la prigione di edimburgo - i

Transcript

FEDERICO RICCI
LA PRIGIONE DI EDIMBURGO
ORR228
in association with
Box cover: Medieval Castle in the moonlight by Francesco Cocchi,
courtesy of the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan
Booklet cover: Rita Gabussi as Giovanna
Opposite: Federico Ricci
CD Face: Rita Gabussi
–1–
Federico Ricci
Melodramma semiserio in three acts
Libretto by Gaetano Rossi
Duca d’Argyle.....................................................................Dean Robinson
Giorgio, his son.........................................................Nicola Rossi Giordano
Ida, secretly married to Giorgio.............................................Elisabetta Scano
Fanny, her sister...........................................................Rebecca von Lipinski
Giovanna, a madwoman infatuated with Giorgio......................Nuccia Focile
Tom, a smuggler.............................................................Christopher Purves
Patrizio........................................................................................Colin Lee
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Chorus of soldiers, peasants, nobles and smugglers
Philharmonia Orchestra
Leader, Maya Iwabuchi
Gabriele Bellini, conductor
–2–
Producer and Artistic Director: Patric Schmid
Managing Director: Stephen Revell
Assistant producer: Jacqui Compton
Assistant conductor: Robin Newton
Répétiteurs: Nicholas Bosworth and Stuart Wild
Italian coach: Maria Cleva
Assistant to the Producer: Marco Impallomeni
Article, synopsis and libretto: Jeremy Commons
Recording Engineer: Chris Braclik
Assistant Engineers: Chris Bowman and Kelsall McEwen
Editing: Patric Schmid and Chris Braclik
Recorded at St Clement and St Barnabus Church, London
July and October 2003
–3–
Nuccia Focile
CONTENTS
La Prigione d’Edimburgo by Jeremy Commons...................................Page 9
Performance History by Tom Kaufman............................................Page 57
The Story........................................................................................Page 65
Résumé de l’intrigue........................................................................Page 70
Inhalt..............................................................................................Page 75
Argomento......................................................................................Page 80
Libretto...........................................................................................Page 86
–5–
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Act I
Scena e cavatina – Ida (Fanny, Coro)
Scena ‘Pegno adorato di un ardente amore’
Cavatina ‘De’ felici miei prim’anni’
Cabaletta ‘Ah! rinasce nel mio petto’
Scena e cavatina – Giovanna (Fanny, Coro)
Scena ‘La pazza!….fate largo’
Cavatina ‘Oh, come è vago, amabile’
Cabaletta ‘Chi di voi conosce amore...’
Barcarolla – Tom
‘Sulla poppa del mio brich’
Dur
Page
2’34
3’37
5’02
90
90
93
0’59
5’51
4’23
98
100
103
4’23
109
Act II
Scena e duetto – Ida, Giovanna
[8] Scena ‘Qual sarà il mio destino!..’
3’43
139
[9] Duetto ‘Lei... cagion de’ mali miei’
3’03
142
[10] Largo ‘Un figlio, il cui sorriso’
5’10
143
[11] Andante Mosso ‘Sei bella... sì... bellissima’
3’42
147
Finale Secondo – Ida, Giovanna, Giorgio, Tom, Patrizio, Duca, Coro
[12] Canzone ‘Dormi, dormi, bel bambino’
5’24
161
[13] Scena ‘Tom... la misera...’
3’39
166
[14] Sestetto ‘In quest’ora tremenda, suprema’
6’43
172
[15] Scena ‘Ove vai?’
3’23
176
[16] Stretta ‘Oh Dio possente!’
3’11
178
-6-
Act III
Scena e duetto – Giovanna, Giorgio
[17] Scena ‘Giovanna... questo figlio!...’
[18] Duetto ‘Voi quell’aria non avete’
[19] Stretta ‘Oh momento di supplizio!...’
Finale Terzo
[20] Scena ‘Salva! Salva! al foco, al foco!’
[21] Prieghiera ‘La sua man, oh Ciel tu guida’
1’47
5’33
1’50
190
192
198
2’33
1’27
198
202
The orchestral and vocal material for this recording
was made for Opera Rara
by
Christopher Moss
-7-
Elisabetta Scano and Nuccia Focile
This introduction to the opera is dedicated to the memory of Mrs
Solange Bak, the great-great-great niece of Luigi and Federico Ricci,
and the descendant of a third brother, Egisto. Mrs Bak, who
corresponded with Jeremy Commons for many years, spent much of
her life researching and documenting the lives of the Ricci brothers,
and much of the information contained in this introduction stems
from her findings.
TO WRITE ABOUT Federico Ricci, the composer of La prigione di
Edimburgo, is, in effect, to write about two composers rather than one:
about two brothers, Luigi and Federico. For rarely in the history of music
has there been such a close personal relationship – such a close
identification – between two brothers; and rarely has there been such a close
and productive collaboration.
Luigi, the elder of the two, was born in Naples on 8 July 1805; Federico,
also in Naples, a little over four years later on 22 October 1809. Both,
though some years apart, were students at the Real Collegio di S.
Sebastiano, where they studied, one after the other, under the elderly and
severe director, Nicolò Zingarelli. By Federico’s time, however, Zingarelli,
feeling his age, was beginning to farm out his students to other staff
members, with the result that Federico found himself passed on to the
pedantic but erudite master of counterpoint, Pietro Raimondi. He also
–9–
came under the aegis of a maestrino or tutor in the form of an older student,
Vincenzo Bellini, who remained a much-loved and much-admired friend
until his death in Paris in 1835.
With his student days behind him, Luigi in 1829 moved to Rome.
Federico was still at this point a senior student at S. Sebastiano, but his need
for his brother’s support and guidance was such that, obtaining a month’s
leave of absence, he followed him to Rome and, at the expiry of the month,
reneged on his promise to return to college. And so began their close
association, professional as well as fraternal, and all the more strange since
the two were of markedly different temperament. Francesco Florimo, their
fellow student and later the librarian at S. Pietro a Majella, the Naples
Conservatorium that absorbed S. Sebastiano and two other musical
conservatoria, in after-years recalled that ‘Luigi was lively and merry, with a
smile in his heart and on his lips; Federico reflective, serious and
thoughtful.’
Luigi’s career, as one would expect from his four years’ seniority, got off
to an earlier start than Federico’s, and he was already a well-known and
widely applauded composer with an impressive list of successes to his credit
before ever it was Federico’s turn to face the public. Among the early operas
of Luigi’s, particular mention should be made of La cena frastornata (1824),
L’abate Taccarella (1825) and Il diavolo condannato a prender moglie1 (1826),
__________________________________
1
A quartet from this opera may be heard on A Hundred Years of Italian Opera, Vol III, 18201830, Opera Rara ORCH 104
–10–
RITA GABUSSI
This fine
mezzo-soprano was
Ricci’s first Giovanna
in Trieste in 1838
She sang the
role again in
Turin (1839),
Vienna (1840) and
Palermo (1844)
all given at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples; Colombo (T. Ducale, Parma, 1829),
L’orfanella di Ginevra (T. Valle, Rome, 1829), Chiara di Rosemberg (La
Scala, Milan, 1831), Il nuovo Figaro (T. Ducale, Parma, 1832), I due
sergenti (La Scala, Milan, 1833), Un’avventura di Scaramuccia (La Scala,
Milan, 1834), Gli esposti (T. Angennes, Turin, 1834) and Chi dura vince (T.
Valle, Rome, 1834).
It was only at this point that Federico, now aged 25, in the spring of 1835
somewhat tardily launched his career. And he did so in collaboration with
his brother, the two of them together presenting at the Teatro del Fondo in
Naples a two-act opera buffa, Il colonnello. It was so well received that for
the next several years each of them pursued, as it were, two careers, one
alone and one in collaboration. The further works which they wrote
together were Il disertore per amore, which enjoyed equal success when given
at the Teatro del Fondo in 1836; L’amante di richiamo (T. d’Angennes,
Turin, 1846 – the only opera in this collaborative list which was not well
received); and the masterly, delightful and long-popular Crispino e la comare
(T. S. Benedetto, Venice, 1850).
The degree of sympathetic and imaginative identification, one with the
thought of the other, that they displayed in the first three of their
collaborations was remarkable to the point of being extraordinary. We again
quote Francesco Florimo:
–12–
The three operas, Il colonnello, Il disertore per amore and L’amante
di richiamo, were composed by the two brothers together when they
lived in a perfect, exemplary and enviable familiarity... They would
work in the same room: no sooner had one sketched or sung a motif
than the other would take possession of it and make it his own,
correcting it and giving it its ending; no sooner had a pleasing
inspiration surfaced in the mind of one, than the other immediately
took it up and assimilated it: and in such wise, from different
thoughts, there sprang a homogeneous and perfectly unified
blending. If one of them were to sit down at the piano, the other
would sit near him or walk up and down in the room; but their minds
would not cease to understand each other and maintain a dialogue,
and from being initially separate, they would become a single entity.
They echoed each other, in a way that did not betray their inspiration:
their hearts beat in unison. Sometimes there arose some disparity
from a different manner of seeing or feeling, or as the result of some
difference of taste, but the disagreement was of short duration. Some
happy idea, some spontaneous inspiration would immediately
re-establish their previous harmony. And as soon as the interrupted
thread of their work was taken up again, the two composers would
enter once more into their accustomed manner of seeing and feeling,
and of expressing themselves in identical manner. It was impossible,
in a collaboration as intimate as this, to know what was the work of
one, what of the other. If one were to ask Luigi who had written this
or that piece, he would reply: that’s Federico; if one were to ask the
same question of Federico, he would answer: that’s Luigi.
–13–
ADELAIDE
REBUSSINI
Giovanna
Teatro Nuovissimo
Padua 1840
Teatro Nuovo
Naples 1844
Florimo goes on to tell us that by the time of Crispino e la comare,
circumstances had changed. By that time Luigi had married the singer Lidia
Stolz – a marriage of which Federico disapproved – and the same degree of
domestic familiarity no longer existed. They now divided the libretto
between them, item by item, and item by item the early printed scores
identified each composer. Yet here, too, there will be found a remarkable
degree of similarity of thought and inspiration. Each brother still intimately
knew how the mind of the other worked, and there is virtually no
perceptible discrepancy between the work of one and the other, be it in
melodic inspiration, instrumental colouring or construction of the pieces.
Meanwhile, as already indicated, the solo careers of the two brothers
continued. While it is not necessary for us to follow Luigi’s achievements in
great detail here, we may note in passing an opera which enjoyed little or
no success, Chiara di Montalbano (La Scala, Milan, 1835); another which
very nearly proved a fiasco, Le nozze di Figaro (La Scala, 1837); and two
later successes which went far to compensate for such setbacks, Il birraio di
Preston (T. della Pergola, Florence, 1847) and Piedigrotta (T. Nuovo,
Naples, 1852). The ten-year gap between Le nozze di Figaro and Il birraio
di Preston is explained by the fact that in 1837 Luigi was appointed to the
double post of maestro di cappella of the Cathedral of Trieste and musical
director of the Teatro Grande in the same city. And with this appointment
his life necessarily changed. He took up permanent residence in Trieste. He
wrote less for the theatre. He devoted himself increasingly to church music.
–15–
Federico’s independent career followed a not dissimilar pattern. He
scored major successes with Monsieur de Chalumeaux2 (T. S. Benedetto,
Venice, 1835); La prigione di Edimburgo (T. Grande, Trieste, 1838);
Michelangelo e Rolla (T. della Pergola, Florence, 1841); Corrado d’Altamura
(La Scala, Milan, 1841); and Il marito e l’amante (Kärtnertortheater,
Vienna, 1852); and there were also rather more modest successes with
Estella (La Scala, 1846) and Griselda (T. la Fenice, Venice, 1847). But there
were also operas which enjoyed little or no success at all, so that he, too, in
September 1853 was glad to accept stable employment outside the theatre,
as ‘Inspector’ of the singing classes at the St Petersburg Imperial School of
Music. His duties there consisted principally of working with senior
students, preparing them for careers at the Russian National Opera. It was
an appointment, moreover, that gave him three months’ vacation a year – a
period which he would regularly spend, either in Paris or in Italy, more
often than not near to Luigi in Trieste.
If there were similarities in the lives of the two brothers up to this point,
they now diverged – and did so radically and in a manner that was
ultimately tragic. In 1843 Luigi made the acquaintance of two twin-sisters
from Bohemia, Ludmila (Lidia) and Francesca (Fanny) Stolz, elder siblings
of the even more famous Teresa Stolz who was later to play such a large part
in the amorous life of Verdi. All three were singers; Lidia and Francesca,
who would seem to have been identical twins, were both sopranos, and
__________________________________
2
The title is found both as Monsieur de Chalumeaux and Monsieur des Chalumeaux.
–16–
RAFFAELE SCALESE
This baritone sang
Tom
in Milan (1838)
and
Trieste (1841)
He also created
Un giorno di regno
for Verdi
and sang Sulpizio
in the first Italian
production of
Donizetti’s
La figlia del regimento
cannot have been more than 16 years of age at the time they met Luigi,
since they were born on 8 May 1827. They had recently graduated from the
Conservatoire of Music in Prague. Luigi did his best to further their careers,
but – initially comically but ultimately disastrously – fell in love with both.
Unable to choose between them, he cohabited with both. Florimo quotes a
letter written to him by no less reliable a correspondent than Federico,
detailing the living arrangements of the three during a season when they
were all engaged at the opera house in Odessa, and the amusing but
scandalous events to which these arrangements gave rise:
Luigi, so as not to compromise himself in the eyes of the world –
while still letting it be seen that he lodged with the two Stolz sisters
– had arranged matters so that the sisters were in fact separated from
the rooms in which he himself was living; but they had rigged up
between themselves, so that they could easily be together, a
wardrobe which had no back to it, and which masked a door
through which the Stolz sisters would come to Luigi, and he would
go to them. It happened one day that the prima donna who was
singing in Odessa came, accompanied by her husband, to visit
Maestro Ricci: one of the Stolz sisters (probably Lidia), having heard
a woman’s voice in Luigi’s rooms, decided to play la gelosa and issued
in anger from the wardrobe. There was general surprise on the part
of those present (a fine coup de théâtre for a comic libretto); anger on
the part of Luigi; and embarrassment on the part of the others (who
looked at each other in astonishment, pretending not to understand
–18–
the imbroglio) – an embarrassment Luigi resolved with a great
guffaw of laughter, echoed by the others.
The scandal, of course, soon spread far and wide, endorsing, as it did, the
common knowledge that Luigi was a ladies’ man of no little notoriety. And
it was in no way put to rest when he finally made up his mind and married
Lidia, for as everyone realised he continued to cohabit with both.
But there was worse to come. At the time of his return to Naples to
produce Piedigrotta in 1852, Luigi found himself assailed by a profound
and at first inexplicable melancholy, which, instead of dispersing upon his
return to Trieste, deepened still further. As he himself was forced to realise,
the sins of his youth were catching up with him, and he was falling victim
to advancing syphilis. He is said to have had a portrait of Donizetti in his
sitting room, and to have frequently paused before it, saying ‘I shall end like
him’. And so it transpired. Summoned back from St Petersburg in all
urgency, Federico had the melancholy task of conducting him to an asylum
in Prague, where, following a brief and illusory turn for the better, he died
on 31 December 1859.
Federico’s own later years were more cheerful. He eventually retired from
his duties in St Petersburg, and was able to live, for the most part in Paris
and at Conegliano, in the province of Treviso, on his Russian pension.
Florimo points out that, in their final years, the two brothers appeared to
exchange characters: it was the serious Federico who became the aimable
–19–
FANNY GOLDBERG
This soprano was
Donizetti’s first
Caterina Cornaro
She sang Giovanna
in
Trieste, 1840 and 1841
bon vivant, the ever-cheerful Luigi who was overtaken by melancholy and
sadness.
As an operatic composer Federico enjoyed a late flowering. At the Théâtre
des Fantaisies-Parisiennes in 1869 he presented a comic opera, Una follia a
Roma, which enjoyed such an enormous success that after six performances
it had to be transferred to a larger venue, the Théâtre de l’Athénée. Later the
same year he produced a French version of Crispino e la comare under the
title of Le Docteur Crispin; this, too, was extremely well received. Two last
and less successful operas, Le Docteur Rose and Une Fête à Venise, were
presented in 1872, the latter a reworking of Il marito e l’amante. Federico
Ricci died on 10 December 1877, at the age of 68, at Conegliano.
*
*
*
*
La prigione di Edimburgo, Federico Ricci’s fourth opera (and the second
which he wrote on his own), is based on Sir Walter Scott’s novel, The Heart
of Midlothian. But only distantly: the immediate source that Gaetano Rossi
drew on for his text was a French libretto, written by Eugène Scribe and
Eugène de Planard, La Prison d’Édimbourg, which had been set to music by
Michele Carafa and performed in Paris at the Opéra-Comique on 20 July
1833. We ought not to be surprised, therefore, to find that the focus of
Rossi’s libretto has been considerably altered from that of Scott’s novel:
indeed those who would hope to find a dramatised version of Jeanie Deans’s
refusal to give false evidence to save her sister Effie from condemnation for
–21–
child murder, and of her heroic journey from Edinburgh to London to seek
a pardon for Effie from Queen Caroline, will be bitterly disappointed.
Fanny, Rossi’s equivalent of Jeanie, plays a comprimario role in Act I, and
thereafter disappears entirely3. The focus is now upon Effie (Ida in the
opera), the suspicion that she has murdered her infant son, and her relations
with her lover, George Robertson (or, in the opera, Giorgio, the husband
she has secretly married). The baby has, in fact, been stolen by a mad gypsy,
Madge Wildfire (Giovanna in the opera), and his eventual recovery provides
the opera with its spectacular ending as Giovanna lowers his cradle by a
rope from a burning belfry and herself perishes in the flames4. This finale,
showing the fire resulting from a revolt on the part of the prisoners, is the
closest we come to seeing the Porteous riot, which plays such an important
part in the novel, though the whole of this final act does in fact take place
in the Tolbooth, the prison of Edinburgh which was known as ‘The Heart
of Midlothian’. Yet even the character of the prison has changed, for the
prisoners are now little more than a comic opera chorus of roisterers, while
the citizens outside who call for Ida’s execution are but a pallid counterpart
of the uncontrollable lynching mob who assail the prison in the novel.
______________________________________
3
She plays a part of greater importance in the Scribe-Planard libretto, and indeed continues
there to appear throughout the opera.
4
In Scott’s novel, Madge Wildfire has herself borne George Robertson a child, but the baby
has died, very probably as a result of foul play on the part of Madge’s bullying and vindictive
mother, Meg Murdockson (who does not appear in the opera – she has died before the action
begins). Madge in her derangement cannot accept that her infant is dead, and steals Effie’s
child to replace it.
–22–
DESIDERATA
DERANCOURT
Giovanna
Teatro della Pergola,
Florence
1838 and 1839
In adapting the Scribe-Planard libretto, Rossi made one important
addition: the scene of meeting and confrontation between Ida and the mad
Giovanna in Act II which, bringing together these two women who are
rivals for the love of Giorgio, provides the occasion for the most important
and extended (three-part) duet in Ricci’s score. Before she realises who she
is speaking to, Giovanna admits that she always knew that she had a
preferred rival, and would like to meet her in order to be revenged upon her.
