto cangiò d’aspetto!
Stringiti a questo seno…
Tu sai bearmi ancor!
An excess of contentment
Makes my heart leap once more!
Oh how in the twinkling of an eye
Everything is suddenly changed!
Press yourself to this bosom…
You know how to make me happy for
evermore!
(They depart, arm in arm.)
SCENE VI
Count Asdrubale enters.
ASDRUBALE
Oh, haggio saputo a la fine che lo
Ah, finally I have found out that
Colonnello è chillo che me và trovanno
it is the Colonel who is searching
pe mare e pe terra!... E comme m’è
for me high and low!... And how
benuto ncapo de dirle chelle ..
did it enter my head to say those few
quatto parole? Me poteva fà li
words to him? I could have minded
fatte miee! Uh, cancaro e
my own business! A plague! And
teccotillo de faccia! E che
he’s coming this way! And what a
brutt’uocchi ch’ha fatto!... Potesse
look he gave me! Maybe I could
guatto guatto sfilanentella.
softly, softly slip away.
(He prepares to leave.)
–258–
SCENE VII
Colonel Villars enters.
VILLARS
Stop, Your Lordship.
ASDRUBALE
(Non n’ha avuto luogo la dimmanna!)
(My prayers weren’t answered!)
VILLARS
(Potessi ottener che interceda presso Emilia a (If I could persuade him to intercede
mio favore.)
with Emilia on my behalf.)
ASDRUBALE
(Ora cà nce vò francezza.) E accossì mio caro (Now is the moment for plain
Colonnello tutto chello ch’è stato è stato.
speaking.) So, my dear Colonel, what
Io pe me non ce penzo chiù. Chisto è lo
has been has been. For my part I’ll
naturale mio, bù bà bù bà, e po’ sò chiù
say no more about it. My bark is
amico de primmo…
worse than my bite...bow-wow,
bow-wow...then better friends than
before…
VILLARS
Ma ciò ch’è stato per voi, non lo è
For you perhaps, but certainly not for
sicuramente per me. La mia situazione è
me… My situation is completely
totalmente diversa dalla vostra.
different from yours.
ASDRUBALE
E tu fà comme la mia fosse pure la toia, e
Well, you pretend mine is yours too
stammo para patte e pace.
and we’ll be quits.
VILLARS
No, io fui l’offensore d’ogni dritto, voi
No, I was the offender, you the one
l’offeso.
offended.
Fermatevi, Signor Conte.
–259–
ASDRUBALE
No, Signore, me scusate, io ho offeso a voi. No, Sir! Excuse me, it is I who
offended you.
VILLARS
Vi chieggo scusa, voi lo siete stato da me.
I beg your pardon, it was you
offended by me.
ASDRUBALE
Colonnè, tu chi vuò che sia l’offeso?
Colonel, who is it you want to be the
offendee?
VILLARS
Voi, non io.
You, not me.
ASDRUBALE
Embè, abbasta che non te piglie collera,
Very well, as long as you don’t get
me chiammarraggio io offeso, e accossì
annoyed, I will call myself the
pare ch’è terminata ogne cosa.
offended party and so that seems to
be the end of that…
VILLARS
Terminata? Ah no, non deve restare
The end? Ah no, such an affront
impunita tanta ingiuria.
cannot go unpunished.
ASDRUBALE
Non porta, chi ha avuto ha avuto e non se
No matter, what happened, happened
ne parla chiù.
and we won’t discuss it further.
VILLARS
Come non parlarne più?
What do you mean, we won’t discuss
it further?
ASDRUBALE
(Vuie vedite si me lo pozze arrivà a levà da
(God knows how I’m going to get rid
tuorno!)
of this one!)
–260–
VILLARS
I would have thought it a matter of
death or honour!
ASDRUBALE
Arrassosia! Colonnè, e che nce vuò perdere
God forbid, Colonel! Who wants to
la salute pe sta cosa? Fà cunto che fosse na
risk his health over such a matter?
nuvola che passa e fuie.
Consider it a cloud which has
passed and gone.
VILLARS
Ma voi, che avete core…
But you, your heart…
ASDRUBALE
Pè mò figurate comme l’avesse perduto.
For the moment imagine I’ve lost it.
VILLARS
Perduto! Voi? Ah no, non è possible.
Lost! You? Ah no, it isn’t possible.
ASDRUBALE
Comme? No lo cride?
What? Don’t you believe me?
VILLARS
No.
No.
ASDRUBALE
E lo credo io… (Che me sento fà le
Well I believe it… (And I feel my legs
gamme comm’a n’argatella!)
going off in all directions at once!)
VILLARS
Ah, sappiate ch’io sono un disperato!
You must know that I am a desperate
man!
ASDRUBALE
Misericordia!
God help me!
Fa d’uopo ch’io ne parli sino alla
morte!
–261–
VILLARS
Don’t shout. Do you want people
coming here?
ASDRUBALE
Ussignoria che dice? Io mò ccà voglio lo
What do you think, mister! I want
Romitaggio co tutte li paise circonvicini.
the whole hermitage and all the
neighbouring villages here, now!
VILLARS
Solo vi bramo.
I want you here alone.
ASDRUBALE
Ed io ti voglio in pubblico.
And I want to be with you in public.
VILLARS
(grasping his arm)
Ah Signore, ascoltatemi per un solo istante. Ah Sir, listen to me for one moment.
ASDRUBALE
Avascia le mane, Colonnè…
Hands off, Colonel…
VILLARS
Deh, correte presso Emilia, dimandate per
Just hurry to Emilia, beg her pardon
il suo perdono, ditele che io son pentito,
on my behalf, tell her I am
che sarò il suo consorte più fido, s’ella
repentant, that I will be her most
mi accoglie fra le sue braccia; deh, secondate faithful husband, if she will take me in
i miei prieghi, ch’io frattanto vado a
her arms. Help my entreaties while
ritrovar quel marinaio, che fece sentirmi
I go and find that sailor who let me
per mezzo di Giacomo, che nel cortile
know via Giacomo that he will be
mi attende per favellarmi.
waiting to speak to me in the
courtyard of the hermitage.
(He departs.)
Non gridate. Non fate venir gente!
–262–
ASDRUBALE
Uh, che puozz’essere scortecato, tu, e
Ugh! Go get flayed, and whoever
chi t’ha figliato! E pe farme fà sta
fathered you. And to get me to carry
mmasciata m’ha fatto piglià sto poco
that little message, you frightened
de terriaca!
me out of a week and a half ’s
growth!
SCENE VIII
Candida enters, out of breath.
CANDIDA
Your Lordship!
ASDRUBALE
Senza che mi faie l’uocchie de speretata, vi
Before you try to make my eyes pop
ca io aggio iurato de non me piglià chiù
out again, let me tell you I’ve
paura.
resolved not to take fright any
more.
CANDIDA
E chi mai ha inteso d’incutervi timore?
Who has been striking terror into you,
then?
ASDRUBALE
Comme? Poco nnanze tu e chella
What? A little while ago, you and that
cantimpilora de lo fattore, n’aoto poco,
wine cooler of a steward very nearly
me faciveve veni no moto, e pò appura
gave me a stroke and, when you get
appura, ed era na picciolissima preghiera
down to it, it was just a little favour
che m’aveva da dà chillo
that that unfortunate Colonel wanted
sfortunato de lo Colonnello.
to ask me to do for him.
Signor Conte!
–263–
CANDIDA
Ah, che appunto per lui vengo a parlarvi,
Ah, and it is precisely for him that I
ed ora sì che non si scherza! Affari grossi!
came to speak to you, no joke!
Serious matters!
ASDRUBALE
Non ghi mmentanno stroppole, ca chillo
Now stop making this up. He was
mò e asciuto da ccà, e ha fenuto
right here, he has just this moment
de parlà co mico.
finished talking to me.
CANDIDA
Sì, e sortendo di qua, sapete dov’è andato?
Yes, and from here, do you know
where he went?
ASDRUBALE
M’ha ditto che ghieva a trovà lo marinaro.
He told me he was going to find the
sailor.
CANDIDA
(almost in tears)
Ah, ecco ch’è fatto il caso!
And so the matter is settled!
ASDRUBALE
Puozze stà bona non me piccià l’ossa!
Be so kind as not to weep all over me!
CANDIDA
Voi dunque lo volete ucciso?
So you want him dead?
ASDRUBALE
Io lo voglio acciso? (Vuie vedite chesta
Want him dead? (Just see how she
comme m’appretta! Orzù iammoncenne,
gets me going. Well then! Let’s leave
accossì levammo ogne occasione!)
and not give her another chance to!)
CANDIDA
(holding him back)
Un altro momento.
One moment more.