Ida suggests that if such a meeting were to take place, Giovanna would be
moved to pity, since her rival’s name has been slandered and she stands
falsely accused of child murder. Giovanna agrees that it is almost
inconceivable that a mother should murder her own child, whereupon the
two singers move into a very beautiful slow central section, an exercise in
thirds and sixths, which is a sentimental effusion on the joys and emotions
of motherhood. In the ensuing tempo di mezzo Giovanna realises Ida’s
identity, but Ricci, instead of allowing her to burst into a vindictive and
exultant cabaletta as we would expect, shows a high degree of subtlety and
mastery of psychology by opening the final section as a pianissimo andante
mosso in which she acknowledges that Ida’s beauty was indeed calculated to
win Giorgio’s affections. It is only halfway through that, rallying at the
thought that Giorgio will surely transfer his affections to her, when he sees
her child and hears of Ida’s crimes, that she launches into the allegro we are
waiting for and which the musical structure requires. We shall have
occasion to mention again this effective idea of starting or delaying what
should be a fast-moving final section with an unexpected andante, since it
is a device that Ricci uses more than once.
–24–
La prigione di Edimburgo is an opera semiseria, a form which most
commonly presents a predominantly serious action, but with the inclusion
of one (or sometimes more than one) comic character. Meyerbeer’s
Margherita d’Anjou, recently recorded by Opera Rara5, is an excellent
example, and it is easy enough to make the present opera fit the same
pattern: the action is serious enough, while Tom is – or can be played as –
a buffo figure who provides comic relief. On the present recording, however,
Tom is portrayed as a predominantly straight character, with, we may think,
a distinct gain in verisimilitude; yet the opera still qualifies as an opera
semiseria. For the most interesting examples of the genre do not merely
depend upon the inclusion of a comic element: they are, rather, genuine
examples of a form and treatment which lies between opera seria (or
tragedy) and opera buffa – genuine examples of melodrama, if we use the
term in its strict sense of ‘mixed drama’. Influenced by late 18th century
sentimentalism, the genre could be used to treat subjects which were not
remote enough in time to lend themselves to the remote elevation of opera
seria, and subjects which glanced, however superficially, at genuine moral
problems which could arise in the society of the day. Seminal works such as
Paer’s Agnese (1809) and Generali’s Adelina (1810) were concerned with the
predicament of young women who fled domestic repression – and
protection – and entrusted themselves to less-than-responsible lovers, only
to find themselves and their offspring abandoned so that they were forced
to return home in search of forgiveness. La prigione di Edimburgo fits
_____________________________________
5
Opera Rara ORC 25
–25–
exactly among such ‘moral problem’ operas, since it is concerned with a
young woman accused of murdering her child. The ‘solution’, insofar as one
is hinted at, again stems from late 18th century sentimentalism: that all
such unfortunates should be treated with compassion and understanding,
and, if possible (and especially when innocent), helped to integrate
themselves back into society.
*
*
*
*
Federico Ricci wrote La prigione di Edimburgo for the Teatro Grande in
Trieste during the carnival season of 1838. We may suspect that a degree of
nepotism played a part in his gaining the commission, since Luigi had been
appointed maestro di cappella of the Cathedral of Trieste and musical
director of the Teatro Grande only the year before.
Rehearsals did not proceed as happily as might have been wished, since
the soprano Rita Gabussi, the niece of the composer Vincenzo Gabussi and
later the wife of the baritone Achille De Bassini, found herself dissatisfied
with the part of Giovanna, and increasingly jealous of the Spanish soprano
Giuseppina Armenia, whom she considered more favoured in the part of
Ida. Both were sopranos, and though we have no way of knowing how
similar or dissimilar they may have been in terms of tonal quality, in terms
of range we can assume with some confidence that they were similar, if only
because Ricci treats them very much alike, assigning the upper line now to
one, now to the other, without making any consistent or lasting distinction.
–26–
VINCENZO GALLI
Tom
Turin 1839
Genoa 1841
Lisbon 1842
Florimo suggests that Rita Gabussi’s jealousy was ill-founded, since in terms
of vocal accomplishment – in terms of sheer vocal technique – Armenia
offered her little challenge. Certain it is, however, that Federico Ricci was
sufficiently concerned to wish to defuse the situation, with the result that
he decided, unwisely, to resort to flattery. During the dress rehearsal, he
sidled up to Gabussi and whispered in her ear: ‘What large and beautiful
eyes you have, my dear!’ But it was only to find himself curtly put in his
place, for the singer rounded on him with the reply: ‘Could they be
changed into thunderbolts, you would be incinerated!’
Despite these eruptions of jealousy and ill-feeling, both the opera itself
and its interpreters were received with enthusiasm on Tuesday, 13 March
1838. The composer and Rita Gabussi were particularly applauded. The
critic of the Osservatore Triestino had several days earlier, on 10 March,
referred to ‘the young and valiant Federico Ricci’, and, clearly with Luigi’s
affiliation with Trieste in mind, had added that Federico ‘has become ours,
too, [so that], mindful of the delight he has already afforded us with his
Monsieur de Chalumeaux, we formulate wishes for his success’. Now, in a
review penned the day after the first performance and published on 15
March, he wrote:
Yesterday at last La prigione d’Edimburgo, the new and
magnificent score of our Federico Ricci, was able to go on stage, its
result a true triumph. Nor does our having wished it a triumph
diminish our obligation to report it so, as we relate the unanimous
–28–
enjoyment of the public, which, gathered in great numbers,
applauded and acclaimed the maestro al cembalo in every piece with
increasing enthusiasm; and repeatedly called him upon the stage,
both alone and with the singers, at the end of each act, amid the
most flattering demonstrations of approval: since the stalls and the
boxes, the severe habitués and the graceful female members of the
audience, vied in applauding all.
After giving a brief account of the plot he went on:
The music is vigorous and filled with feeling (sentimentale): hence
distinctive (caratteristica) in the highest degree, and of the greatest
effect. It is a massive work, rich with melodies and harmonies;
without confusion in its instrumentation and its vocal writing; in
truth it is a magnificent music that penetrates, moves, and satisfies;
and reveals to us the composer’s talent for the genre of the serious
and the grandiose.
Of the singers he wrote:
La Gabussi is a dear madwoman, stupendous in the way she
dominates the whole drama, both with her acting and her singing;
and she wins all votes. L’Armenia in her gentle part frequently shone
with her beautiful voice, and always pleased. Bonfigli had
marvellous moments, and contributed greatly to the effect of the
–29–
pieces, sustaining them with the most unconstrained bravura.
Scheggi, this time too, acts excellently: we could only wish that his
singing were a little less dry. Bravo the maestro for having written so
well for his performers; bravi the performers for having entered so
well into the intentions of the maestro.
Chorus, orchestra, sets ‘and every accessory’ came in for unstinted praise.
The only reservation expressed concerned the length of the evening:
There were those who found it too long… but not through fault
of the composer, but rather on account of the division into three
acts, on account of the number and quality of the pieces, and of
their very proportions. So much so that there were those who
amiably remarked: ‘There is material here for three operas’.
The critic ended his review by stating that he wrote ‘with the grateful
clamour of applause’ in his ears, and ‘under the deep impression of a music
such as we have not heard for a considerable time, and which, without its
originality being in any way diminished, carries our minds back, for its
splendid and masculine character, to the time of Meyerbeer’s Crociato’.
In this review it is interesting to note that Lorenzo Bonfigli, who in
Naples in 1831 had proved the weak link in the cast of Mercadante’s Zaira,
now earned himself commendation. And it is also pleasing to be able to
report Flormo’s assertion that Rita Gabussi, mollified by her excellent
–30–
IRENE
SECCI-CORSI
A popular soprano
who seems to have
found success in
the role of Ida.
Productions include:
Livorno,
Florence and Pisa
1839
Rome and Florence
1840
Livorno
1841
reception, made up her differences with the composer and remained his
good and affectionate friend thereafter. In a later notice (29 March), the
critic of the Osservatore Triestino confirmed all his initial favourable
impressions, and reported that the opera, besides receiving the lion’s share
of the remaining performances of the season, had been chosen for
presentation on no fewer than three benefit evenings – those of Federico
Ricci, Rita Gabussi and Giuseppina Armenia.
Not surprisingly, a sensational premiere such as this soon led to further
productions elsewhere. On 16 October 1838 the opera was mounted at La
Scala in Milan, interpreted by Sofia Schoberlechner (Giovanna), Eugenia
Tadolini (Ida) and Raffaele Scalese (Tom). ‘The outcome,’ we read, ‘was not
as clamorous as when it was given last March in Trieste, but was
nevertheless good, both on account of some pieces of great effect, and
because of the very beautiful instrumentation; and Maestro Ricci was
obliged to show himself a number of times on the stage to receive lively
acclamations.’ A little under a month later, on 11 November, it was seen at
the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, with Desiderata Derancourt
(Giovanna), Francilla Pixis (Ida) and Giuseppe Scheggi in his original role
as Tom.
La Derancourt and Scheggi – we read – are the artists who
distinguish themselves over and above the others: the former was
every evening obliged to repeat the tempo di mezzo of her cavatina,
a kind of popular song of exquisite inspiration, completely new, and
–32–
in which this outstanding artist makes her rare, most beautiful and
always well-tuned and true soprano voice shine; and Scheggi [too
was obliged to repeat] the aria with chorus from the third act, a
piece that is absolutely original and of magical effect. Derancourt
was judged by the severe but just Florentine public to be one of the
best artists that Italy can boast today. Scheggi seemed a perfect actorsinger: he sang and acted marvellously the part he created – a part
in which there cannot be any other artist to eclipse him.
Here in Florence the libretto was adjudged of little note, but ‘the music
was found superabundant in beauties, and of an energetic and grandiose
character. There are phrases, thoughts, and let us say entire pieces which are
totally new and original. The instrumentation is everywhere learned, lively
and brilliant, and we truly rejoice with Ricci, who was called on to the stage
no fewer than fourteen times on a single evening to receive the unequivocal
signs of general approbation for his most beautiful score.’
By now the opera was fully launched upon its career. It was seen in
virtually every opera house of Italy and in many cities abroad, including
Vienna, Barcelona and Nice in 1840, Malta, Odessa, Copenhagen and
Lisbon in 1841, Prague in 1843 and Warsaw in 1844. It reached the New
World, being seen in Mexico City in 1842, Rio de Janeiro in 1847,
Montevideo and Buenos Aires in 1853, and Santiago in 1855. It was also
translated and performed in German (Hamburg and Budapest, both 1842),
and in Spanish (Madrid, 1867, as Susana). Strangely, it never seems to have
been given in Paris or London.
–33–
CARLO
CAMBIAGGIO
In 1839, this popular
buffo sang Tom in
Florence and Rome.
The tenacity with which some of the original interpreters continued to
perform their parts is also worthy of note. Rita Gabussi sang Giovanna in
Turin (1839), Vienna (1840), Rome (carnival 1842-1843) and Palermo
(1844); while Bonfigli again sang Giorgio in Brescia in 1839. But it was
Giuseppe Scheggi who more than any other made the opera his own,
continuing to sing Tom in Florence (1839 and 1840), Livorno (1839 and
1841), Pisa (1839 and 1851), Rome (1840) and Genoa (1843). Unless
there is some mistake in the records, he would also seem to have sung the
part of the Duca d’Argil in Lucca at the end of 1838. Only Giuseppina
Armenia does not seem to have sung the opera after its initial season.
*
*
*
*
Late in Federico Ricci’s life, at the beginning of 1871, he received an
informal approach from Francesco Florimo and Gaetano Fraschini, the
great tenor of the day, to see whether he would be interested in having his
name put forward as a possible successor to Mercadante (who had died on
17 December 1870) as director of the Naples Conservatorium of Music.
His reply, written from Trieste on 7 February 1871, was to thank his
correspondents for the great compliment they had paid him in thinking of
him, but to decline their offer in terms which were so emphatic that they
left no doubt about his determination. He had, at this stage, already
resigned from his position in St Petersburg, and he had done so, he said, in
order that he might be free to employ his time as his mood and whim
dictated. But he also, he pointed out, belonged to what he called “the old
–35–
and true school”, and was out of step with “this time of WAGNERISM”
and the Germanic ideals of the younger generation of composers. ‘Now that
Italy has hunted out the Germans,’ he went on, “but has adopted their
music, I should be like a fish out of water… My saints in music are
Cimarosa, Paisiello, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and my poor Luigi…”
It would be difficult to find a more clear-sighted introduction to Federico
Ricci’s music than this. While critics of the day may have felt that there were
“entire pieces which are totally new and original”, this was because they
realised that Ricci was searching for expressive devices – harmonies, touches
of instrumental colour, rhythmic devices – which should be telling in their
emotive effect. Yet at the same time the critics would also have realised and
acknowledged that he was retaining the musical language and forms of his
immediate predecessors – Bellini principally – but honing them and
polishing them to ever greater and more subtle degrees of refinement. As a
result, his music remains essentially delicate and nuanced: he is a composer
with an extreme respect for the traditions of bel canto; and he is
emphatically not one of the composers of the day who were seeking to
extend the boundaries of dramatic effect and impact by increasing the size
of the orchestra and the consequent volume of orchestral sound, and (a
necessary consequence of greater orchestral sound) by increasing the weight
and force of vocal volume and delivery. We can see such developments
beginning in the work of many composers of the time – in the later operas
of Mercadante, for example, or in the operas of Alberto Mazzucato and
Alessandro Nini – and they were, of course, very soon to be pushed to even
–36–
FRANCILLA PIXIS
In 1838 this soprano sang
the role of Ida
at the
Teatro della Pergola,
Florence.
The following year she
switched to the role of
Giovanna for
a production at the
Teatro San Carlo, Naples,
and repeated it for the
Teatro Carolino in Palermo
in 1840.
further limits in the early operas of Verdi. But this is not the world of
Federico Ricci: he, by contrast, is the disciple of his teachers and senior
contemporaries, while at every point adding his own personal touches, in
the form of the most refined, sensitive and expressive touches of which he
was capable.
All this may be illustrated most vividly from the very first two items
recorded here: Ida’s cavatina, ‘Dei felici miei prim’anni’, and Giovanna’s
cavatina, ‘Oh, come è vago, amabile’. Ida’s, the most Bellinian item in the
score, establishes her character from the start through its use of suave
orchestral triplets to open the scene, and through her gentle and tender
expression, resulting from a use of sustained, long-spun legato phrases,
frequently ending with appoggiature (sometimes above the note, sometimes
below it), and built over a typical Alberti (or arpeggio) undulating
accompaniment. Even the cabaletta is gracefully Bellinian in quality, the
whole scene establishing Ida as a counterpart or sister of Amina in La
sonnambula.
There is even more to be said about Giovanna’s aria. Her insanity is
immediately indicated by falling chromatic phrases in the accompaniment,
but we soon discover that there is not going to be anything wild or frenzied
in the depiction of her derangement: she is gentle and fey, wandering rather
than violent or dangerous. A single introductory line of flute ritornello is
sufficient to inform the audience that she belongs to the same ‘school’ as
Donizetti’s Lucia, and the allusion would have been recognised by all since
–38–
Lucia di Lammermoor had been composed only two-and-a-half years earlier,
in 1835. The choice of a horn to introduce her cavatina also shows
sensitivity to sound-quality for emotive effect, and the use of an expressive
appoggiatura in the repeated accompaniment figure adds yet a further
telling touch. As for her melody itself, it has a popular folk-like quality
which will remind many listeners of the ariette published in Il Sibilo6,
particularly the items composed by Luigi Cammarano, while the switch to
6/8 dance rhythms and even more her own vocal line in the ensuing tempo
di mezzo establish her gypsy identity for us beyond any shadow of doubt. It
should not be overlooked that both Luigi Cammarano and Federico Ricci
came from Naples: they both have tarantella and other southern Italian
dance-rhythms in their very blood.
We have already commented upon Ricci’s beginning the final movement
of the Act II duet for Ida and Giovanna with a most unexpected and
pianissimo andante mosso. A somewhat similar idea is used, and once again
to most telling effect, in the sextet that forms the finale to Act II. Ida,
following her condemnation, is about to be led away, and our ears tell us
that we are about to embark upon the final stretta. But instead Giovanna,
with endearing inconsistency, is suddenly moved to sympathise with her,
and steps forward to ask her where she is going. The passage is marked
piano and sostenuto, and extends the tempo di mezzo, delaying the inception
of the stretta. This, when it comes, is also unusual, since, in time and
_____________________________________
6
Volume IV of Opera Rara’s series Il Salotto, ORR 219
–39–
TERESA
MERLI-CLERICI
Giovanna
Teatro Carlo Felice
Genoa, 1841
marked allegro non tanto, it strikes the ear as a slow waltz. The effect is
momentarily disconcerting – the use of a waltz rhythm seems out of place
– but the very fact that the tempo is held back a little (allegro non tanto)
means that it can admirably encompass the broad climactic effects required.
Yet a further example of Ricci’s opting for the unexpected, and at the
same time illustrating a sensitive perception of human psychology, comes at
the end of the opera in the hushed, awestruck passage in which the entire
cast watches as Giovanna lowers from the burning belfry the basket
containing the abducted baby. Visually the ending of the opera is as
melodramatic as any in the whole of romantic Italian opera, but musically
it is conducted with surprising – and most effective – restraint and
concision.
We have already seen that at the premiere of the opera, Ricci, as maestro
al cembalo, was ‘applauded and acclaimed… in every piece’. Inevitably,
however, there were some pieces which established themselves as special
favourites. A brief review published on 23 April 1838 in the Roman Rivista
Teatrale, tells us that ‘The pieces which were reputed excellent are the finale
of Act II and the duet of the two women’. In other productions, other items
were singled out for particular commendation. In Florence, for example, we
have already seen that Desiderata Derancourt was obliged to repeat the
tempo di mezzo of her cavatina, ‘Oh, come è vago, amabile’, and that
Scheggi received an ovation for his aria with chorus in Act III,
‘Contrabbandier, al mare, al mar’.
–41–
Yet strangely enough, none of these early reviews makes any mention of
the two items which, above all others, established themselves as universal
favourites. The first of these was Tom’s barcaruola in Act I, ‘Sulla poppa del
mio brich’, a rumbustious tour de force which became a warhorse of the
bass repertoire for the better part of the next 80 years; the second,
Giovanna’s touching lullaby to the child she imagines she is holding in Act
II, ‘Dormi, dormi, bel bambino’. An indication of the popularity of these
two items may be gleaned from the fact that both featured in the Boosey
Royal Operatic Albums (Prima Donna; Contralto; Tenor; Baritone), edited
by Josiah Pittman and published in London in the middle and later years
of the 19th century. What is particularly interesting to note is that only one
other Ricci item was included – a tenor aria from Federico’s Corrado
d’Altamura. Extraordinarily, there was nothing from Crispino e la comare,
although it was included in a series of operas arranged for piano solo, and
nothing from the operas which Luigi wrote on his own.
*
*
*
*
We cannot leave Federico Ricci without acknowledging that there remain
many unanswered questions regarding his character – and many possible
reasons to account for it. To his friends he appeared, in his later years, an
aimable bon vivant, yet in his moral attitudes towards his own family he
proved severe: an unbending moral counsellor and critic.
–42–
GIACOMO ROPPA
This tenor created
I due Foscari
forVerdi
in 1840
In 1840 he sang
Giorgio
in Vienna
We all know, however, that theatrical life has always been associated with
licence and moral laxity. The Ricci family did not for a moment escape
from such failings. Throughout his life Federico saw unfortunate examples
of moral behaviour in those closest to him. He also saw the deplorable
results of such behaviour, and the slurs that it cast upon his family’s
reputation.