–264–
ASDRUBALE
(Chesta in tutt’i conti ha ditto ca me vò
(Whichever way you look at it she’s
fà passà no guaio!)
made up her mind to give me
trouble!)
CANDIDA
Indovinate, indovinate chi mai si cela sotto
Guess, guess who is disguised in the
le spoglie dello schiavo?
rags of that slave?
ASDRUBALE
Mò song’addeventato zingaro. Aggio
So now I’m a fortune teller am I?
d’annevenà pure.
I’ve got to read minds too.
CANDIDA
Stupite.
You’ll be astonished.
ASDRUBALE
Non piglià lo vierzo de poco primo.
Don’t start that tune again. Tell me
Votta subito lo nominativo, ca si nò
his name, because if you don’t,
mo te lasso.
I’m off.
CANDIDA
Sotto le spoglie dello schiavo si cela
Under those slave’s rags is hidden
Milord Liverpool, il padre di Emilia!
Lord Liverpool, Emilia’s father!
ASDRUBALE
Lo padre d’Emilia!
Emilia’s father!
CANDIDA
Certo. Ella mi confidò che il padre
That’s right. Emilia confided in me
si nasconde ancora sotto quegli abiti,
that her father is still in disguise
poichè essendo proscritto, svelandosi
because, being banished, if he
incorrerebbe in grave pericolo.
revealed himself he would be in great
Giacomo poi mi disse, che lo stesso
danger. Giacomo also told
Claudio Liwerpool volle da lui la chiave
me that that same Claudio Liverpool
–265–
del sotterraneo, dov’Emilia inalzò
la tomba della madre, e chiese
del giovane Colonnello per
trascinarlo quivi, e sacrificarlo
all’ombra dell’invendicata
consorte: ecco adunque
il motivo per cui vi
scongiuro di precedere, correre,
ed evitare un eccidio, nel mentre
io vado dalla buona Emilia perchè
venga anch’essa.
asked for the key of the crypt where
Emilia erected her mother’s tomb
and was looking for the young
Colonel to drag him there to sacrifice
him to the shade of his unavenged
consort. That then is the reason why I
came here to plead with you to go,
and go with all speed, to prevent
this killing, while I go to find dear
Emilia so that she too should
come there.
(She departs.)
ASDRUBALE
Chi m’avesse ditto ch’aveva d’arrivà a sto
Who would have ever told me I had
casino pe trovareme mmiezo a sto poco de
to come to this madhouse to find
mbruoglio. Ora sà che nc’è de nuovo, mò
myself in such a muddle. Now
m’arravoglio le bagatelle e faccio filone.
I know the news, I’ll wrap up the
whole puppet show and push off.
(He departs.)
–266–
SCENE IX
A rough-hewn dungeon, artificially hollowed out of the sandstone. The way down is by a
long row of steps. This place serves as the burial chamber of the Liverpool family. In the
middle is a newly constructed tomb where a portrait of Emilia’s mother hangs. A lantern is
lit before it. Several other tombs fill the stage.
[11]
Claudio, with a lighted torch, precedes Villars, who remains on the last step.
[12]
E a che t’arresti?
CLAUDIO
Why have you stopped?
VILLARS
Ove mi traggi? e in questo
Where are you taking me?
Mesto asilo di morte
Why has your fury led me
Perchè mi guida il tuo furor?
To this melancholy refuge of death?
CLAUDIO
Del mio
To feed
Straziato core a pascer la vendetta
The vengeance of my tortured heart
Giusto feral soggiorno, empio! ti aspetta.
A fitting funereal abode, impious
man, awaits you.
VILLARS
Chi sei? qual d’oltraggiarmi
Who are you? What right do you
Dritto t’arroghi?
Assume to insult me thus?
CLAUDIO
(pointing to the portrait)
In quella effigie il guardo
Turn your gaze on that likeness
Volgi, o crudel! la vittima in lei mira
Cruel man! See in her the victim
–267–
Del tuo delitto, e se rimorsi intendi,
Of your crime, and if you understand
remorse,
Del giusto furor mio l’oggetto apprendi.
Learn the purpose of my just fury.
VILLARS
Che! la madre d’Emilia! oh Cielo! mi sento
What! Emilia’s mother! Oh Heaven! I
Le chiome sollevar!
feel my hair stand on end!
CLAUDIO
Vedi quel ciglio
Do you see those eyes
Molle di pianto? il sangue tuo mi chiede,
Damp from tears? They ask me for
your blood
E il verserò.