Let us start with his parents. His father, Pietro Ricci, was a singer who
came from Florence, but who married a Neapolitan bride, Rachelle
Ciocchi, and lived thereafter in Naples. Between 1787 and 1789 he
appeared at the Teatro del Fondo in operas by Cimarosa, Luigi Caruso,
Valentino Fioravanti and Giacomo Tritto. When he died in 1814, he left his
wife with four young children: Luigi (b. 1805), Adelaide or ‘Lella’ (probably
born about 1807), Federico (b. 1809), and Egisto (b. 1813). All four grew
up to pursue theatrical careers. Lella is believed to have become a singer,
and has been identified – though it could well be mistakenly – with Edvige
Ricci, who appeared in a number of comprimario roles at the Teatro S. Carlo
and the Teatro del Fondo between 1822 and 1833. She died of cholera in
1837. Egisto, as we shall see in greater detail a little later, became a maestro
concertatore and impresario.
So far so good, but, in order to support her children, Signora Ricci was
forced to take in lodgers, and in the Fondo Piancastelli of the Biblioteca
Comunale Aurelio Saffi of Forlì there is preserved a document, headed ‘Per
memoria’, in which, in his own handwriting, Federico Ricci in February
1875 tells us that about the year 1820 his widowed mother entered into
–44–
relations with a young student living under her roof, Serafino Stingone,
who later became one of the principal surgeons of the hospital of Naples.
From this relationship there was born a son who was baptised Vincenzo,
but since his father refused to acknowledge him, he was given a surname
invented by the midwife who delivered him. He grew up to call himself
Vincenzo Ricci, and both Luigi and Federico helped him launch himself
upon a theatrical career as a singer. He made his debut at La Scala in Milan
in 1842.
Already we have here events involving their own mother which must have
come as a moral blow to Luigi and Federico. But let it be said to their credit
that they never faltered in their allegiance to her, and in their affection for
her. When Luigi took up permanent residence in Trieste, Signora Ricci lived
under his roof as an honoured and respected member of his household.
After his death she continued to live in Trieste in a house supplied by
Federico until she died in 1862 at the age of 85. When Federico himself
died, he was buried, at his own request, in the same grave in Trieste where
she was interred.
But let us return briefly to Vincenzo. In the document already referred to,
Frederico tells us that, since Vincenzo was somewhat dim of intelligence, he
allowed himself to be ensnared by a girl – a singer – who had been
abandoned and left pregnant by a previous lover. They were married, and
travelled together to Rio de Janeiro, where they sang for some years in the
Opera House. They then proceeded to Chile, where, for reasons that are not
–45–
known, Vincenzo decided upon a separation from both his wife and his
children. He set up his own separate establishment and lived alone – until,
again for reasons unknown, he was murdered. Finally, Federico tells us that
he writes this document of 1875 upon the appearance in the island of
Ponza, off the Neapolitan coast, of a young man describing himself as
Vincenzo’s son, and claiming relationship with the Ricci family…
The tribulations that plagued the Ricci family did not cease here.
Federico, as we have seen, had to watch while Luigi became increasingly
notorious as a libertine. He had to stand by and stifle his disapproval when
Luigi entered into an unfortunate relationship with the Stolz sisters, and an
unsuitable marriage to Lidia Stolz. And he had to step in and shoulder
responsibility as he saw his brother descend into insanity. After Luigi’s death
he continued to remember him with undiminished affection, referring to
him as ‘my father, my teacher, my all…’, but also with frank honesty. In a
letter written to Francesco Florimo from Paris on 28 June 18707, he asserts
that Luigi was not a sentimentalist who fell in love with every woman he
met. On the contrary he was, he suggests, a man who was truly in love only
three times in his life: in his youth with a singer named Angiolina
Gandolfi8; later with the wife of a Milanese landowner, by whom he had an
illegitimate daughter; and finally with the Stolz sisters. ‘As for the other
_____________________________________
7
A large number of letters written by Federico to Francesco Florimo are preserved in the
library of the Naples Conservatorium of Music, S. Pietro a Majella.
8
An affair which will be found briefly covered by Florimo in his short biography of Luigi
contained in the third volume of La scuola musicale di Napoli e i suoi conservatorii, 2nd edition,
Naples 1883.
–46–
LUIGIA ABBADIA
A mezzo soprano
who, in 1840,
sang the role
of Ida
in Vienna.
She created roles
for Donizetti in
Maria Padilla
and
for Verdi in
Un giorno di regno
women he enjoyed, he cared for them for the moment, but without ever
attaching himself to any of them.’
If Federico remembered Luigi with loyalty and affection, he never, by the
same token, overcame his aversion for the Stolz sisters. In a letter written to
Florimo from Trieste on 15 October 1860, he expresses his grief for Luigi’s
death the year before, and then goes on:
I was aways averse to his marriage, and to his relations with those
[Stolz] women. They exhausted him. But even that perhaps would
have been nothing. But they made him work like a dog, giving
lessons from dawn till dusk; then his ties at the Theatre; his
commitments at the Cathedral; and the enormous efforts he made
to compose – he reduced himself to the most abject state. All this to
make him amass as much money as he could. He, poor man, has
died miserably, in order to leave a small fortune to those who survive
him. In fact, adding together what has remained in a country
property, what has remained in bank accounts, and included in that
what the magistrate granted his widow as a pension, now those
women will have an income of a thousand florins a year.
As a result of his relations with the Stolz sisters, Luigi left two children.
In 1850 his wife Lidia had given birth to a daughter, Adelaide (‘Lella’),
doubtless named after her aunt, Luigi’s sister; and one or two years later, in
1851 or 1852, Fanny Stolz, the sister to whom Luigi was not married, had
–48–
given birth to a son, Luigino. Regrettably the family record was scarcely
destined to improve with this new generation. Lella followed in the family
tradition and became a singer. In 1869 she was in Paris and took part (‘with
modest success’, as Federico put it in a letter to Florimo of 5 January 1870)
in a production of Luigi’s Piedigrotta at the Théâtre-Italien. In this same
letter Federico relates that he ‘received her as a daughter’, but adds that ‘the
girl arrived here with a lover. I shouted so much that I made him leave.’ His
protests were, however, of little avail, for he goes on to record that ‘This year
when I arrive here [from St Petersburg], I find her in a close relationship
with the comic bass Ciampi!!!! – a kind of imbecile, and what is more a
married man. But what is even more outrageous is that this Ciampi first
made love with the mother, and now publicly enjoys the daughter,
notwithstanding the scenes which his own wife raises against him.’
Federico’s reaction, understandably, was to threaten to break off all contact
– a threat which Lella would seem to have taken at face value, for she came
to see him no more, while continuing her ‘shameless behaviour’. Her story
was, however, soon ended, for she died the following year, 1871, in Prague,
at the age of 21.
Luigino, a precocious and musically highly gifted child, grew up to take
the name of Luigi Stolz Ricci and became a composer of some note,
producing about ten operas between 1870 and 1902, of which the most
noteworthy were Frosina (T. Carlo Felice, Genoa, 1870), Un curioso
accidente (T. Carlo Felice, Genoa, 1871, and Venice, 1880), Cola di Rienzi
(T. la Fenice, Venice, 1880), Don Chisciotte (T. Malibran, Venice, 1881),
–49–
Donna Ines (Piacenza, 1883), La coda del diavolo (Turin, 1885), Frutto
proibito (Barcelona, 1888), and Il talismano (Valparaiso, Chile, 1890). He
also acted as maestro concertatore and conductor in Italy, Spain and America.
Fortunately, Federico himself was long since dead and gone when Luigino
died, aged only 53, on 10 February 1906, for, following what has been
described as ‘an unhappy childhood’9, he is believed, not we may think
without reason, to have suffered from psychological and mental problems.
Finally, let us consider Egisto, the third of the Ricci brothers. Less is
known about him than about his elder brothers, but he too was a man of
the theatre and the husband of a singer, a soprano by the name of Amalia
dei Luzio. Together they travelled to Mexico about the year 1840, and then,
back in Europe in 1850, Egisto became maestro concertatore and impresario
at the theatre of Copenhagen, with his wife as prima donna assoluta. Their
happiness, unfortunately, was not destined to last, for Amalia died at the
age of 33. Dates are hazy, but Egisto is known to have gone to Russia in
1852, and at that stage he would already seem to have been a widower.
Amalia left him with two daughters, Pia and Emma, and there are also
rumours of a son, Oreste, in Naples. But since Oreste was never
acknowledged as a member of the family, it is probable that he was
illegitimate.
______________________________________
9
Carlo de Incontrera, ‘Un illustre ospite della Trieste ottocentesca: Luigi Ricci musicista
napoletano’, estratto dalla rivista La Porta Orientale (Trieste), N. 7-8, luglio-agosto 1959, p.19.
–50–
In the same year that he travelled to Russia, 1852, Egisto went blind –
and thereafter Federico refers to him as ‘the unfortunate (disgraziato) Egisto’
and ‘poor Egisto’. A concerned and caring brother and uncle, Federico
stepped into the breach to help educate the two daughters and ensure that
they received good musical training. Pia carried off a first prize in piano
from the Milan Conservatorium, but also trained as a dancer. From 1855
to 1860 she danced as a prima ballerina at the Kärntnertortheater in
Vienna, before marrying into a noble family from Tuscany and
relinquishing her professional career. In his letter to Florimo of 15 October
1860, from which we have already quoted, Federico also wrote: ‘I have had
the pleasure this morning of marrying Pia… to a noble Florentine… who
was the chargé d’affaires of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Vienna.’ Emma,
the younger sister, was also talented musically, and eventually had to choose
between becoming a professional singer or a professional dancer. She would
seem to have chosen to be a singer, for in 1877 she is recorded as having
performed Massé’s Les Noces de Jeannette in Naples. Her career was,
however, of brief duration, for she is believed to have died in Venice at a
very young age.
After reading all this, it is difficult – or the present writer, at least, finds
it difficult – not to sympathise with Federico’s strait-laced moral attitudes.
Nowadays, when we are accustomed to look for psychological causes for
moral attitudes, it is surely an inescapable conclusion that Federico,
surrounded by innumerable examples of moral laxity within his own family,
some of them leading to truly harrowing consequences, reacted – perhaps
–51–
SOPHIE
SCHOBERLECHNER
This soprano created
three important operas
for Mercadante:
In Turin
Francesca Donato
(1835)
In Milan
Il giuramento (1837)
Il bravo (1839)
She sang Giovanna at
La Scala, 1838
indeed over-reacted – and became a martinet for strict and correct
behaviour.
But what, finally, of his own conduct? Here, surprisingly, we have the
greatest mystery of all, for very little is known of Federico Ricci’s private life.
He was unmarried. And when Francesco Florimo, preparing to write his
biography for La scuola musicale di Napoli e i suoi conservatorii, asked him
for details of his life, he replied (in a letter written from Paris on 28 June
1870):
Regarding that which you ask me, my most dear friend, … it will
be difficult for me to satisfy you. You have taken an excellent
resolution not to speak much of living musicians, and in fact these
biographies work better when the person whom you are eulogising
or criticising finds himself in the Elysian Fields. What would you,
then, that I should tell you about myself? You must know more
about me than you need… As for writing to you about the other
incidents of my life, what more could I say? I certainly cannot speak
of my erotic adventures, because, while I am alive, and those women
with whom I have had affairs, every narration would be untimely.
And there, at least as far as the present writer is aware, our knowledge of
the private life of Federico Ricci begins and ends. If we know too much
about the amorous misadventures of many of his relatives, we know
nothing whatsoever about his own.
–53–
We do know that he was a man of a markedly religious cast of mind and
was a good Catholic, if for no other reason than that, in a letter written to
Florimo from Trieste on 6 October 1852, at a time when he hoped there
might be a possibility of his meeting up with his friend in Vienna in the
spring of 1853, he wrote:
I, as a good Christian, will take you to the church where I go every
day to hear the holy Mass; and I shall introduce you to my
confessor, a learned and admirable priest, who will give you the
consolation of his holy counsels…. Who knows but that one day…
if I should come to Naples… from where I have been absent for so
long, you will take me to the church where you go, and introduce
me to your confessor.
He also had a staunch sense of family and family obligations. As already
stated, he remained devoted to his mother throughout her life. He was
unflinchingly loyal to Luigi. He assumed responsibility for supporting
Egisto’s children, and either promoted their careers or saw them settled in
life. And he would willingly have done the same for Luigi’s children, had
not his strained relations with the Stolz sisters made it difficult for him to
do so.
In all the years that I corresponded with Federico’s great-great-great niece,
Solange Bak, it was clear that she found the genial ‘bohemianism’ of Luigi
more pleasing than the ‘dignified’ austerity of Federico. Federico, she saw as
–54–
a ‘victim of his own rectitude’. At the same time she willingly accepted that
I should react differently, stressing, as I did, the generous assistance that
Federico extended to his relatives, and his abiding concern for the good
name of the family.
Solange Bak made no attempt to conceal the truth about either brother,
indeed she was eager that the truth should be made known. But at the same
time her own knowledge was limited: she had never, for example, come
across the document in Federico’s handwriting preserved in the Fondo
Piancastelli of the Biblioteca Comunale Aurelio Saffi of Forlì, so she knew
nothing of the unfortunate affair of his mother after she was left a widow,
and was unaware that Vincenzo, the youngest of her children, was
illegitimate. As for Luigi and Federico, she always stressed that she loved
them both, and that her main concern was that anyone who chose to write
about them should endeavour to make them and their music more widely
known, and more loved and appreciated. In this I most strongly concur, and
I only hope that the release by Opera Rara of this recording of extracts from
La prigione di Edimburgo may be the start of a long-overdue ‘Ricci brothers
Renaissance’.
© Jeremy Commons, 2003
–55–
EUGENIA
TADOLINI
A favourite with
Donizetti,
Mercadante
and Verdi,
this excellent
soprano
sang Ida
at La Scala
in 1838
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
ALTHOUGH La prigione di Edimburgo has been neglected for many years
(the last recorded performance took place in the 1860s), it was probably the
most successful Italian opera premiered in 1838, outperforming both Maria
de Rudenz and Elena da Feltre. It has been possible to trace close to 100
productions, although it seems likely that there were between 125 and 150.
This compares favourably with the 19th century performance histories of
now better known operas such as Maria de Rudenz, Maria Stuarda and Maria
Padilla.
While the best-known excerpt from the opera is the buffo’s barcarolle ‘Sulla
poppa del mio brich’, the two leading roles really belong to the two ladies,
Giovanna and Ida. Since Giovanna is slightly more important, it was decided
to arrange this list according to the interpreter of that role. But it should be
noted that there were instances when the Ida was sung by the more important
of the two sopranos, and other instances where either the Giorgio or the Tom
were the biggest star, with Giorgio being sung several times by Giovanni
Basadonna, while Tom was sung in at least nine productions by its creator,
Giuseppe Scheggi. It should also be mentioned that the soprano Francilla
Pixis sang both Ida and Giovanna.
Only the performances with the most significant singers (especially
Giovannas), and in the most important cities will be listed below. But the
–57–
work was also given in quite a few other Italian towns, and in such foreign
cities as Rio, Prague, Hamburg, Budapest, Malta, Mexico City, Warsaw,
Oporto, Odessa, Cadiz, Granada, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Lugano.
There is no record of any performances in the British Isles (not even
Edinburgh) or the United States.
© Tom Kaufman, 2003
Date
13.3.1838
--.5.1839
--.11.1839
2.9.1840
12.2.1844
16.10.1838
22.11.1838
Prim. 1839
26?12.1838
--.2?.1839
13.4.1842
6.4.1839
25.5.1839
3.8.1839
City and Theatre
Ida
Giorgio
Rita Gabussi de Bassini as Giovanna
Trieste-Grande
Armenia
Bonfigli
Turin-D’Angennes
Castellan
Turin-Carignano
T. Brambilla
Vienna-Käertnertor Abbadia
Roppa
Palermo-Carolino
Austin
Mei
Sophie Schoberlechner as Giovanna
Milan-La Scala
Tadolini
Conti
Desiree Derancourt as Giovanna
Florence-Pergola
Pixis
Morini
Florence-Pergola
Tadolini
De Val
A. Mazza as Giovanna
Lucca-Pantera
Barbieri-Nini Morini
Felicita Forconi as Giovanna
Rome-Valle
Viale
Basadonna
Copenhagen-Royal Rivolta
Ciaffei
Almerinda Manzocchi as Giovanna
Bologna-Comunale E. Manzocchi Dagnini
Anais Castellan as Giovanna
Venice-San Benedetto Dabedeilhe Asti
Francilla Pixis as Giovanna
Naples-Fondo
Granchi
Basadonna
–58–
Tom
Duca d’Argyll
Scheggi
V. Galli
Biondi
Polonini
Frezzolini
Torre
Scalese
Polonini
Scheggi
Cambiaggio
Luzio
Schaeggi
Cambiaggio
Rocca
Cavalli
Razzanelli
Fontana
Salvetti
Benedetti
GIUSEPPE
FREZZOLINI
Donizetti’s original
Dulcamara in
L’elisir d’amore
He sang
Tom
in Vienna (1840)
Date
--.12.1840
--.5.1839
Summ.1839
26.12.1839
--.5.1840
9.10.1839
Carn. 1839-40
26?12.1839
Carn. 1839-40
--.5.1840
24.7.1840
Carn. 1841-42
Carn. 1843-44
28.8.1840
29.6.1841
--.2.1844
--.9.1840
5.6.1841
22.11.1840
City and Theatre
Palermo-Carolino
Ida
Benzoni
Giorgio
Tom
Rossi
Colini
-Cicerchia
Teresa Cresci as Giovanna
Livorno-Avvalorati Secci-Corsi Morini
Scheggi
Florence-Alfieri
Secci-Corsi Morini
Scheggi
Pisa-Ravvivati
Secci-Corsi Morini
Scheggi
Rome-Argentina
Secci-Corsi Morini
Scheggi
Carolina Steyer as Giovanna
Genoa-Carlo Felice Giannoni
Dagnini
Fontana
Crema-Sociale
Casilieri
Bertolasi
Zambelli
Carolina Vittadini as Giovanna
Brescia-Sociale
Pusterla
Bonfigli
V. Galli
Luigia Schieroni-Nulli as Giovanna
Cremona-Concordia Turpini
Milesi
Facchini
Josephine De Mery as Giovanna
Verona-Filarmonico Venier
Ferrari
Fontana
Teresa Tavola as Giovanna
Barcelona-Principal Assandri
Piacenti
Regini
Milan-Re
Caggiati
Zucchini
Piacenza-Municipale
Balestracci
Rosina Mazzarelli as Giovanna
Madrid-Principe
Lombia
Ojeda
Madrid-de la Cruz Lombia
Ojeda
Padua-Nuovissimo Dielitz
Santi
Luisa
Enrichetta Scheggi as Giovanna
Florence-Pergola
Secci-Corsi Morini
Scheggi
Livorno-Carlo
Secci-Corsi Lucchesi
Scheggi
Lodovico
Marianna Franceschini-Garis as Giovanna
Nice-Regio
Gazzaniga
Ferrari
Rocca
–60–
Duca d’Argyll
De Ninnis
Superchi
Superchi
Romanelli
Anconi
Rossi
Demi
Linari-Bellini
Date
City and Theatre
Ida
Giorgio
Adelaide Rebussini as Giovanna
26?12.1840
Padua-Nuovissimo Pusterla
Tati
12.10.1844
Naples-Nuovo
Caranti-Vita Cenno
Caterina Barili-Patti as Giovanna
12.2.1841
Lisbon-Sao Carlos
Bellinzaghi Ferretti
Fanny Goldberg as Giovanna
Carn. 1840-41 Trieste-Grande
Teresa Merli-Clerici as Giovanna
18.9.1841
Genoa-Carlo Felice Serati
Donati
Adelaide Perelli as Giovanna
6.7.1842
Lisbon-Sao Carlos
Fasciotti
Ferretti
Carlotta Griffini as Giovanna
11.11.1843
Genoa-Carlo Felice Tirelli
Caggiati
Adelaide Gambaro as Giovanna
31.8.1844
Como-Sociale
Rapazzini
Benedetti
Clelia Pastori as Giovanna
18.1.1845
Reggio EmiliaSordelli
Tomassoni
Comunale
Sofia Marini-Testa as Giovanna
25.8.1845
Ferrara-Comunale
Forti
Giovanna Pecorini as Giovanna
17.10.1846
Genoa-Carlo Felice Paradisi
Rossi-Guerra
Adelaide Masenza as Giovanna
26.12.1846
Ravenna-ComunitativoBrun
Cortopassi
Marietta Anselmi as Giovanna
14.5.1850
Vicenza-Berico
Mora
Giulia Borsi de Leurie as Giovanna
--.7.1850
Florence-Alfieri
19.10.1854
Genoa-Carlo Felice Bottero
StecchiBottardi
-61-
Tom
Duca d’Argyll
G. Rebussini
L. Vita
Fornasari
Eckerlin
Scalese
V. Galli
Bonazzi
V. Galli
Eckerlin
Scheggi
Catalano
Cammarano
Fiori
Frizzi
Gallo-Tomba
Frizzi
ALMERINDA
MANZOCCHI
In 1839, the Teatro
Communale, Bologna,
staged Ricci’s opera
with Eloisa Manzocchi
as Ida and her more
illustrious sister
Almerinda in the role
of Giovanna
Date
12.2.1852
11.3.1853
7.10.1853
7.9.1854
17.4.1855
10.1.1856
9.11.1857
30.9.1865
City and Theatre
Ida
Giorgio
Tom
Sofia Peruzzi as Giovanna
Palermo-Carolino
Dompieri
Stefani
Rinaldi
Rosa Olivieri as Giovanna
Montevideo
Ghioni
Rossi-Guerra G. Olivieri
-San Felipe
Buenos Aires
Rossi-Guerra
-Victoria
Montevideo
Amei
-San Felipe
Santiago-Republica Amei
Valparaiso-Victoria
Adelaide Ravaglia as Giovanna
Genoa-Paganini
Pasi
Borella
Luigia De Fanti as Giovanna
Genoa-Carlo
Presly
Stecchi
Frizzi
Felice
-Bottardi
-63-
Duca d’Argyll
Selva
Figari
Pruzzo
CLELIA
PASTORI
Giovanna
Teatro Communale
Reggio Emilia, 1845
THE STORY
ACT I
In the countryside outside Edinburgh, reapers have just finished their
day’s work, and come to collect their wages from Fanny Anders, the
daughter of their employer. The following day is to be a day of festivity,
celebrating the end of the harvest, and Fanny tells them that it will be an
even happier occasion than they had anticipated, since her sister Ida, who
has long been absent in Edinburgh, has come home to share their happiness
with them.
After all have dispersed, Ida makes her appearance – not from her father’s
cottage, but from a pavilion, the property of some landed family, further up
the hill in the background. We learn that she has left her baby son asleep
there, a son who is a source of both joy and sorrow to her, for, married in
secret, she now fears that her husband has abandoned her. The villagers
greet her warmly, but their delight at seeing her again only heightens her
inner distress.
After Ida has gone into the family cottage to attend to her invalid father,
Giovanna appears. Giovanna is a madwoman, and everyone believes that
she has lost her wits as a result of an unhappy love affair. She continually
imagines that she has a baby – a baby son who, we learn in Scott’s novel
though not explicitly in Rossi’s libretto, has actually died – in her arms, and
that all her troubles will be over as soon as her lover, a certain Giorgio,
returns. Giorgio was a smuggler who once found shelter in her mother’s
cottage when fleeing from the law, and who subsequently escaped to sea,
–65–
leaving her pregnant. Now, as she climbs the hill and passes the pavilion,
she hears the sound of a baby crying. The door is locked, but she manages
to force open a window, and is soon afterwards seen hurrying away, carrying
something – a something which the audience realises is Ida’s baby – beneath
her cloak.
A vessel anchors off the coast, and a man rows ashore. This is Tom,
captain of a band of smugglers, a boisterous and hearty fellow who boasts
that he was born aboard a prison hulk, raised on Madeira, and has never
swallowed so much as a drop of water in his life. He comes to pick up one
of his mates, Giorgio – who is, we realise, none other than the husband of
Ida and the seducer of Giovanna – but though they duly meet, Giorgio
insists that he needs one hour more to keep an assignation. A grumbling
Tom climbs the hill to keep watch, for customs officers are believed to be
patrolling the area.
Giorgio’s assignation is with Ida, whom he has not seen for six months,
and for whom he has been searching since his return to Scotland the day
before. They greet each other with joy, but their tête-à-tête is soon
interrupted by Tom, who confirms that a detachment of soldiers is all but
upon them, and reports that he overheard a courier bringing news of the
arrival in Edinburgh of a new king’s representative, the Duca d’Argil (the
Duke of Argyle). Giorgio and Ida take a hasty and regretful leave of each
other, and Tom and Giorgio put to sea.
The soldiers arrive, but they are not in search of smugglers. Their leader,
Patrizio, stops at the home of Fanny and Ida, and arrests Ida on the grounds
that she has borne an illegitimate child and murdered it. Ida protests her
–66–
innocence, but when she goes to the pavilion to produce her son, of course
the baby is not there. She is led away, in a state of extreme distress, to
Edinburgh.
ACT II
In the royal palace of Edinburgh, the nobility and citizens of Edinburgh
greet the newly arrived Duca d’Argil, who declares that he has come to quell
unrest and heal civil division. Patrizio seeks pardon for a young man who,
though he has been fighting on the side of the rebels, is now repentant. It
is none other than Giorgio, who, we discover, is the Duca d’Argil’s wayward
son. Father and son are reconciled, and the Duca orders that it be
announced that Giorgio has just returned from travels abroad.
We also learn that Giovanna, insulted and struck by one of the smugglers,
has delivered the band into the hands of the law. She and Ida, whose fate is
about to be decided in the adjacent courtroom, meet and realise that they
are rivals, both in love with the same man. Giovanna admits that she always
knew she occupied only second place in Giorgio’s affections, but she is
confident that, when he learns of Ida’s crimes, and sees her own beautiful
baby boy, he will transfer his affections to her. Ida is summoned to face her
judges.
Giorgio reappears, dressed as befits his reassumed rank. He has been
appointed his father’s secretary, and one of his first duties is to choose a new
chief gaoler. Patrizio introduces, as a suitable candidate, the leader of the
captured smugglers – Tom – and Giorgio is, of course, immediately
recognised. Tom finds, however, the offer of the job as head gaoler highly
tempting, and promises to hold his tongue and keep his friend’s secret.
–67–
As all await the outcome of Ida’s trial, Giovanna, still wandering in her
mind, sings a lullaby to the child she imagines she holds in her arms. She
catches sight of Giorgio – is overwhelmed and faints – and yet in her
imperfect state of mind has scarcely more than half recognised him.
Ida is found guilty and condemned to death. Giovanna, who has hitherto
regarded her as a rival, now clings to her, imagining that they are both
equally unfortunate and should support each other. They are separated, and
Ida is carried, in a state of collapse, away to prison. An anguished Giorgio
is dragged away by his father.
ACT III
The central courtyard of the prison of Edinburgh (the ‘Heart of
Midlothian’), where the prisoners are drinking, singing, and playing at cards
and dice. They have heard that they have a new and severe head gaoler, but
when Tom appears, they soon succeed in inducing him to drink with them
and join in their songs.
Giovanna has been apprehended for pilfering prison provisions, but tells
Tom that she needed them, not for herself, but for her another, that is to
say, her son. She still imagines that she is to be married ‘as soon as Giorgio
returns’, and is anxious to attend to the preparations for the wedding.
Giorgio enters, hoping to be able to see Ida once more. He had planned
to rescue her with the aid of the smugglers, but since the arrest of all those
ashore the day before, the remainder have put to sea once more, leaving him
on his own and consequently helpless. Giovanna, who still does not
recognise him, starts talking about her son, and from her words he soon
suspects that the baby is really Ida’s. He tries to convince her that he is
–68–
indeed Giorgio, but at first, deceived by his fine clothes, she refuses to
believe it. He gradually convinces her, but they are interrupted by the
sounds of a crowd that has gathered outside the prison to witness Ida’s
execution. Giovanna, alarmed by the noise, drags Giorgio away to help her
retrieve the baby from an old bell tower, visible at the back of the stage,
where she has left him.
Tom gives the alarm that the prisoners have set fire to their cells. The fire
spreads rapidly, and is soon seen consuming the bell tower. Giovanna
appears at the summit, where she attaches a cradle to the end of a bell rope
and lowers it to safety. As she sees Ida receiving the baby at the base of the
tower, she cries out ‘I took him from you – I give him back to you.’ She
then resigns herself to the flames as, below, the Duca opens his arms to
Giorgio, Ida and the baby.
-69-
RÉSUMÉ DE L’INTRIGUE
ACTE I
Dans la campagne, aux alentours d’Édimbourg, des moissonneurs
terminent leur journée de travail avant de recevoir leurs gages des mains de
la fille de leur maître. Le lendemain sera la fête de la moisson. L’occasion
sera d’autant plus heureuse, déclare Fanny, que sa sœur Ida, absente
d’Édimbourg depuis longtemps, assistera aux festivités.
Une fois les moissonneurs partis, Ida fait son entrée – elle vient non pas
du cottage de son père, mais d’un pavillon que l’on aperçoit au fond, un peu
plus haut sur la colline, et qui appartient à quelque aristocrate terrien. On
apprend qu’elle y a déposé son bébé endormi. Ce fils est une source à la fois
de joie et de douleur puisque, mariée en secret, elle craint d’avoir été
abandonnée par son époux. Les villageois, visiblement heureux de la revoir,
la saluent chaleureusement, ce qui ne fait qu’exacerber sa détresse intime.
Après qu’Ida a pénétré dans le cottage de sa famille pour se rendre au
chevet de son père invalide, Giovanna fait son entrée. Giovanna est une
aliénée dont tout le monde pense qu’elle a perdu l’esprit à la suite d’un
chagrin d’amour. Elle imagine constamment qu’elle tient dans ses bras un
bébé – un fils, dont le roman de Scott dit explicitement qu’il est mort, alors
que le libretto de Rossi ne fait que le suggérer –, et que tous ses problèmes
se dissiperont dès le retour de son amant, un certain Giorgio. Giorgio est
un contrebandier qui, ayant trouvé refuge dans le cottage de la mère de
Giovanna alors qu’il était pourchassé par les douaniers, s’enfuit plus tard par
la mer en abandonnant la jeune femme enceinte. Au moment où elle passe
–70–
devant le pavillon situé sur la colline, Giovanna entend les pleurs d’un bébé.
La porte est fermée mais elle parvient à forcer l’une des fenêtres, et on la voit
bientôt s’enfuir en emportant quelque chose – dont on comprend qu’il
s’agit du fils d’Ida – sous son manteau.
Un vaisseau jette l’ancre au large, puis un homme se dirige à la rame vers
le rivage. C’est Tom, le capitaine d’une bande de contrebandiers – homme
jovial et vigoureux qui se vante d’être né sur un bateau prison, d’avoir
grandi à Madère et de n’avoir jamais bu une goutte d’eau de sa vie. Il vient
chercher son ami Giorgio – dont on comprend alors qu’il est le mari d’Ida
et l’amant de Giovanna. Lorsque Giorgio le rejoint, c’est pour le presser de
lui accorder une heure de plus afin d’aller à un rendez-vous. Tom accepte en
rechignant puis va faire le guet au sommet de la colline, car des douaniers
patrouilleraient dans les parages.
Giorgio a rendez-vous avec Ida, qu’il n’a pas vue depuis six mois et qu’il
cherche depuis son arrivée, la veille, en Écosse. Ils se retrouvent avec joie,
mais leur tête-à-tête est bientôt interrompu par Tom. Celui-ci leur apprend
qu’un détachement de soldats est à deux pas, et qu’il a entendu un messager
annoncer l’arrivée à Édimbourg d’un nouveau représentant du roi, le duc
d’Argyle. Giorgio et Ida se séparent avec regret et précipitation, puis Tom et
Giorgio prennent la mer.
Les soldats arrivent, mais ils ne sont pas à la poursuite de contrebandiers.
Après avoir fait halte chez Fanny et Ida, leur chef, Patrizio, arrête Ida en
l’accusant d’avoir donné naissance à un enfant illégitime et de l’avoir
assassiné. Celle-ci se précipite vers le pavillon où elle a laissé son fils en
protestant de son innocence, mais le bébé a évidemment disparu. Malgré
son extrême détresse, la jeune femme est emmenée à Édimbourg.
–71–
ACTE II
Au palais d’Édimbourg, nobles et citoyens de la ville accueillent le duc
d’Argyle, venu, déclare-t-il, pour calmer l’agitation et mettre fin aux
affrontements civils. Patrizio intervient en faveur d’un jeune homme qui
s’est battu aux côtés des rebelles mais, pris de repentir, cherche à obtenir son
pardon. Il s’agit de Giorgio dont on apprend qu’il est le fils indiscipliné du
duc d’Argyle. Une fois le père et le fils réconciliés, le duc fait annoncer que
Giorgio rentre juste d’un voyage à l’étranger.
On apprend aussi que Giovanna, insultée et frappée par l’un des
contrebandiers, a livré ceux-ci à la justice. Giovanna et Ida, dont le sort va
être décidé dans la salle de tribunal voisine, se rencontrent et se découvrent
rivales puisqu’elles aiment le même homme. Giovanna avoue qu’elle a
toujours su qu’elle n’occupait pas la première place dans le cœur de Giorgio,
mais qu’elle est convaincue qu’il reportera son affection sur elle lorsqu’il
verra le beau garçon qu’elle lui a donné et apprendra le crime d’Ida. Celleci est appelée à comparaître devant ses juges.
Giorgio fait son entrée, revêtu d’habits dignes du rang qu’il a retrouvé.
Nommé secrétaire de son père, il a été, entre autres, chargé de choisir un
nouveau geôlier en chef. Patrizio lui suggère de nommer le chef des
contrebandiers capturés – Tom. Celui-ci reconnaît immédiatement Giorgio
mais, très tenté par la charge de geôlier chef, promet de tenir sa langue et de
ne pas trahir le secret de son ami.
Alors que tous attendent l’issue du procès d’Ida, Giovanna, dont l’esprit
est encore embrouillé, chante une berceuse à l’enfant qu’elle imagine encore
dans ses bras. A la vue de Giorgio, elle s’effondre et perd connaissance, bien
que dans sa confusion d’esprit elle ne l’ait reconnu qu’à demi.
–72–
Ida est déclarée coupable et condamnée à mort. Giovanna, qui la
considérait auparavant comme sa rivale, s’accroche maintenant à elle en
s’imaginant qu’elles sont aussi malheureuses l’une que l’autre et doivent se
soutenir mutuellement. On les sépare et on conduit Ida, écroulée, en
prison. Giorgio, accablé, se laisse emmener par son père.
ACTE III
La cour centrale de la prison d’Édimbourg, où les prisonniers boivent,
chantent, dansent, et jouent aux cartes ou aux dés. L’arrivée d’un nouveau
geôlier, réputé sévère, leur a été annoncée, mais lorsque Tom apparaît, il se
laisse vite convaincre de venir boire et chanter avec eux.
Giovanna a été appréhendée pour avoir volé des provisions destinées à la
prison. Elle explique que si elle a volé, ce n’est pas pour elle mais pour son
fils. Elle imagine encore que Giorgio l’épousera dès son retour, et s’inquiète
de la préparation des noces.
Giorgio fait son entrée dans l’espoir de voir Ida une dernière fois. Il avait
l’intention de la sauver avec l’assistance des contrebandiers, mais depuis
l’arrestation de ceux qui avaient débarqué, le reste de la bande a pris la mer
en le laissant seul et sans recours. Giovanna, qui ne le reconnaît toujours
pas, commence à parler de son fils ; en écoutant ses paroles, Giorgio se
doute bien vite qu’il s’agit de l’enfant d’Ida. Il essaie de révéler à Giovanna
son identité, mais déconcertée par ses beaux habits, elle commence par
refuser de croire qu’il est Giorgio. Il réussit progressivement à la convaincre,
mais leur conversation est interrompue par les cris de la foule réunie aux
portes de la prison pour assister à l’exécution d’Ida. Effrayée par tout ce
bruit, Giovanna entraîne Giorgio vers un vieux clocher, visible au fond de
la scène, où l’enfant est caché.
–73–
Tom donne l’alarme : les prisonniers ont mis le feu à leur cellule.
L’incendie s’étend rapidement et le clocher est bientôt en flammes. On
aperçoit Giovanna qui, du haut du clocher, fait descendre un berceau
attaché à une corde de cloche pour le mettre en sûreté. Au moment où Ida,
en contrebas, reçoit le bébé dans ses bras, Giovanna s’écrit : « Je te l’ai volé
– et je te le rends. » Puis elle s’abandonne aux flammes tandis que le duc
ouvre les bras à Giorgio, à Ida et au bambin.
-74-
INHALT
1. AKT
Auf dem Land vor den Toren Edinburghs haben die Erntehelfer ihre
Arbeit beendet und lassen sich von Fanny Anders, der Tochter ihres
Brotherren, den Lohn auszahlen. Am kommenden Tag soll das Ende der
Ernte mit einem Fest begangen werden, und Fanny sagt den Männern, dass
ihre Schwester Ida, die lange in Edinburgh gewesen ist, eigens zu dem
Anlass nach Hause kommt, was den festlichen Charakter des Tags noch
steigern wird.
Nachdem alle fort sind, erscheint Ida; sie kommt allerdings nicht aus dem
Häuschen ihres Vaters, sondern aus einem Pavillon am Berg im
Hintergrund, der einer Gutsbesitzersfamilie gehört. Wir erfahren, dass sie
ihren kleinen Jungen dort schlafend zurückgelassen hat. Dieser bereitet ihr
sowohl große Freude als auch viel Kummer, denn sie ist heimlich verheiratet
und fürchtet nun, dass ihr Mann sie verlassen hat. Die Dorfbewohner
begrüßen sie aufs Wärmste, doch ihre Freude vergrößert nur Idas Elend.
Nachdem Ida in das Haus ihrer Familie gegangen ist, um nach ihrem
kranken Vater zu sehen, erscheint Giovanna. Sie ist wahnsinnig, und alle
glauben, sie habe den Verstand wegen einer unglücklichen Liebesgeschichte
verloren. In ihrem Wahn bildet sie sich ein, ihr Neugeborenes verloren zu
haben, einen kleinen Sohn, der in ihren Armen starb (wie wir in Scotts
Roman Das Herz von Midlothian erfahren, aber nicht explizit in Rossis
Libretto), und dass ihre Schwierigkeiten vergehen werden, sobald ihr
Geliebter, ein gewisser Giorgio, wiederkehrt. Giorgio fand als Schmuggler
auf der Flucht vor dem Gesetz einmal im Haus ihrer Mutter Zuflucht und
–75–
ließ sie schwanger zurück, als er zur See fuhr. Als Giovanna nun den Berg
hinaufsteigt und am Pavillon vorbeikommt, hört sie ein kleines Kind
weinen. Zwar ist die Tür verschlossen, doch sie bricht durch ein Fenster ein,
und wenig später sehen wir sie davoneilen, unter dem Umhang im Arm ein
Bündel – bei dem es sich, wie dem Zuschauer klar ist, um Idas Kind
handelt.