And I will shed it.
VILLARS
(Del fallo mio l’orrore
(The horror of my crime
Il coraggio mi toglie!) Ah! per pietade
Takes my courage from me!) Ah, for
pity’s sake
Dimmi chi sei?
Tell me who you are?
CLAUDIO
Comuni a me le offese
Sacred family ties
Rende d’Emilia un sacro
Make Emilia’s offences mine,
Vincol di sangue, e a vendicar qui vengo
And I come here to avenge
La madre sua, che il tuo misfatto ha
Her mother, whom your misdeed has
spenta…
killed.
In me d’un Dio la ultrice man paventa!
Fear in me the avenging hand of God!
[13]
Nel campo del valore
On the field of valour
Seppi sfidar la morte;
I defied death;
Senno, virtude, onore
Wisdom, courage, honour
I passi miei guidò,
Guided my steps,
–268–
E un vile, un traditore
Mai perdonar saprò.
Di giovanile errore
Mi trasportò l’eccesso:
Del grave fallo io stesso
Soffrir l’idea non so.
Ma dal mio duol oppresso,
Estinto alfin, orror, cadrò.
Che giova il pentimento,
Se Emilia è già infelice?
Se nel crudel tormento
Già langue il genitor?
Ma il genitor già spento…
No, traditore! in vita
Lo serba il Cielo ancor.
Ah! chi la via m’addita
Da trarmi a tant’orror?
Saresti mai? favella…
Son Claudio… alma rubella!
Che non da vil, qual sei,
Ma vengo i torti miei
And I will never be able to forgive
A coward, a traitor.
VILLARS
Excess of youthful folly
Carried me away:
I myself do not know how to bear
The burden of my wicked deed.
But oppressed by my grief,
I will at last, oh horror! fall dead.
CLAUDIO
What use is repentance,
If Emilia is already ruined?
If her father already lingers
In fierce torment?
VILLARS
But her father is already dead…
CLAUDIO
No, traitor! Alive
Heaven still keeps him.
VILLARS
Ah! who will point out the path
to me
To extract myself from this horror?
Could you be? Speak…
CLAUDIO
I am Claudio…rebel heart!
Who not as a base man, as you are,
But come, thus, to revenge
–269–
A vendicar così.
The wrongs done me.
(He takes out two pistols and offers them to Villars.)
Scegli…
Choose…
VILLARS
Che fai? non fia!
What are you doing? Let it not be this
way!
CLAUDIO
Scegli, ti dico, e pria
Choose, I tell you, but first
Quel foglio sottoscrivi,
Sign that paper,
Ove del tradimento
In which it is set down
Espresso è in te l’autore…
That the author of the betrayal
is you…
VILLARS
Ah! per pietà…signore!
Ah! For pity’s sake…My Lord!
CLAUDIO
Tu non l’avesti un dì!
You had none, once!
[14]
Per te son misero
Because of you I am a poor
Padre dolente…
Grieving father…
Di eterne lagrime
Of my everlasting tears
Tu sei sorgente…
You are the source…
Pietà non merita
A seducer
Un seduttor!
Deserves no pity!
VILLARS
Se inesorabile
If unswayed
Al pianto mio
By my tears,
Di sangue t’anima
You are driven
–270–
Crudel desio,
Di morte il fulmine
Mi vibra al cor!
By the cruel desire for blood,
Strike Death’s thunderbolt
Into my heart!
VILLARS/CLAUDIO
Ah! delle smanie,
Ah! I cannot express
Che provo in seno,
The harsh inflexibility
Non posso esprimere
Of madness
L’aspro rigor!
Which I feel in my heart!
CLAUDIO
Codardo! E perchè tremi?
Coward! What are you afraid of?
Impugna quest’arma.
Take this weapon.
(offering him a pistol)
Se tuo pari foss’io dovrei svenarti senza
If I were like you I would slit your
cimento, ma l’onore mi è guida! O ti
throat without a second thought,
uccido o mi uccidi. Eguali sono le armi,
but honour prevents me! Either
e s’io soccombo, almeno avrò
you die, or I die. The weapons are
tentato di risarcir l’onore,
equal and, if I perish, at least I shall
nè morrò da invendicato o vile!
have striven to restore my honour, nor
shall I die unavenged nor a coward!