Vor der Küste geht ein Schiff vor Anker, ein Mann rudert ans Ufer. Es ist
Tom, der Anführer einer Schmugglerbande, ein munterer, ungestümer
Mensch, der damit prahlt, er sei auf einem Gefangenenschiff zur Welt
gekommen, auf Madeira aufgewachsen und habe in seinem Leben keinen
einzigen Tropfen Wasser getrunken. Er ist gekommen, um einen
Kameraden abzuholen, einen gewissen Giorgio – kein anderer als Idas
Mann und Giovannas Liebhaber. Die beiden Männer treffen in der Tat
zusammen, und Tom drängt zum Aufbruch, doch Giorgio bittet sich noch
eine Stunde Zeit aus, um eine Verabredung einzuhalten. Widerwillig steigt
Tom den Berg hinauf, um Ausschau zu halten, da angeblich Zollbeamte in
der Gegend patrouillieren.
Giorgios Verabredung gilt Ida, die er seit sechs Monaten nicht mehr
gesehen hat und nach der er sucht, seit er am Tag zuvor aus Schottland
zurückgekommen ist. Überglücklich begrüßt sich das Paar, doch ihr Têteà-tête findet ein jähes Ende, als Tom mit der Nachricht kommt, dass ein
Trupp von Soldaten ihnen auf den Fersen ist; zudem habe er von einem
Kurier erfahren, dass in Edinburgh ein neuer Vertreter des Königs
eingetroffen sei, der Duca d’Argil (der Herzog von Argyle). Rasch und mit
großem Bedauern trennen Giorgio und Ida sich, und Tom fährt mit seinem
Freund aufs Meer hinaus.
–76–
Die Soldaten treffen ein, doch sind sie nicht auf der Jagd nach
Schmugglern. Vielmehr sucht ihr Anführer Patrizio das Haus von Fanny
und Ida auf und verhaftet letztere; ihr wird zur Last gelegt, ein uneheliches
Kind zur Welt gebracht und getötet zu haben. Ida beteuert ihre Unschuld,
doch als sie zum Pavillon eilt, um als Beweis ihren Sohn vorzuweisen, ist das
Kind natürlich nicht da. Zutiefst bedrückt wird sie nach Edinburgh
abgeführt.
2. AKT
Im Königspalast von Edinburgh empfangen die Adeligen und Bürger der
Stadt den gerade eingetroffenen Duca d’Argil, der verkündet, er sei
gekommen, um die Unruhen zu beenden und Frieden in der Bevölkerung
zu stiften. Patrizio bittet um Gnade für einen jungen Mann, der zwar auf
Seite der Aufständischen gekämpft habe, dies nun jedoch bereue. Dieser
junge Mann ist niemand anderer als Giorgio, der, wie wir erfahren, der
ungeratene Sohn des Duca d’Argils ist. Vater und Sohn versöhnen sich, und
der Duca lässt verkünden, Giorgio sei soeben von einer langen Reise
heimgekehrt.
Zudem erfahren wir, dass Giovanna, die von einem der Schmuggler
beleidigt und geschlagen wurde, die ganze Bande dem Gesetz ausgeliefert
hat. Sie und Ida, über deren Schicksal im angrenzenden Gerichtssaal
entschieden werden soll, begegnen sich und erkennen, dass sie um die Liebe
desselben Mannes buhlen. Giovanna räumt ein, sie habe stets gewusst, in
Giorgios Herz nur den zweiten Platz einzunehmen, doch ist sie überzeugt,
dass er ihr seine ganze Liebe schenken werde, wenn er von Idas Verbrechen
erfährt und ihren wunderbaren Sohn sieht. Ida wird vor den Richter
gerufen.
–77–
Giorgio tritt auf, seinem neuen Status entsprechend vornehm gekleidet.
Er ist zum Sekretär seines Vaters ernannt wurden, und eine seiner ersten
Pflichten besteht darin, einen neuen Gefängnisdirektor zu ernennen.
Patrizio schlägt als Kandidaten den Anführer der gefangenen Schmuggler
vor – Tom -, der Giorgio natürlich sofort erkennt. Tom findet die
angebotene Stelle jedoch so verlockend, dass er Stillschweigen verspricht
und gelobt, das Geheimnis seines Freundes zu wahren.
Während alle auf den Ausgang des Prozesses gegen Ida warten, singt
Giovanna, deren Geist noch immer verwirrt ist, ein Wiegenlied für das
Kind, das sie in den Armen zu halten glaubt. Kaum erblickt sie Giorgio,
fällt sie in Ohnmacht, obwohl sie ihn in ihrer geistigen Umnachtung nur
halb erkannt hat.
Ida wird für schuldig erklärt und zum Tode verurteilt. Giovanna, die sie
bislang als Rivalin betrachtete, klammert sich nun an sie; in ihrer
Vorstellung befinden sie sich beide in derselben misslichen Lage und sollten
sich deshalb gegenseitig helfen. Sie werden getrennt, und Ida wird, dem
Zusammenbruch nahe, ins Gefängnis gebracht. Der verzweifelte Giorgio
wird von seinem Vater weggeführt.
3. AKT
Der zentrale Hof des Gefängnisses von Edinburgh (das im Volksmund
„Herz von Midlothian” hieß), wo die Gefangenen trinken, singen, würfeln
und Karten spielen. Sie haben erfahren, dass ein neuer und sehr strenger
Gefängnisdirektor eingesetzt wurde, doch als Tom auftritt, haben sie ihn
bald dazu überredet, mit ihnen zu trinken und zu singen.
Giovanna ist festgenommen worden, weil sie Gefängnisvorräte
geplündert hat, doch sie erklärt Tom, dass sie diese nicht für sich
–78–
genommen habe, sondern für ihren Sohn. Sie glaubt noch immer, dass sie
heiraten wird, „sobald Giorgio wiederkehrt”, und erklärt, sie müsse sich
dringend um die Hochzeitsvorbereitungen kümmern.
Giorgio tritt ein und hofft, Ida ein letztes Mal sehen zu können. Er hatte
geplant, sie mit Hilfe der Schmuggler zu retten, doch da alle, die am Tag
zuvor an Land waren, verhaftet wurden, haben die restlichen seiner
ehemaligen Kameraden bereits Anker gelichtet, so dass er nun ganz allein
und damit hilflos ist. Giovanna, die ihn noch immer nicht erkennt, erzählt
von ihrem Sohn, und ihren Worten entnimmt er bald, dass es sich bei dem
Kind in Wirklichkeit um Idas Sohn handelt. Er versucht, Giovanna davon
zu überzeugen, dass er wirklich Giorgio ist, doch aufgrund seiner
vornehmen Kleidung will sie ihm anfangs nicht glauben. Erst allmählich
gelingt es ihm, doch dann werden sie vom Tumult der Menge
unterbrochen, die sich für Idas Hinrichtung vor dem Gefängnis
versammelt. Verschreckt von diesem Lärm, zieht Giovanna Giorgio mit sich
fort zu einem alten Glockenturm, der im Hintergrund zu sehen ist und in
dem sie das Kind zurückgelassen hat.
Tom meldet, dass die Gefangenen ihre Zellen in Brand gesetzt haben.
Das Feuer breitet sich rasch aus, bald lodern die Flammen auch am
Glockenturm empor. Oben in der Turmspitze erscheint Giovanna, bindet
eine Wiege ans Ende einer Glockenschnur und lässt das Kind in die
Sicherheit hinab. As sie sieht, dass Ida den Jungen unten am Turm in
Empfang nimmt, ruft sie: „Ich habe ihn dir genommen – ich gebe ihn dir
zurück.” Dann überlässt sie sich den Flammen, während unten der Duca
Giorgio, Ida und das Kind in die Arme schließt.
-79-
ARGOMENTO
ATTO I
Dopo una giornata di lavoro nei campi intorno a Edimburgo, i mietitori
ricevono la paga da Fanny Anders, figlia del loro datore di lavoro. Il giorno
successivo si festeggia la conclusione del raccolto e Fanny rivela che sarà
un’occasione ancora più lieta del previsto: sua sorella Ida, a lungo assente da
Edimburgo, è tornata a casa.
Quando tutti si allontanano entra Ida. Non viene dalla casa del padre, ma
da un padiglione di proprietà di una famiglia terriera, che si trova in alto
nella collina sullo sfondo. Qui ha lasciato, addormentato, un figlioletto che
per lei è fonte di gioia e dolore. Si è sposata in segreto, ma teme che il marito
l’abbia abbandonata. Gli abitanti del villaggio la salutano con calore, ma il
loro piacere nel rivederla non fa che acuire il suo tormento interiore.
Ida entra nel cottage della famiglia per occuparsi del padre invalido.
Arriva Giovanna, una donna che ha smarrito i sensi dopo una relazione
sentimentale infelice; è convinta di avere tra le braccia un bambino (un
figlio che in realtà è morto, come dice il romanzo di Walter Scott, ma non
esplicitamente il libretto di Rossi), e pensa che le sue sventure finiranno al
ritorno dell’amante, un contrabbandiere di nome Giorgio, che l’ha
abbandonata incinta per fuggire in mare. Adesso, mentre sale sulla collina e
passa dal padiglione, la donna sente un neonato piangere. La porta è chiusa
a chiave, ma lei riesce a entrare da una finestra e presto si allontana
furtivamente, portando qualcosa sotto il mantello: è il bambino di Ida.
–80–
Da una nave, ancorata al largo della costa, arriva una scialuppa con un
uomo. Si tratta di Tom, capitano di una banda di contrabbandieri, un
uomo massiccio e cordiale che si vanta di essere nato su una nave-prigione,
di essere cresciuto a Madeira e di non aver mai bevuto una goccia d’acqua
in vita sua. È venuto a prendere uno dei suoi compagni, Giorgio
(ovviamente, il marito di Ida e il seduttore di Giovanna) e finisce per
trovarlo. Giorgio però insiste che ha bisogno ancora di un’ora di tempo.
Tom sale sulla collina brontolando a fare da guardia, perché si pensa che i
doganieri stiano pattugliando la zona.
Giorgio vuole incontrarsi con Ida: non la vede da sei mesi e la cerca da
quando è tornato in Scozia. I due si salutano con gioia, ma il loro incontro
viene ben presto interrotto da Tom: un distaccamento di soldati sta per
raggiungerli. L’uomo riferisce anche di aver sentito un corriere portare la
notizia dell’arrivo a Edimburgo di un nuovo rappresentante del re, il Duca
d’Argil. Giorgio e Ida si lasciano in tutta fretta e a malincuore, mentre Tom
e Giorgio si mettono in mare.
Arrivano i soldati, ma non sono in cerca contrabbandieri. Il loro
comandante, Patrizio, si ferma in casa di Fanny e Ida, e arresta Ida per
l’infanticidio del suo figlio illegittimo. Ida protesta la propria innocenza, ma
quando va nel padiglione per far vedere il figlio ai soldati non lo trova. Al
culmine della disperazione, la donna viene condotta a Edimburgo.
ATTO II
Nella reggia i nobili e i cittadini di Edimburgo salutano l’arrivo del Duca
d’Argil, venuto a sedare i disordini e sanare le divisioni civili. Patrizio chiede
che venga perdonato un giovane che ha lottato con i ribelli, ma adesso è
–81–
pentito. Si tratta di Giorgio che, scopriamo, è in realtà il figlio ribelle del
Duca d’Argil. Padre e figlio si riconciliano e il Duca ordina che venga
annunciato il ritorno di Giorgio dall’estero.
Veniamo anche a sapere che Giovanna, insultata e percossa da uno dei
contrabbandieri, ha consegnato la banda nelle mani della legge. Il suo
destino, come quello di Ida, verrà deciso nel tribunale adiacente. Le due
donne si incontrano e capiscono di essere innamorate entrambe dello stesso
uomo. Giovanna ammette che ha sempre saputo di occupare solo il secondo
posto nel cuore di Giorgio, ma è certa di riconquistare il suo affetto, nel
momento in cui l’uomo vedrà il suo bellissimo bambino e verrà a
conoscenza delle colpe dell’altra. Ida viene convocata davanti ai giudici.
Rientra Giorgio, che adesso indossa ricche vesti nobiliari. È stato
nominato segretario di suo padre e uno dei suoi primi compiti è quello di
scegliere un nuovo capo carceriere. Patrizio gli propone il capo dei
contrabbandieri catturati, Tom, che naturalmente riconosce
immediatamente Giorgio. Però Tom trova molto allettante l’offerta del
posto di capo carceriere e promette di tacere e mantenere il segreto del suo
amico.
Mentre tutti attendono l’esito del processo di Ida, Giovanna, che
continua a vaneggiare, canta una ninnananna al bambino che immagina di
tenere tra le braccia. Nel vedere Giorgio è sopraffatta e sviene, pur non
avendolo riconosciuto.
Ida viene dichiarata colpevole e condannata a morte. Giovanna, che
finora l’ha considerata rivale, adesso si aggrappa a lei: la sventura le ha
colpite entrambe in egual misura e devono sorreggersi a vicenda. Le donne
–82–
vengono separate e Ida, priva di forze, viene trasportata di peso in prigione.
Giorgio, straziato, viene trascinato via dal padre.
ATTO III
Il cortile centrale della prigione di Edimburgo (‘Heart of Midlothian’),
dove i prigionieri bevono, cantano e giocano a carte e a dadi. Hanno sentito
dire che il loro nuovo capocarceriere è severo ma, quando appare Tom,
riescono ben presto a convincerlo a bere e cantare con loro.
Giovanna, colta con le mani nel sacco mentre ruba le provviste della
prigione, rivela a Tom di averne bisogno non per sé, ma per suo figlio. È
ancora convinta che si sposerà “al ritorno di Giorgio” ed è ansiosa di
occuparsi dei preparativi per le nozze.
Entra Giorgio, nella speranza di poter rivedere Ida ancora una volta. Il
suo piano di liberarla con l’aiuto dei contrabbandieri è fallito; dopo l’arresto
di quelli che si trovavano sulla terraferma il giorno prima, gli altri sono
ripartiti, lasciandolo solo e senza aiuto. Giovanna, che non lo riconosce
ancora, comincia a parlare del suo bambino e l’uomo ben presto sospetta
che si tratti in realtà del figlio di Ida. Cerca di convincerla che è proprio
Giorgio ma all’inizio, tratta in inganno dalle sue vesti opulente, la donna si
rifiuta di credergli. Quando riesce a convincerla, entrambi vengono
interrotti dalle urla di una folla che si è riunita davanti alla prigione per
assistere all’esecuzione di Ida. Giovanna, allarmata dal rumore, trascina via
Giorgio perché l’aiuti a riprendere il bambino da un antico campanile,
visibile in fondo al palcoscenico, dove l’ha lasciato.
Tom dà l’allarme: i prigionieri hanno appiccato fuoco alle loro celle.
L’incendio si sparge rapidamente e ben presto raggiunge il campanile. Dalla
–83–
cella campanaria appare Giovanna, che lega una culla all’estremità della
corda di una campana per calarla e mettere in salvo il bambino. Sotto il
campanile, Ida si precipita a riprendere il figlio e Giovanna le grida: “Io te
l’ho portato via, e io te lo restituisco”, prima di consegnarsi alle fiamme. Il
Duca abbraccia Giorgio, Ida e il bambino.
–84–
Gabriele Bellini
Melodramma semiserio in three acts
Libretto by Gaetano Rossi
First performance 13 March 1838
Teatro Grande, Trieste
CHARACTERS
Duca d’Argil..........................................................................Lorenzo Biondi
Giorgio, his son...................................................................Lorenzo Bonfigli
Fanny....................................................................................Marietta Biondi
Ida, her sister.................................................................Giuseppina Armenia
Tom, a smuggler.................................................................Giuseppe Scheggi
Giovanna...................................................................................Rita Gabussi
Patrizio............................................................................Antonio Benciolini
Chorus of soldiers, peasants, nobles and smugglers.
The action takes place in the environs of Edinburgh, and in the city itself
Passages in the following libretto which are enclosed within double quotation
marks (“….”) formed part of the original text, but were not set by the
composer.
For easy reference, the text of the selections recorded for this album of
highlights is printed in blue.
–86–
ACT ONE
SCENE I
In the background to one side can be seen the sea, on the other a practicable hill, upon
which there is a small country house in the form of a pavilion. In the foreground there
are several country cottages (including the farmhouse which is the family home of Ida
and Fanny).
A chorus of peasants, descending from the hill; then Fanny.
CHORUS
Allegro, o mietitor!
Il tuo lavor finì. –
Doman di festa è il dì –
Sacro all’amor. –
Allegro, o mietitor!...
Sotto il cocente sol
Il tuo sudor bagnò
Le spiche, e il suol...
Il tuo vigor fiaccò –
Ma un guardo ai figli... a te...
Un sorrisin... così!...
M’invigorì.
E il Ciel di tanti cor
Be of good cheer, reaper!
Your labour is done. –
Tomorrow is a holiday –
Sacred to love. –
Be of good cheer, reaper!...
Beneath the burning sun
Your perspiration bathed
Both grain and soil...
Your vigour flagged –
But a glance at your sons... at you...
And a smile exchanged ... like this!...
Put new strength in me.
And Heaven gave its blessing to the
wishes
Of so many hearts!
I voti benedì!
–87–
Allegro, o mietitor:
Doman di festa è il dì
Sacro all’amor.
Be of good cheer, reaper!
Tomorrow is a holiday –
Sacred to love.
FANNY
from her house
Quà... amici miei!
Here... my friends!
CHORUS
Fanny!
Fanny!
FANNY
E del doman più bella
Tomorrow’s festivity promises to be
La festa diverrà, –
An even happier occasion –
L’amata mia sorella,
My beloved sister Ida
Ida v’assisterà.
Will be present.
CHORUS
Ida! D’ognun sospiro,
Ida! for whom everyone sighs,
Ida, del Borgo onore...
Ida, the toast of our borough...
FANNY
Al sen del genitore
She has returned from the city
Tornò dalla città.
To her father’s embrace.
CHORUS
Beato ei ne sarà.
He will be delighted.
FANNY
Intanto dei lavor
In the meantime take
Prendete la mercé:
The reward of your labours:
E... d’Ida per amor
And... for the love that you bear Ida,
Una ghinea, qui c’è.
Here is a guinea for you.
(She holds up a golden guinea.)
–88–
Elisabetta Scano
CHORUS
Evviva, all’Ida… onor!
All’Ida nostro amor.
Long life and honour to Ida!
To Ida whom all of us love.
(They retire in company with Fanny.)
SCENE II
Ida comes to the door of the small country house on the hill, closes it behind her, puts the
key in her pocket, and slowly descends.
[1]
Pegno adorato di un ardente amore,
IDA
My child – adored pledge of an
ardent love,
Tu sol conforto sei al mio dolore.
You are the only comfort I have in
my grief.
Se fosse a me vicino il caro bene
If my true love were beside me,
Appien sarei felice...
Then I should be truly happy...
Ma quel crudele a me non riede; e intanto
But the cruel man returns not to
me, and
Mi struggo in duolo, e in pianto.
Meanwhile I waste away in sorrow
[2]
and tears.
De’ felici miei prim’anni,
Fair home, where I passed my first
happy years,
Bel soggiorno, io torno a te...
I come back to you...
Ma tremante... tra gli affanni...
But trembling... in the midst of
sufferings...
Col rossore, inoltro il piè.
I approach with shame.
(turning back towards the country house)
–90–
Rebecca von Lipinski
Nel mistero, è là risposta
There, wrapped in mystery, I have
placed
Every joy that my heart has left –
O reckless girl, how many tears
A blind love costs you!
Ogni gioia del mio cor –
Quante lagrime ti costa,
Sconsigliata, un cieco amor!
CHORUS
returning
Viva all’Ida!... Eccola!... Amica!...
Long life to Ida!... Here she is!...
Dear friend!..
Our fair Ida!...
Ida bella!...
FANNY
Suora amata!
My beloved sister!
WOMEN OF THE CHORUS
Un abbraccio!...
An embrace!...
MEN OF THE CHORUS
Ben tornata!...
Welcome home!...
IDA
scarcely maintaining her self-control
(Oh Dio! che pena!...)
(Oh God! what an ordeal!...)
FANNY & CHORUS
Or con noi sta!
Stay here with us, now!
Ci godremo... danzeremo...
We’ll enjoy ourselves... we’ll dance.
IDA
Io... Sì... Voi...
I?... Yes… You…
FANNY & CHORUS
observing her
Ma cos’hai!
But what’s the matter?
–92–
Gemi!... Tremi! Di’, perché?...
You groan!... You tremble! Tell us,
why?...
IDA
with difficulty
Vecchio, infermo il padre amato,
My dear father – he is old and
infirm –
Pianger... sì – tremar mi fa.
It is he who makes me weep, yes, and
tremble.
FANNY & CHORUS
Nel tuo seno il padre amato,
In your embrace your dear father
Consolato or sanerà.
Will be comforted and will get
better.
Te con noi benedirà!...
He will give you his blessing – and
give it to us too!...
IDA
Sì! sì, ei mi benedirà.
Yes, yes, he will give me his blessing.
[3]
Ah! rinasce nel mio petto
Ah! at your words hope
La speranza al vostro accento,
Is born again in my breast,
Dolce raggio di contento
And a sweet ray of hope
Serenando il cor mi va.
Brings renewed calm to my heart.
(Se me il padre benedice!
(If my father gives me his blessing!
Se il mio ben qui tornerà!...
If my beloved returns to me here!...
Ida ancora sarà felice...
Then Ida will again be happy...
Qui di gioie un ciel godrà.)
Here she will enjoy a heaven of joys.)
FANNY & CHORUS
Spera sì – sarai felice,
Yes, hope – you will be happy,
Di tue gioie ognun godrà. –
Everyone will delight in your joys.
–93–
CHORUS
A diman.
Till tomorrow.
FANNY
Si – a dimani. – In compagnia
Yes – till tomorrow. Together
Passeremo un bel giorno in allegria. –
We will pass a happy day in
merriment.
(The chorus disperses.)
SCENE III
Ida and Fanny
IDA
S’ei pur ci fosse!
If only he were here, too!
looking towards the country house
E là intanto!... più tardi
Meanwhile there!...
Vi tornerò. Ma... Dio!...
I’ll return there later. But...
Oh God!...
FANNY
Che c’è... che guardi
What is it?... why
Con tal premura... là?...
Do you look so anxiously…
there?…
IDA
pretending
Là!... tu sai
There!... you know
Che io predilessi quel casin –
That I have always loved that
country house –
with feeling
–95–
né mai
Nor has
It ever been so dear to me...
Così caro mi fu...
FANNY
Ma perché tanto
Sei dunque triste ancora?...
E forse più d’allora che veggendo
But why, then, are you
Still so sad?...
Perhaps even sadder than when,
seeing
Your health deteriorating more
every day,
I sent our father to you in
Edinburgh
To divert you... That was six
months ago now!...
Tua salute ogni giorno più alterarsi,
T’inviò nostro padre in Edimburgo
A divagarti... sono già sei mesi!...
IDA
despondently
Sei mesi... eterni! – oh sì!
Six months... endless months! –
oh yes!
FANNY
Ma prima assai
Yet well before that
Io ti vedea cangiata – e rimarcai,
I saw you changed – and I noticed
that,
Al ritorno da quelle solitarie
When you returned from those
solitary
Tue lunghe passeggiate, o là nel bosco,
Long walks of yours, either there in
the wood
O in riva al mar, che avevi pianto.
Or on the seashore, you had been
crying.
–96–
IDA
with emotion
Oh Dio!...
Oh God!...
Cara Fanny!...
Dear Fanny!...
FANNY
Forse, che...? parla.
Can it be, perhaps...? Tell me.
IDA
in indecision
Ah!... ch’io...
Ah!... let me…
FANNY
Ebben!...
Well?...
IDA
turning around
Ma… Zitto –
But… hush –
looking towards the family home
Alcuno là…
There’s someone there…
FANNY
Si desta
It’s our father
Nostro padre – io vi corro.
Waking up – I’ll run to him.
IDA
No, no. – Resta. –
No, no – You stay here. –
D’un sì caro dovere...
Let me have the pleasure of such a
dear duty –
Cui mancai tanto, or lascia a me il piacere.
It is so long since I fulfilled it.
(She enters the house.)
FANNY
Mi fa ben compassione! Non vorrei!...
I feel so sorry for her. I would not
have it so!...
–97–
Ma temo che il suo male sia nel cuore,
Yet I fear that her malaise is rooted
in her heart,
And that if ever... But what noise is
that?...
Ah! it’s Giovanna! For a year the
poor girl
Has been deprived of her wits – and
they say
That it’s a result of love.
E se mai... Qual romore!...
Ah! la Giovanna!
Da un anno l’infelice
Ha perso la ragione – e se ne dice
Causa amore.
[4]
CHORUS
from off-stage
La pazza!
The mad girl!
FANNY
Povera figlia.
Poor child.
SCENE IV
The men and women of the chorus enter; then Giovanna
CHORUS
Fate Largo!... fate piazza!...
Make way!... give her
room!...
(Giovanna appears. She moves slowly and in a clearly distracted manner. She smiles,
stops, then advances. In all her actions and expressions her mental alienation is
apparent. The chorus stands around in groups watching her.)
–98–
Nuccia Focile
[5]
GIOVANNA
imagining that she has a baby in her arms
Oh, come è vago, amabile,
Oh, how pretty he is, how lovable,
Somiglia al mio diletto,
Just the image of my true love,
Come sentia baciandolo
When I used to kiss him, how I felt
Balzarmi in petto – il cor!...
My heart leaping in my breast!...
Io gli sarò compagna:
I will keep him company:
Mia calma ei nel dolor. –
He will calm me in my distress. –
Per lui sulla montagna,
I’ll go gathering pretty flowers
Cogliendo andrò bei fior! –
For him on the mountain! –
E quando ei piangerà
And when he cries
Canzon gli canterò.
I’ll sing him a song.
Ei mi sorriderà,
He’ll smile at me,
Sul sen me ’l poserò...
I’ll place him on my breast...
Ed ei vi dormirà
And he’ll go to sleep there,
Qual è dipinto amor.
Just like a painting of love.
FANNY & CHORUS
Ora è in un bel momento;
Now she’s in one of her good
moods;
Ha un lampo di contento,–She’s enjoying a moment of
happiness –
Poi la vedremo piangere...
But afterwards we’ll see her
weeping…
Poi tosto ballerà.
And after that, as quickly she’ll be
dancing.
(Giovanna withdraws into herself, grows agitated, sighs, prays, shows signs of terror,
and then begins to calm down as if someone is consoling her.)
–100–
FANNY
Ora tace...
Now she is silent...
CHORUS
S’agita…
Now she grows agitated...
Geme – Perché?... Chi sa?...
Now she groans – Why?...
Who
knows?...
to Giovanna, attracting her attention
O Giovanna!
O Giovanna!
GIOVANNA
Allegri!... E’ morta.
Be of good cheer!... She’s dead1.
CHORUS
E chi?
And who may that be?
GIOVANNA
Ei verrà – l’aspetto –
He’ll come – I’m expecting
him2 –
CHORUS
(Un’altra?) E chi?...
(Someone else?) Who’s she talking
about?...
GIOVANNA
Là il mio diletto.
My true love there.
Fra poco sbarcherà.
Soon he’ll be disembarking.
joyfully
Ed allora...
And then...
______________________________________
1
A reference to her bullying and vindictive mother (Meg Murdockson in Scott’s novel), who
has died.
2
Giorgio (George Robertson in the novel), previously her lover but now the lover or secret
husband of Ida.
–101–
Nuccia Focile and Gabriele Bellini
with Patric Schmid
CHORUS
playing along with her and imitating her
Feste!...
We’ll celebrate!...
GIOVANNA
Oh sì!...
Oh yes!...
CHORUS
Balleremo.
We’ll have dancing.
GIOVANNA
sketching out some dance steps
Con voi tutti…
I’ll dance with you all...
Poi le nozze!... Dio!... qui!... qui!...
And then the wedding!... O God!...
here!... here!...
(Carried away, she lays her hand on her head and her heart; then, calming down, she
says passionately:)
[6]
Chi di voi conosce amore…
Whoever amongst you is familiar
with love...
E le gioie ne provò,
Whoever has experienced its joys,
Poi nel barbaro dolore
And then has been in the cruel
plight
D’abbandono si trovò,
Of finding herself abandoned,
Ah! comprenda a quel momento
Ah! let her understand the
happiness
Qual contento – io sentirò –
I shall feel at that moment –
Lo vedrete, e mi direte
You will see him, and you will tell
me
Se il più bello amor formò.
If Love has ever formed a more
beautiful man.
–103–
CHORUS
Io con te piacer ne sento
A tue nozze ballerò.
(A lei render possa amore
La ragion che le involò.)
I’ll share your pleasure with you,
I shall dance at your wedding.
(May Love restore to her
The reason he stole from her.)
to Giovanna
Buona notte!...
Good night!...
GIOVANNA
Buonissima. – L’aspetto
A very good night. –
I’ll await him
Là, nel bosco.
There, in the wood.
CHORUS
Ti guarda dal folletto,
Keep yourself safe from the
goblin,
Dalle streghe. –
From the witches. –
(The chorus retires.)
SCENE V
Giovanna and Fanny
GIOVANNA
Oh! ella è morta... si la strega
Oh yes! she’s dead... the witch
Che si dicea... mia madre.
They said... was my mother.
FANNY
(E si diceva
(And who they said was
La gran cattiva donna!) E’ sola adesso!
An extremely bad woman!) So
you’re alone now!
–104–
GIOVANNA
Oh!... sola? – io sto con esso. –
Oh!... alone? – I’m with him –
L’immagine di Giorgio è sempre meco.
The image of Giorgio is always with
me.
FANNY
Ma qual è questo Giorgio, che ha influito
But who is this Giorgio, who has
had such an
Tanto su vostra sorte!...
Influence on your destiny?...
GIOVANNA
E’ un gran segreto!...
That’s a great secret!...
Grande!...
A very great secret!...
placing her hand upon her heart
… e sta qui riposto.
It’s kept here.
Nella nostra capanna era nascosto.
He was concealed in our hut.
Lo vedea... mi piaceva... e poi! ch’è nato?
I saw him... liked him... and then!
what happened?
Ah!... Una notte... gli arcieri...
Ah!... One night... the king’s
è minacciato...
officers... he was in danger...
M’abbraccia... e fugge lor co’ nostri amici
He embraced me... fled from them
with our friends
Contrabbandieri... e via sul mar. –
The smugglers... away to sea. –
D’allora
From that time on
Addio tutto per me; – la mia ragione,
It was all over for me; – my reason,
Il mio cor... tutta l’esistenza mia!
My heart... my whole existence –
gone!
Io piango... rido... canto...
I weep... I laugh... I sing...
Vorrei morir... ma intanto
I wish I could die... and yet
–105–
Amo la vita – ed avvi in tutto questo
I love life – and there’s both good
and bad
E del male e del ben. – Non si capisce –
In all this. – It’s beyond my
understanding –
Ma se un giorno amerete,
But if one day you fall in love,
Fanny,
Fanny, lo capirete. – Un bacio. – Addio.
You’ll understand. – Give me a kiss.
– Goodbye.
(She leaves.)
FANNY
Addio: Di lei pietà sentì buon Dio!
Goodbye: The good Lord has
touched her with pitying hand!
(She enters her cottage.)
SCENE VI
Giovanna, returning
GIOVANNA
But where was I going, then?...
I no longer remember – Ah! yes, yes,
– Now:
That pretty baby! he’s waiting for
me – crying.
It’s true I must have abandoned
him...
Non so più per quant’ore. – Ma chi mai
For how many hours I don’t know. –
But whoever
Ma, dove andava io dunque?...
Più non me ne ricordo – Ah! si, si,
– Adesso:
Quel bel bambino! egli m’attende
ei piange.
Certo l’abbandonai...
–106–
Christopher Purves
Nella nostra capanna l’ha portato!...
E perché tutto solo l’ho trovato
Su delle foglie secche...
Presso mia madre... morta?... Poverino!
Can have brought him to our hut!...
And why did I find him all alone
Lying on those dead leaves...
Near my dead... mother?... Poor
little fellow!
Avrà fame, oh, sì, sì. – La mia capretta
He must be hungry, oh yes, yes. –
My little goat
A pascolar già fuori
Is already out to browse high up
there
E’ là in alto. – Corriamo – Oh quanti fiori! On the tops. Let me run – Oh! so
many flowers!
(As she climbs the hill and approaches the country house, she becomes aware of the
rose bushes growing around it, and stops.)
Per lui sulla montagna
I wanted to go looking for flowers
Cercar volea dei fior!...
For him up on the mountain!...
Con queste fresche rose
With these fresh roses
Parrà più bello ancor.
He’ll look more beautiful than ever.
Sul sen me’l poserò...
I’ll lay him on my breast…
(She stops in great surprise, and puts her ear to the door of the country house.)
Ma… quali grida!... Oh Dio!...
But... what cries are these!... Oh
God!... Is it he?…
Egli... sì. – Apriamo – E’ chiuso
Yes. – Let me open... It’s closed –
Entrar vogl’io.
I want to get in.
(She tries to open the door, but it resists her efforts; she then forces open the shutter of a
low window and climbs into the house.)
–108–
SCENE VII
Tom, approaching in a boat.
[7]
Sulla poppa del mio brich,
Buoni zigari fumando,
Fra i bicchier’ facendo tich
Col mio rhum di contrabbando...
Là fra i dadi, i scherzi, i canti...
TOM
Upon the poop of my brig,
Smoking good cigars,
In my cups clinking toasts
With my contraband rum...
There midst dice, and jokes, and
songs...
Co’ miei bravi intorno a me...
With my brave crew all about me...
Vita allegra io vo passando,
There I lead a merry life,
Là mi credo d’esser Re.
There I believe myself a King.
(Giovanna is seen climbing out of the window of the house. She closes the shutter and
hurries away up the mountain, carrying something beneath her cloak.)
Bello, il figlio di mia madre
Nacque sopra una galera,
E per latte il suo buon padre
Non gli dava che Madera.
Mia carriera ho seguitato,
Sopra l’acqua io vissi ognor...
Lucky for me, my mother’s son
Was born upon a prison hulk,
And for milk my good father
Gave me nothing but Madeira.
I have followed my career:
I’ve lived upon the water all my
life...
But of water never yet
Have I swallowed a single drop.
Upon the poop of my brig,
etc.
Ma una gocciola ingoiato
Non ho d’acqua mai finor.
Sulla poppa del mio brich,
etc.
–109–
Presto è notte – e l’amico non si vede. –
It will soon be night – and not a
sign of my friend.
Ah! – Maledetti amori! Non i miei
Ah! – Cursed love-affairs! Not like
mine
Che nascon, passan, volan come i venti. –
That come and go, and blow away
like the winds. –
Ma quei gran sentimenti!...
But all those high falutin’
sentiments!...
E un corsaro d’amore, come lui
And a pirate in love, such as he is,
how he lets
Lasciarsi prender!... Ma! – è così,
Himself be taken in!... Bah! – that’s
– cerchiamo
how it is, –
Se in quella Fattoria vender possiamo
Let’s see if we can sell a cask of gin
Un baril di ginepro.
In that farmhouse.
(He turns towards Fanny’s cottage.)
SCENE VIII
Giorgio, in great agitation, and Tom
GIORGIO
Tom!
Tom!
TOM
Oh! Alfine!...
Da un giorno t’aspettiamo. – A bordo –
Un’ora,
E poi son teco –
Oh! At last!...
We’ve been waiting for you a whole
day. Let’s aboard –
GIORGIO
Give me an hour,
And then I’m with you –
–110–
TOM
Ancora?
Ma…
Still more time?
But...
GIORGIO
in a decided tone
E’ necessario –
I need it –
TOM
jokingly
Forse la tua bella?...
Perhaps your lady love?...
GIORGIO
Zitto! e là in alto fa’ la sentinella,
Silence! – get up there, hide yourself
among
Nascosto fra quegli alberi.
Those trees, and keep watch.
TOM
in surprise
Che dici?
What are you saying?
Forse che i nostri amici
Do you think, perhaps, that our
friends
Delle dogane!...
The customs officers...!
GIORGIO
Vidi genti d’armi
I saw armed men
Al villaggio vicino.
In the nearby village.
TOM
Al largo... e tosto. – Sai
Let’s stand off, then –
and smartly. –
In quale... alto pericolo tu stai!...
Do you not realise the great danger
you’re in?...
–111–
GIORGIO
darkly
Si... fazioso... proscritto... condannato...
Yes... an agitator... proscribed...
condemned...
TOM
E stai qui... Ma, se mai, per accidente
Yet you linger here?... And what if,
by chance,
T’incontra quella povera ragazza
That poor girl whom you caused to
run mad for love
Ch’hai fatto per amor diventar pazza!
Were to bang into you?!
GIORGIO
reacting sharply
Per pietà! pochi istanti. Tu non senti
For pity’s sake, a few moments. You
don’t know
Quello ch’io soffro. –
What I suffer. –
TOM
Ma...
But...
GIORGIO
Vanne – se vedi
Go – if you catch sight of
I Costabili, riedi. –
The constables, come straight back.
TOM
E salperemo?
And then we’ll embark?
GIORGIO
smoulderingly and restlessly
Si salperemo allora.
Yes, then we’ll embark.
TOM
Ah! maledetti amori!... Un quarto d’ora! –
Ah! these cursed love affairs!.. A
quarter of an hour! –
(He departs in the direction of the hill.)
–112–
SCENE IX
Giorgio, then Ida
GIORGIO
looking towards the door of the farmhouse
Ch’ella sia qui? La trovo alfin! – Oh cielo!... Can she be here? Am I to find her at
last! – O heavens!...
Come batte il mio core!... Avvampo… gelo. How my heart pounds!... On fire
one moment… cold the next.
Decide un tal momento
A moment such as this changes
Di tutta la mia sorte –
My whole destiny –
O in braccio a lei contento...
Either I’ll be happy in her arms...
O vo a cercar la morte –
Or I go in search of death –
E’ l’unica speranza
It’s the one and only hope for which
I still live
Per cui respiro ancor – Entriam. Chi avanza! And breathe – Let’s enter. But who
approaches?
(As he goes towards the door, it opens. He steps to one side and stops.)
La luce già s’oscura
Posso tornar secura
Là, presso il mio tesor –
IDA
coming out cautiously
The light is already fading:
I can return safely
There, beside my treasure –
(She comes forward.)
–113–
GIORGIO
joyfully, as he recognises her
E’ dessa…
It is she…
IDA
stopping as she sees Giorgio
Oh Dio!...
I believe...
GIORGIO
Parmi…
Ida!
O God!...
Ida!
IDA
in delight
Giorgio! è ver!... Tu!...
Giorgio! it’s true!... You!...
(They embrace.)
GIORGIO
Sì – son io.