VILLARS
(kneeling)
Eccomi a’ piedi tuoi. Uccidimi prima, e poi See me at your feet. Kill me first, and
perdonami.
then forgive me.
CLAUDIO
Indegno! Ben ti comprendo.
Unworthy man! I understand you
Tu speri in tal guisa
well. You hope in that way to
–271–
disarmarmi il core.
Mori scellerato!
disarm my heart.
(raising the pistol)
Die, you wretch!
SCENE X
Emilia enters in great haste, followed by the others.
EMILIA
Ah, father. Stop!
CLAUDIO
Invano qui scendesti ad impedir ch’io
In vain have you come here to prevent
compia la mia vendetta.
me taking my revenge.
ASDRUBALE
L’impedisco io. Si ve volite sbentrà v’avite
I will prevent you. If you want to
da trovà primmo li patrine. Che ne
eviscerate each other you will
avessemo da mparà pure ste cose.
need seconds. We know the rules.
VILLARS
Son reo. Io non lo nego. Conosco pur
I am guilty. I do not deny it. I know
troppo a mia colpa. A lei presentol
my crime well enough. I offer her this,
questa mano per farla innanzi a te ed a
my hand, to make her my bride,
quanti mi sono d’intorno, mia consorte.
before every one of you assembled
here.
ASDRUBALE
Via mò aiza la mano, non te fà chiù pregà:
Just you take that hand, don’t wait to
penza che simmo de carne, e che sta
be asked twice. Remember, we’re
malora de carne è chella che nce fà piglià
all flesh and blood and it’s all that
sempe de’ brutti scacamarroni!
blasted flesh and blood that gets us
into such terrible scrapes!
Ah padre. Ti ferma!
–272–
CLAUDIO
A tutt’ignoto, qual profugo, io m’aggirava
Unknown to all, as an outcast, I
ramingo per queste balze, e nel core
roamed alone through these hills,
mi ardeva il desiderio di vendicare il tuo
and in my heart burned the
tradito onore pria di ritornar tranquillo al
wish to revenge your betrayed honour
patrio suolo, giacchè il Sovrano convinto
before I returned happy to my
della mia innocenza mi richiama alla patria, native soil, because our sovereign is
e mi torna in possesso de’ miei beni.
convinced of my innocence and calls
me back to my homeland and restores
my estates and property to me.
EMILIA
E sarà vero? Oh gioia!
Can it be true? How wonderful!
CLAUDIO
Ma se non sei felice, a che mi giova
But if you are not happy, what good is
riacquistare tutte le mie grandezze?
it to me to have back all my grandeur?
VILLARS
Ah, padre amato, pronunzia un detto solo.
Ah, beloved father, say but one word.
Io sarò sempre degno del tuo perdono,
I will always be worthy of your
dell’amor suo. Un tuo cenno, e
forgiveness, of your love. Give but
saremo felici.
your blessing and we shall be happy.
EMILIA
Ah sì, mio buon padre.
Ah yes, my dear father.
VILLARS
(to Asdrubale)
Ditegli voi pure qualche cosa.
You say something to him, too.
CANDIDA
(to Asdrubale)
Sì, sì, intercedete ancora voi.
Yes, yes, you intercede as well.
–273–
ASDRUBALE
Orzù Milordo mio, me pare che potarrisse
Now then, My Lord, I think you
condiscendere quanno te ne prego io
might condescend if I ask you to,
pure, che colla massima prudenza ho
for acting with all prudence, I have
ceduto ogni dritto matrimoniale, e co tutta
given up any matrimonial rights and
la pacienza possibile sto tenenno ancora
with all patience possible, I’m still
sto stutale.
having to chaperone the two of them.
CLAUDIO
Emilia, prendi consiglio dal tuo core,
Emilia, take counsel with your heart
e tu stessa decidi se debba vincere –
and you yourself decide the
amore o lo sdegno.
winner – love or vengeance.
EMILIA
(embracing Villars)
Ah! vinca amore!
Ah, love is the winner!
ASDRUBALE
Oh! è fatta la grazia!
Oh, may God be gracious!
[15]
EMILIA
Confusa è l’alma mia,
My spirit is confused,
E quanto ascolta e mira
And whatever it hears and sees
Crede che un sogno sia,
Believes it is a dream,
Che s’abbia a dileguar…
Which will fade away…
[16]
Padre…consorte…amici…
Father…husband…friends…
Deh! per pietà parlate!
Come! Please speak to me!