Yes – it is I.
Nelle mie braccia...
Here in my arms...
IDA
Io ti rivedo.
I see you once more.
GIORGIO
O mio bell’angelo!
O my fair angel!
IDA
Mio solo amor!
My only love!
TOGETHER
Appena il credo...
I scarcely believe it...
Par sogno ancor!
It still seems a dream!
Celeste incanto!
Heavenly enchantment!
Dolce momento!
Blessed moment!
Ah! di contento
Ah! no, one does not die
No, non si muor.
Of happiness.
–114–
IDA
E meco ognora!...
And you’ll stay with me forever!...
GIORGIO
Da te indiviso...
Never more to be separated...
TOGETHER
Un solo affetto...
Joined by one affection...
Un sol desio...
A single desire...
Contro del mio
Your heart here
Stretto il tuo cor!
Firm against mine!
Sarà un eliso
It will be a heaven
Di gioie e amor.
Of love and delights.
Non v’è... non v’è un istante
There is no moment
Più dolce a un core amante,
Sweeter for a loving heart...
Io son d’amor nel Cielo
I am in Love’s Heaven,
Mio caro/Mia cara in braccia a te.
My dear, when I am in your arms.
Ah mai così bell’estasi
Ah! never, never may this ecstasy
Non cessi mai per me.
Come to an end for me.
IDA
passionately
Tornasti alfin! –
At last you have come back! –
most tenderly
Sei mesi già! –
It has been full six months! –
GIORGIO
Perdono –
Forgive me –
Fu involontario... amaro l’abbandono –
It was against my will... a bitter
separation –
Corsi i mar, ai capricci vincolato
I traversed the seas, a prisoner to the
whims
–115–
De que’ contrabbandieri che salvato
Of those smugglers who had saved
me
From prison. – Yesterday I
disembarked –
I looked for you immediately – I
knew you
Were staying with a relative in
Edinburgh.
I raced thither; but you had left ten
days
Since – think what a state I was in!...
My anxiety! –
M’avean dalla prigion. – Jeri sbarcai –
Tosto di te cercai – Seppi che stavi
Presso una tua parente in Edimburgo.
Io vi corsi; ma tu n’eri partita
Da dieci dì – pensa qual io restai!...
Le smanie mie! –
IDA
in tones that reveal her pain
Sì – Dieci dì passai
Yes – I spent ten days
Nelle montagne… presso quella donna,
In the mountains... with that
woman
Di cui tu mi parlasti,
You told me about,
Che te ascoso già tenne in sua capanna...
Who once kept you hidden in her
hut...
GIORGIO
in displeasure
La madre di Giovanna! –
Giovanna’s mother!
Colei! – Tu là? –
You there? – with her!
IDA
sadly
Nel misero mio stato
In my wretched state
Mi sovvenni di lei –
I remembered about her –
–116–
GIORGIO
disturbed
Ma... che?...
But… what’s this?...
IDA
betraying her affliction
Forzata
Forced
A lasciar Edimburgo dal rossore…
To leave Edinburgh for shame...
GIORGIO
taken aback
Dal rossor!...
For shame!...
IDA
with increasing warmth
Deh!... Pietà – Non più mistero
Ah!... for pity’s sake – let’s have no
more
Del nostro amor… di nostro nodo –
Mystery about our love... about our
union –
GIORGIO
agitatedly
E come! –
How’s this? –
IDA
Vien meco al piè del mio buon padre...
Come with me to the feet of my
il nome
dear father...
Palesa omai del tuo –
At last reveal the name of your –
carried away
Sì – è forza omai
Yes – it is urgent now
Di parlar... scoprir tutto – l’onor mio...
To speak... to reveal all – for my
honour...
–117–
Il tuo... sì... quello del tuo figlio!...
For yours... yes... for that of your
son!...
GIORGIO
eagerly
Oh Dio!...
Oh God!...
IDA
Sì – Giorgio – Allor che mi lasciasti, in seno Yes – Giorgio – When you left me,
I was already
Portava già...
Carrying in my womb...
GIORGIO
Mio figlio! – ov’è?...
My son! – where is he?...
IDA
Quì –
Here –
GIORGIO
Andiamo...
Let’s go to him...
IDA
Là... Adesso più non temo... se scoperta
There... Now I no longer fear... even
if I were to be
Fossi pur...
Discovered...
GIORGIO
embracing her
Ida!... Figlio!...
Ida!... My son!...
(They are about to leave together.)
–118–
SCENE X
Tom, entering anxiously, and meeting Giorgio and Ida
TOM
All’erta!... All’erta!...
On guard!... On guard!...
jokingly, as he looks at Ida
Ah! Ah! Ah! Bel contrabbando –
Ah! Ah! Ah! So much the better –
Mi consolo – è quella! è bella.
She’s a fair bit of booty, that one!
She’s a beauty!
GIORGIO
Fine a’ scherzi – qual novella!
That’s enough joking – what’s the
news?
TOM
Questa è brutta.
Bad.
GIORGIO
Parla.
Tell me.
IDA
becoming anxious
Ohimè...
Alas…
GIORGIO
to Ida
Non temer –
Have no fears –
IDA
Temo per te –
It’s for you I’m frightened –
TOM
jokingly
E per me!...
And for me, too?...
–119–
GIORGIO
brusquely
Ma di’... cos’è –
But tell me.... what is it? –
TOM
Steso a terra, là sul piano
Lying on the ground, up there on
the level tops,
Straining my eyes to see into the
distance –
I saw a detachment of men
advancing...
I scarcely drew breath...
But was slithering like a snake,
Softly, softly to make my escape –
When there arrives at full gallop
A courier bringing news
Of the unexpected arrival
In Edinburgh of some Lord or
other!...
Duke... Devil... General...
A Commander invested with full
power...
Who can do just as he pleases...
Who at a hint of ill repute
Can have a fellow arrested, and
hanged. –
It’s this that comes too close for
comfort...
So, quickly, let’s put to sea.
Spingea l’occhio ben lontano –
Un picchetto s’avanzava
Ed appena io respirava...
Mi strisciava qual serpente
Pian pianin per iscappar –
Quando arriva a pien galoppo,
Un corrier che reca avviso
Dell’arrivo all’improvviso
A Edimburgo d’un Lord tale!...
Duca... Diavol... Generale...
Comandante a pien potere...
Che può fare a suo piacere...
Chi ha un tantin di mal odore
Arrestare, ed appicar. –
Questo è quel che mi sta a cuore...
Sicchè, presto, a gambe al mar.
–120–
GIORGIO
peremptorily
E il suo nome!...
And his name?...
TOM
Che so io!...
How should I
know!...
Duca… Argil…
Duca... Argyle...
GIORGIO
Argil! (Gran Dio!)
Argyle! (Good God!)
Ida mia...
My dear Ida...
IDA
Che vuoi?...
What do you wish?
GIORGIO
Mi segui.
Come with me.
TOM
Sul mar ella!...
Her!... on the high seas?...
IDA
E come! e il figlio!...
How! and my son!...
TOM
Anche un figlio!...
There’s a son, too!...
IDA
Ah! va: te salva:
Ah! go: save yourself!
GIORGIO
E tu!...
And you?...
IDA
Pensa al tuo periglio
Think of your own peril:
A me il Cielo penserà.
Heaven will look after me.
–121–
Ah!... per me non v’è pietà.
Ah via! presto sono quà.
Così doverti perdere
Appena ti trovai!
Ah!... chi sa quando, misera
A me più tornerai?...
Pensa a me sempre... al figlio...
Mi torna ad abbracciar –
Addio – sì vanne... salvati
Ah! nacqui per penar.
Così doverti perdere
Appena ti trovai!
Oh! ti conforta, o misera...
Me presto rivedrai –
Vivo per te... pel figlio
Mi torna ad abbracciar –
Addio – Sì andiam salviamoci –
Ah! nacqui per penar. –
Non c’è più tempo a perdere
Pensiamo a escir di guai –
GIORGIO
Ah!... is there no end to my woes?
TOM
Come now! They’ll be here any
minute.
IDA
Must I lose you thus,
The moment I have found you!
Ah! wretched that I am... Who
knows
When next you’ll return to me?...
Think of me always... of your son...
Come back to my embrace –
Farewell – yes, go – save yourself…
Ah! I was born to suffer.
GIORGIO
Must I lose you thus,
The moment I have found you!
Oh! take comfort, poor girl...
Very soon you’ll see me again –
I live but for you... for our son...
Come back to my embrace –
Farewell – Yes, away, let us save
ourselves –
Ah! I was born to suffer. –
TOM
There’s no more time to be lost:
Let’s concentrate on getting out of
–122–
this mess –
They’re advancing... there... you can
see them...
That’s enough billing and cooing
for now.
S’avanzan... là... vedeteli...
Di smorfie basta omai.
to Ida
Restate voi col figlio –
You stay here with your son –
Ch’ei fugga per tornar.
Let him flee so that he may return.
A bordo... andiam salviamoci
Aboard... Away, let’s save ourselves –
M’han fatto ben sudar.
They’ve really got me in a sweat.
(Giorgio and Tom embark upon their boat and depart; Ida enters the farmhouse.)
SCENE XI
Soldiers, who arrive from the direction of the hill, and advance. The local peasants
appear from various points, then Patrizio with other soldiers, and finally Ida and Fanny
from their farmhouse.
CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Fra le tenebre… A quest’ora
In the advancing dusk... At this
hour
Dove mai volgiamo il piè!
Where on earth are we going!
mysteriously
Altra3 colpa che s’ignora!...
Some unknown crime or other!...
E il colpevole qual’è?...
And the perpetrator... who can it
be?..
_________________________________
3
One wonders if this is a printer’s error for ‘Atra colpa che s’ignora!...’ ‘Some black crime or
other!...’
–123–
Chi lo sa?... Dove sarà?...
N’ho la gran curiosità –
Ah! Là forse... in riva al mar
Who knows?... Where can he be?...
I’m very curious to find out –
Ah! There perhaps... on the
seashore...
Contro quei Contrabbandier!...
Perhaps we’re after those
smugglers!...
O nel bosco a sterminar
Or perhaps we’re out to eradicate
Que’ feroci masnadier!
Those dastardly outlaws in the
wood!
Oh!... ci vado con piacer!
Oh!... let’s at it with gusto!
Foco adosso a que’ birbanti!...
Let’s pitch into the wretches with
our fire!...
Sciabolarli quei briganti!...
Let’s slash at the brigands with our
sabres!...
Per color non v’è pietà
For them there’s no mercy – no
quarter –
E a noi premio, e onor sarà.
While for us there’ll be reward, and
honour.
WOMEN OF THE CHORUS
Qual rumore – ed in quest’ora
What a rumpus! – and soldiers here
Quà soldati! – che sarà?
At this hour! – What’s going on?
Provo un certo batticore...
I can feel my heart beating…
A finire come andrà?...
How is it going to end?...
PATRIZIO
going to knock on the door of the farmhouse
Alto or qui –
Halt here now –
–124–
ALL THE CHORUS
in surprise
Là!... Ma come! La casa
There!... How come! Good
Del buon Anders!...
Old Anders’ house!...
FANNY
opening the door, and remaining thunderstruck
E chi?... Giusto Cielo!
Who is it?... Good Heavens!
IDA
coming to the door
L’Alderman!... I soldati!...
The Alderman!... Soldiers!...
FANNY
to Patrizio
Signore...
Sir...
Chi cercate... a tal’ora!...
Who are you looking for at such an
hour?...
PATRIZIO
Ida –
Ida –
IDA
(Io gelo.)
(I grow cold for fear.)
FANNY & CHORUS
in surprise
Ida!...
Ida!...
PATRIZIO
Sì – Qual è l’Ida!...
Yes – Which of you is Ida?...
IDA
trembling but trying to find courage
Oh mio core!
Oh my heart!
coming forward
Io –
I am –
–125–
PATRIZIO
V’arresto per nome del Re –
I arrest you in the King’s name
IDA
thunderstruck
Dio –
God! –
FANNY, IDA & CHORUS
Ma è ver?... Ma almen dite... perchè?
Is it true?... But at least tell
me... why?
PATRIZIO
to Ida
Vi colpisce un’accusa tremenda
A grave accusation has been laid
against you:
Voi, non foste all’onore fedele –
You – you have not been true to
your honour –
IDA
terrified
Ah!...
Ah!...
PATRIZIO
Voi siete una madre crudele.
You are a heartless mother.
CHORUS
surprised
Madre!...
Mother!...
IDA
Oh angoscia!
What anguish!
FANNY & WOMEN OF THE CHORUS
E’ una rea falsità!
It’s an iniquitous lie!
PATRIZIO
Ida tace.
Ida has nothing to say.
–126–
FANNY
E tu taci.
And you, you hold your
tongue, too.
CHORUS
Esser vero potrà!
Can it be true?
IDA
sobbing
E’ fatal verità.
It is the dreadful truth.
PATRIZIO
E a celare la colpa d’amore
And to conceal her transgression in
love
Ella aggiunse misfatto più nero.
She has committed an even blacker
deed.
Al suo figlio... bambino... nel mistero
Pitiless mother... under mysterious
circumstances
Morte diè... madre senza pietà.
She has put her son… her baby…
to death.
FANNY & CHORUS
with horror
Ah!...
Ah!...
IDA
recovering herself
Quale orror!
What a terrible accusation!
FANNY & CHORUS
E fia ver?
Can it be true?
IDA
impetuously
Non è vero –
It’s not true –
–127–
running to the country house
Il mio figlio… il vedrete… egli è là –
My son... you’ll see him... he is
there –
Salva tu, giusto Ciel, l’infelice...
Just Heaven, save the unfortunate
girl...
Incapace di tanta empietà!
She is not capable of such
wickedness!
PATRIZIO & MEN OF THE CHORUS
Ed il vecchio suo padre infelice!
And her unhappy old father!
Ultim’ore d’angosce vivrà.
He will pass his last hours in agony.
IDA
with a desperate shriek from the country house
Ah!
Ah!
ALL
looking towards the country house
Qual grido! è di lei! – che sarà!
What a cry! It is Ida! – what can it
be?
IDA
coming from the country house, pale and almost out of her wits
Il mio figlio!... Il figlio mio!
My son!... My son!...
Ah! chi a me... chi l’involò?
Ah! who has stolen him from me?
L’ho chiamato invano, oh Dio!
O God! I have called for him in
vain!
Più sua madre udir non può.
He can no longer hear his mother.
ALL
Cosa dice!...
What are you saying?...
–128–
FANNY
Ida mia cara!...
Là riposto fu da me.
My dear Ida!...
I put him there myself.
ALL
Chi?...
Who?...
IDA
Mio figlio... e... pena amara!
Chi me’l tolse?... più non v’è –
My son... O bitter pain! Who has
Taken him from me?... he’s no
longer there –
PATRIZIO
Ah?... l’accusa… lo vedete
Ah!... the charge... you see:
Omai dubbio più non è.
Now there’s no longer any doubt.
IDA
Il mio figlio a me rendete
Give me back my son...
Chi mi dice, oh Dio?... dov’è?...
O God! Who will tell me where
he is?...
to Patrizio
E al dolor che in lei vedete
And will you give no credence
Non vorrete prestar fè?...
To the grief you see in her?...
PATRIZIO
to the soldiers
A Edimburgo sia guidata.
Let her be conducted back to
Edinburgh.
to Ida
Là deciso fia di te.
There your fate will be decided.
CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Vieni, vieni, sciagurata,
Come, come, wretched girl,
–129–
Innocenza vanti ancora?...
Do you still assert your
innocence?...
Do you ask for mercy?... You who
had none!
Did your son find mercy at your
hands, then?
All calls for vengeance,
And a terrible vengeance it will be.
No more... be silent – wicked
murderess!
No, there’s no mercy for you.
Pietà implori?... Tu... spietata!
La trovò il tuo figlio allora?
Tutto già vendetta grida
E terribile sarà.
Cessa... taci – empia omicida
No, per te non v’è pietà.
IDA
Innocente... ed esecrata!
Infelice abbandonata!
Perdo figlio, onor, consorte...
Innocent... and reviled!
Unhappy and abandoned!
I have lost my son, my honour, my
husband...
Un cor più per me non v’ha.
There’s not a single heart to stand
by me.
in desperation
Non mi resta omai che morte,
Nothing remains for me but death,
Così vita orror mi fà.
Since life so appals me.
WOMEN OF THE CHORUS
Vanne, vanne, sventurata,
Go, go, unfortunate girl,
Ti conforta e spera ancora,
Still take comfort and hope,
Solo al Cielo, al Ciel t’affida,
Trust in Heaven, in Heaven alone,
Egli avrà di te pietà. –
Heaven will take pity on you. –
–130–
ACT TWO
SCENE I
A hall in the royal palace of Edinburgh. There are two great doors, one on either side.
One leads to the Law Court, the other to the apartments of the Duca d’Argil. A small
table, covered with a rich cloth, carries writing essentials. There is one large chair, and
several others placed here and there. There are also two smaller doors, one on either side.
Noblemen, ladies, citizens, members of the military forces, all are awaiting the
appearance of the Duca.
CHORUS
Respira, o Scozia, giubila,
Breathe freely, Scotland, rejoice,
Di gioja spuntò il giorno –
The day of joy is dawning –
D’Argil echeggi all’aure
The illustrious name of Argyle
Il nome illustre intorno –
Echoes to the breezes –
Pace a te viene a rendere:
He comes to bring peace to you:
A consolarci il cor. –
To offer consolation to your hearts.
D’Argil al nobil Duca
Homage, applause and honour
Omaggi, plausi, onor.
To the noble Duke of Argyle.
(The Duca comes from his apartments, followed by Patrizio.)
DUCA
La rivolta, la guerra
Revolt and war have unleashed
Versar su questa sventurata terra,
All their horrors upon this unhappy
land
Ch’amo, ch’è patria mia,
That I love, my homeland. –
Tutti gli orror. – Clemente il Rè m’invia,
In his clemency the King sends me,
–131–
O valenti Scozzesi, onde salvarvi,
Reggervi, consolarvi:
Colla fè, coi consigli.
A me intorno v’unite... Tutti figli
O valiant Scots, that I may save you,
Rule you, and bring you comfort
With faith, with good counsel.
Gather yourselves around me... All
sons of a
D’una patria, d’un Rè. – Spenta omai resti Single fatherland, of a single King. –
Let the
Della furia civil l’orribil face,
Terrible torch of civil fury now be
extinguished,
E torni Scozia a respirar la pace.
Let Scotland once more breathe
easily in peace.
(The chorus retires.)
SCENE II
The Duca and Patrizio
PATRIZIO
(Let me seize the moment.) My
Lord,
A respirar, Milord, e perdonato,
Let the first to breathe again – to be
pardoned –
Fia quello sventurato
Be that unfortunate fellow
Per cui già v’implorai. – Venne smarrito
For whom I already implored your
compassion. –
Questa mane, pentito
He came this morning, dismayed
and penitent,
Ad affidarsi a me.
To entrust his case to me.
(Cogliam l’istante.) Il primo
–132–
DUCA
Costui pugnava
He fought
With the rebels?...
PATRIZIO
with marked emphasis
Ma sott’altro nome
But under another name,
L’onor salvava del suo padre –
So saving the honour of his father –
DUCA
E come?...
How so?...
PATRIZIO
E’ questi un de’ più degni
His father is one of the most worthy
Appoggi dei tre regni –
Upholders of the three kingdoms –
DUCA
E che?...
What then?...
PATRIZIO
Egli crede
He believes
Che il suo figlio al presente
That his son at present
Percorra il continente...
Is travelling on the Continent...