ALL
T’affida! Son cessate
Rest assured.
L’ore del sospirar.
Your hours of sighing are over.
–274–
[17]
Non intende il mio contento,
Chi non vide il mio tormento;
Sol perfetto – è quel diletto
Che il dolore preparò!
Sol perfetto – è quel diletto,
Che il dolore preparò!
EMILIA
You cannot understand my happiness
If you did not witness my suffering:
The most perfect joy
Is that tempered by pain!
ALL
The most perfect joy
Is that tempered by pain!
END OF THE OPERA
–275–
APPENDIX
[18]
CANDIDA
Che mai dite?
What are you saying?
Il genitore vive ancora e a voi s’appressa?
Your father is alive and is on his way
to you?
Che mai dite?
What are you saying?
Io non sono più in me stessa.
I no longer feel quite myself.
Mi sorprende lo stupor.
I am overcome with amazement.
EMILIA
Fida amica!
Faithful friend!
In qual conflitto è quest’alma palpitante
In what conflict is this trembling soul
Nel mirar l’infido amante
Seeing my unfaithful lover
E l’afflitto genitor.
And my afflicted father.
CANDIDA
Ma di lieto cangiamento
But in my heart I feel hope
Qualche speme io sento in cor.
Of a joyful change.
EMILIA
No, funesto avvenimento
No, my heart in my breast predicts
Mi predice in seno il cor.
Something terrible will happen.
CANDIDA
No!
No!
[19]
Eppur dal grembo d’irato nembo
Sometimes from the heart of an angry
cloud
La bella pace spuntò talora.
Fair peace can sometimes emerge.
–276–
Sempre infelice sarà quest’alma
Che mai di calma spera il favor.
Tu in sen mi/le scendi
Nume pietoso!
Conforto ah! rendi
Al mio/suo dolor.
Bastino i fulmini
D’avverso fato!
Cessino gli astri
Del rio furor!
EMILIA
Always unhappy will be this soul
Which never hopes for the gift of
calm.
EMILIA/CANDIDA
Descend into my/her breast
Merciful Heaven!
Give comfort
For my/her grief
May the thunderbolts
Of adverse fate be done with.
May the stars desist
From their fury!
–277–
The following diagram lists the contents of the two versions of the opera. From this it
will be apparent which items appear only in one version; which are common to both;
and which, while appearing in both, have changed their location.
Emilia di Liverpool
1824
L’Eremitaggio di Liwerpool
1828
ACT I
1. Preludio
to 1828
2. Coro: Attendiam tranquilli
1824 only
3. Cavatina (Emilia)
No.6 in 1828
4. Tempesta
No.3 in 1828
5. Duetto (Romualdo-Federico)
1824 only
6. Cavatina (Claudio)
No.5 in 1828
7. Duetto (Emilia-Don Romualdo)
No.7 in 1828
8. Quintetto (a) Giusto ciel! chi vedo!
No.9 in 1828
ACT I
1. Preludio
from 1824
2. Coro: Fosca nube
1828 only
3. Tempesta
No.4 in 1824
4. Introduzione: Accorrete, buona gente
1828 only
5. Cavatina (Claudio)
No.6 in 1824
6. Cavatina (Emilia)
No.3 in 1824
7. Duetto (Emilia-Don Romualdo)
No.7 in 1824
8. Terzetto (Tomson-Claudio-Romualdo)
1828 only
–278–
9. Quintetto
(b) Tu addonca gia s’offusca
1824 only
10. Aria (Romualdo)
1824 only
11. Duetto (Emilia-Claudio)
No.12 in 1828
12. Finale 1o
1824 only
ACT II
13. Introduzione: E partito?
No.11 in 1828
14. Duetto (Romualdo-Conte)
1824 only
15. Terzetto
(Emilia-Federico-Romualdo)
1824 only
16. Duetto (Claudio-Federico)
No.13 in 1828
17. Finaletto
1824 only
9. Finale
(a) Giusto ciel! chi vedo!
No.8 in 1824
10. Finale (b) Dell indegno... gia s’offusca
1828 only
ACT II
11. Introduzione: E partito?
No.13 in 1824
12. Duetto (Emilia-Claudio)
No.11 in 1824
13. Duetto (Claudio-Federico)
No.16 in 1824
14. Rondo Finale (Emilia)
1828 only
APPENDIX
Duetto (Emilia-Candida)
Never performed
–279–
Sir Peter Moores