DUCA
becoming interested
Che mai dite?...
Whatever are you saying?...
PATRIZIO
E...
And...
DUCA
Seguite...
Go on...
PATRIZIO
Milord... io non ardisco...
My Lord... I do not dare...
Co’ rivoltosi?...
–133–
DUCA
in agitation
(Saria possibil mai!... Ciel!...)
(Could it ever be possible?...
Heavens!...)
SCENE III
The Duca and Patrizio remain at the front of the stage. Behind them, Giorgio opens a
little the small door on the right.
GIORGIO
Tremo; e spero.
I tremble; yet I hope.
DUCA
in rising anxiety
Presto – questo mistero – Favellate...
Quickly – this mystery – Speak...
Quel giovin?...
This young man?...
PATRIZIO
Perdonate...
Pardon him...
DUCA
Il suo nome?...
His name?...
PATRIZIO
Calmatevi...
Calm yourself...
DUCA
Non posso.
I cannot.
E chi è?...
And who is he?...
GIORGIO
advancing, and falling at the feet of the Duca
Vostro figlio –
Your son –
–134–
DUCA
looking at him in thunderstruck disbelief
Sciagurato.
Misguided wretch!
GIORGIO
extending his arms to him
Oh padre!
Oh father!
DUCA
In quale aspetto?...
In what guise do you
approach me?...
GIORGIO
in anguish
Un misero!... oh!... perdon!...
That of an unhappy man!...Oh!...
forgive me!...
DUCA
Vieni al mio petto –
Come to my embrace –
(Giorgio throws himself into his father’s arms.)
GIORGIO
Vittima sono di un’amore ardente.
I am the victim of a passionate love.
DUCA
Che niun ti vegga in questo stato: Tutto
Let no one see you in this state: later
Mi narrerai tu poscia in quelle stanze.
You will tell me all in my private
rooms.
to Patrizio
L’arrivo da’ suoi viaggi or annunziate,
Announce his arrival back from his
travels,
Ed il segreto a custodir pensate.
And think how best to keep his
secret.
(The Duca and Giorgio enter the former’s private apartments.)
–135–
SCENE IV
Patrizio, speaking to an Usher who appears at this moment
PATRIZIO
to the Usher
Fu dunque ritrovata
Was she then tracked down –
Colei, che vien la pazza nominata?...
She whom they call the
madwoman?...
Essa fu che, percossa
It was she who, struck by one of the
Da un subalterno de’ contrabbandieri
Young smuggler leaders, last night
Li diè, jer notte, in mano degli Arcieri,
Delivered them into the officers’
hands,
Con Tom, il loro capo, e fuggì poi –
Together with Tom, their leader,
and then fled –
Dietro i deposti, ed i confronti suoi
Upon her evidence, and her
identification of the smugglers,
Il Tribunal giudicherà – Condurla
The Tribunal will reach its
judgement – In the
Intanto quì potete –
Meantime you can bring her here –
E l’altra sventurata!...
And the other unfortunate
woman!..
(The Usher goes out.)
–136–
SCENE V
Giovanna and Patrizio; then Ida
GIOVANNA
E che volete
And what would you have
Da me, signori miei?... Presto: ei m’aspetta:
Of me, my masters? Quick! he
awaits me:
Avrà di me bisogno –
He will need me –
PATRIZIO
Chi?...
Who?...
GIOVANNA
as if straining her ear to hear
Là… Zitto.
There… Hush.
Mi par… no, no: non grida:
I thought... no, no: he’s not crying:
E’ cheto.
He’s quiet.
PATRIZIO
E’ pazza... Ah! – Vien la pover’Ida.
She’s mad... Ah! – Here comes
poor Ida.
Finito n’è l’esame – Io non ho cuore
Her interrogation is over – I don’t
have the heart
Di vederla, e parlarle.
To see her, or speak to her.
(He leaves on the opposite side from where Ida is entering.)
GIOVANNA
retreating into a corner, and arranging her mantle as if she is holding
a baby on her knees
S’è svegliato.
He’s awake. He smiles
–137–
Mi sorride – Quì… in braccio a me, carino.
[8]
Qual sarà il mio destino!...
Ora là si decide. Oh Giorgio!...
At me – Here... come to my arms,
my darling.
IDA
What will be my fate!...
They’re deciding it in there now.
Oh Giorgio!...
GIOVANNA
struck by Giorgio’s name and getting up eagerly
Giorgio!...
Giorgio!...
Chi ha nominato Giorgio?...
Who spoke Giorgio’s name?...
IDA
La Giovanna!
Giovanna!
Oh rossor.
How I blush for shame!
GIOVANNA
her eyes upon Ida
Siete voi… Voi, che l’avete
You... You are the one
Nominato?...
Who named him?...
IDA
timidly
Chi!
Who?
GIOVANNA
Giorgio –
Giorgio –
IDA
Il conoscete?...
You know him?...
GIOVANNA
Eh! –
Eh! –
touching her heart
stà quì… da tanto tempo:
He’s been fixed here... for so
long now:
–139–
IDA
anxiously
E voi
And you?
Are you there... in his heart?...
GIOVANNA
Ah! – no... per mio dolore... e mi chiamava Ah! no... the more’s the pity... That’s
why
Perciò pazza mia madre... e mi batteva:
My mother said I was mad... and
beat me:
E sempre mi diceva
And always told me
Che avevo una rivale...
I had a rival...
Che Giorgio amava un’altra...
That Giorgio loved another...
IDA
Un’altra?... e quale?...
Another?... and who was that?...
GIOVANNA
Ida.
Ida.
IDA
(Ciel!) Ida!...
(Heavens!) Ida!...
GIOVANNA
mockingly
La Bella.
Ida the beautiful.
IDA
in indecision
Quella che?...
She who...?
GIOVANNA
with a clumsy attempt at cunning
Che... già!... sì... quella!...
Who... that’s right! Yes...
the very one!...
Siete là... nel suo cuore?...
–140–
[9]
gradually becoming worked up
Lei... cagion de’ mali miei,
She... the cause of all my woes,
Giorgio a me dovea lasciar.
She ought to have left Giorgio to me.
Oh! conoscerla vorrei
Oh! I should like to get to know her
Per potermi vendicar.
That I might revenge myself upon
her.
IDA
passionately
Ah! se voi la conosceste,
Ah! if only you knew her,
No, che odiarla non potreste –
No, you would not be able to hate
her –
Ida è tanto or’ infelice!
Ida is so unhappy now!
E n’avreste ben pietà.
You would certainly feel sorry for
her.
GIOVANNA
once more calm
Poverina... oh sì – si dice...
Poor girl... oh yes – they say...
with sudden force
Ma... s’è ver! che scellerata!
But... if it’s true... how wicked she
must be!
IDA
fiercely
Non è ver: è calunniata.
It’s not true: her name has been
slandered.
GIOVANNA
recovering her calm
Ah lo credo – è troppo orror.
Ah, I believe it – the thought is too
horrible.
–142–
[10]
Un figlio, il cui sorriso
Ricorda il nostro amore!...
Il cui gentil sorriso
E’ una delizia ognor!...
Che v’accarezza... e baciavi...
E in ciel vi porta allor!...
TOGETHER
A baby son, whose smile
Recalls to mind our love!...
Whose good-natured smile
Is a constant delight!...
Who caresses you... and kisses you...
And so transports you to heaven!...
IDA
Ed una madre ucciderlo!...
For a mother to kill him!...
E come si può credere!...
How could one credit such a
thing!...
GIOVANNA
Ah! no: non è possibile
Ah! no: such a horrible crime
In madre un tanto orror.
Is beyond a mother’s powers.
TOGETHER
Di Dio, la più bell’opera
The most beautiful of all God’s
works
E’ d’una madre il cor –
Is a mother’s heart –
IDA
“Ma di madre voi gli affetti
“But you are in no position to know
“Ben conoscer non potete.
“So well a mother’s emotions.
GIOVANNA
mysteriously
“Più di quello che credete...
“I’m better placed than you think...
“Zitto...” Io pure ho un bel bambino...
“Hush...” I too have a fine baby
boy...
Tutto lui!...
His very image!...
–143–
Nuccia Focile
and Colin Lee
IDA
surprised
(Ciel!)
(Heavens!)
GIOVANNA
Sì carino!
Yes, such a dear little fellow!
IDA
painfully
Giorgio?...
And Giorgio?...
GIOVANNA
E’ mio...
He’s mine...
IDA
“Ma...
“But...
GIOVANNA
growing peremptory and possessive
“Sì, sì: mio...”
“Yes, yes: mine...”
Io l’aspetto... oggi verrà.
I’m waiting for him... he’s coming
today.
IDA
taken aback
(Lei tradirmi!... e ver sarà!...)
(Can she have supplanted me?... can
it be true!...)
PATRIZIO
entering, accompanied by guards
Ida: ai Giudici.
Ida: you’re summoned to the judges.
(He departs, but the guards remain.)
GIOVANNA
shaken with surprise: staring at her
Ida!
Ida!
–145–
IDA
uneasily
(Oh Dio!...)
(Oh God!...)
GIOVANNA
impetuously
(La rival! tu?... Vieni qua.)
(My rival! You?... Come here.)
(She takes her fiercely by the hand, and looks at her with increasing anger.)
[11]
Sei bella… sì… bellissima,
You’re beautiful... yes... most
beautiful,
That’s how you seduced him;
With that languid air, those coaxing
ways,
You stole him from me –
Così lo seducesti;
Con quel languore, e smorfie
A me lo togliesti –
IDA
Forse abbastanza misera
Non ero, o Ciel! finora!...
Angosce ognor più barbare!...
Più crudi insulti ancora!...
Ma adesso che l’orribile
Barbarie tua saprà...
E invece quell’amabile
Bambino mio vedrà!...
Io salto già dal giubilo
Mio Giorgio alfin sarà!
O Heavens! was I perhaps
Insufficiently wretched hitherto?...
Do ever more barbarous sufferings
await me?
Still more brutal insults?...
GIOVANNA
But now when he comes to hear
Of your horrible barbarous crimes...
And sees instead that endearing
Little baby of mine!...
Already I leap for joy,
For Giorgio will finally be mine!
–147–
Guardatela... sentitela!...
La pazza è quella là.
Look at her... listen to her!...
It’s Ida who’s the madwoman now.
IDA
No, Giorgio mio, non credere
In me tal crudeltà:
Né tu esser puoi sì perfido...
Tradir tuo cor non sà.
Io moro... vien... consolami...
No, my Giorgio, do not think me
Capable of such cruelty:
Nor can you be so false...
Your heart is incapable of betrayal.
I face death… come… comfort
me…
E amor sorriderà!
And love will smile upon us.
Tacete omai, lasciatemi,
Remain silent, desert me,
Là... troverò pietà.
And it must be up there… that I
find pity.
(Raising her eyes towards Heaven, she departs between the guards.)
SCENE VI
Giorgio, dressed as befits his rank, and Patrizio
PATRIZIO
Milord, sua Grazia, vostro padre a voi,
My Lord, His Grace, your father
Suo segretario intanto nominato,
Has entrusted to you – whom he
has
La scelta ha confidato
In the meantime named his
secretary –
D’un capo carceriere:
The choice of a chief gaoler:
–148–
GIORGIO
his mind elsewhere but rousing himself to pay attention
Carceriere!...
Gaoler!...
(E Ida!...)
(And Ida!...)
PATRIZIO
Per un simile mestiere,
More than anything else,
Più ch’altro, l’esperienza è necessaria,
For such a position experience is
necessary:
La pratica, l’estesa conoscenza
Familiarity with… an extensive
knowledge of…
Delle prigion, dei furbi, e scellerati
The prisons, and the rascals and
scoundrels
Che vi son condannati.
Who are condemned there.
GIORGIO
Ebben?
Well?
PATRIZIO
E appunto
At this very moment
Un tal uom or’è giunto; e lo propongo
Such a man has been brought in;
and I propose him
A vostra approvazione.
For your approbation.
GIORGIO
E chi è?
And who is he?
PATRIZIO
Un famoso
A notorious
Capo Contrabbandier.
Head of a band of smugglers.
GIORGIO
pensively
Contrabbandiere!...
A smuggler!...
–149–
PATRIZIO
Yesterday, with several of his
companions,
Cadde della Giustizia –
He fell into the hands of Justice –
TOM
shouting out off-stage
Adagio… Cani…
Gently there... Dogs!...
O per mille demoni…
Or I swear by a thousand devils...
GIORGIO
(E’ lui.)
(It’s Tom.)
PATRIZIO
Sentite!
Listen!
Vien condotto al suo giudice, e sì fiero,
They are taking him before his
judge,
E impertinente ancora! –
Yet he is still so defiant, and
impertinent! –
towards the door
Avanti –
Bring him in –
GIORGIO
seating himself at the table
(Ei certo mi ravvisa, e allora!)
(He’ll certainly recognise
me – what then?)
Jer, con varj compagni, nelle mani
–150–
SCENE VII
Tom is brought in, bound, and surrounded by many armed customs officers
TOM
entering
Slacciatemi vi dico
Ah razza di Satan! – Voi siete in tanti,
Unbind me, I tell you! –
Ah! you offspring of Satan! – You’re
so many,
E avete ancor paura
And yet you’re still afraid
D’un uomo sol – Vigliacchi! –
Of a single man alone – Cowards! –
GIORGIO
to Patrizio
Sia slegato.
Release him.
(At this order, the customs men set him free.)
TOM
Ah! Respiro…
Ah! I breathe again...
to Patrizio
… obbligato – e…
... I’m obliged – and...
PATRIZIO
Qui, non ciarle.
No chattering here.
Riverenza a sua Grazia,
Salute His Grace,
Il tuo Giudice.
Your Judge.
TOM
with several bows
Ebbene... o riverito
Well then, most revered
Mio Giudice grazioso, sono ardito
And gracious Judge, am I too bold
Se credo dimandar per quai ragioni
If I see fit to ask for what reasons
–151–
Sono arrestato, e poi...
I am arrested? And then...
(He recognises Giorgio as the latter turns towards him.)
Mille cannoni!
A thousand cannon shots!
PATRIZIO
Che c’è?
What is it?
GIORGIO
Cos’ hai…
What’s the matter with you…?
TOM
recovering, and laughing to himself
Niente – … Sua Grazia… oh niente!
Nothing – ... Your Grace... oh,
nothing!
E’ un dolor... qui... per quella legatura...
Only a pain... here... as a result of
that rope...
Ma...
But…
GIORGIO
gravely
Finiamo.
Let’s have an end to this.
TOM
with several more bows, and ironic emphasis
Eccellenza… stia sicura…
Excellency... rest assured...
Della mia lingua… certo… è mio dovere –
I’ll hold my tongue... certainly... it’s
my duty –
(Ah! un Giudice... Milord...
(Ah! a Judge... A Milord!... and a
Contrabbandiere!)
Smuggler!)
PATRIZIO
Or di costui, Milord, che far pensate?
Now, My Lord, what do you think
to do with him?
–152–
GIORGIO
Solo a solo con esso mi lasciate –
Just leave me alone with him –
(Patrizio and the customs men retire to outside the door.)
SCENE VIII
Giorgio and Tom
TOM
Sei tu, Giorgio!...
Sì… son’io.
Camerata!... Caro amico!...
Parla piano… il rango mio…
Dimmi un po’ di tale intrico...
Tutto a tempo di dirò.
E il mio collo!
Il salverò...
Giorgio, it’s you!...
GIORGIO
rising
Yes... ’tis I.
TOM
opening his arms
Comrade!... My dear friend!...
GIORGIO
Keep your voice down... my rank...
TOM
Unravel this mystery a little for
me...
GIORGIO
I’ll tell you all in good time.
TOM
with concern
And my neck!
GIORGIO
I’ll save it...
–153–
Ma!... silenzio –
But!... hold your tongue –
TOM
Ammutirò...
Non far mai di me parola
Puoi sperar fortuna ancor
(Salvo almen fra mali miei
L’onor sia del Genitor.)
Troppo cara ho la mia gola
Il segreto serro in cuor
(Mai creduto non avrei
Mio collega un gran signor.)
Diventar vuoi galantuomo?
Bel mestiere... e per me nuovo!...
Combinando mi ci provo.
Un bel posto or’è vacante:
La prigione...
Grazie tante!
Mum’s the word...
GIORGIO
Never utter a word about me
And you still may hope for good
fortune.
(May my Father’s honour remain
untarnished
In the midst of all my misdeeds.)
TOM
I hold my neck too dear –
I shall lock your secret in my heart.
(I would never have believed
My comrade a high-born lord.)
GIORGIO
Do you want to become an honest
man?
TOM
That’s a fine occupation... and a
new one for me!...
I’m willing to try pulling it off.
GIORGIO
There’s a good post at present
vacant:
The prison...
TOM
Thanks a million!
–154–
La prigione manca adesso
Del suo capo Carceriere.
Lucrosissimo mestiere?
Ci vuol uno ardito, destro,
Furbo esperto...
Son Maestro...
Europea già è la mia fama,
E la mia celebrità.
Sei già noto sì per fama
Alta è la tua celebrità.
E quest’alta dignità?
Voglio chiederla per te
A mio padre il Vice Re.
Che... tuo padre... il Vice Re
Camerata... oh!... m’è scappata...
Eccellenza!... Monsignore!...
No... sua Grazia...
GIORGIO
The prison at the moment lacks
A head gaoler.
TOM
Is it a job that pays well?
GIORGIO
It needs a bold, skilful
And expertly cunning fellow...
TOM
I’m a past-master...
My fame and my celebrity
Are already European-wide.
GIORGIO
You are indeed already known to
fame:
Your reputation stands high.
TOM
And this lofty position of dignity?...
GIORGIO
I should like to ask my father the
Viceroy
That you should have it.
TOM
What... your father... is the
Viceroy...
Comrade!... oh!... it escaped me...
Excellency!... My Lord!...
No… your Grace…
–155–
trying to kiss his hand
Dia l’onore
Grant the honour
A un suo vecchio servitor…
To one of your old servants....
GIORGIO
Zitto!
Silence!
TOM
Ma...
But...
GIORGIO
Basta per or.
That’s enough for now.
TOM
Scusi, e l’alta dignità?
Forgive me, but the lofty post of
dignity?
GIORGIO
Ci sarà.
It will be yours.
TOM
Quanta bonta!
Such generosity!
GIORGIO
Ma qual labbro!...
But that tongue of yours!...
TOM
Ammutirà.
It will be silenced.
GIORGIO
Non far mai di me parola:
Never utter a word about me:
Signor Capo Carcerier –
Sir Head Gaoler –
(Ida cara a te sen vola
(Dear Ida, both my thoughts and
my heart
Col mio core il mio pensier.)
Fly to you.)
TOM
Ve ne dà la sua parola
It is a Head Gaoler
-156-
Ora un Capo Carcerier
(Tom
Ti consola!...
Who now gives you his word.
allegro!...
(Tom, be merry!... Be of good
heart!...
Che fortuna!... Che piacer!)
What good fortune!... What a
happy existence!)
(Giorgio departs, Tom accompanying his going with a low bow.)
SCENE IX
Tom, then Patrizio
TOM
Sarà bella allor quando
Verrò installato, e passerò a rassegna
Tutta quella canaglia – Quante!... Quanti
Mi riconosceranno –
Che sorpresa, che rabbia proveranno!...
Antiche conoscenze... buoni amici!...
E quanti anche innocenti!... ed infelici! –
Oh che mondo! – lo vo’ adesso
-157-
What a fine thing it will be when
I’m installed, and hold an
inspection
Of all that riff-raff – How many of
them –
Male and female – will recognise
me –
How surprised they’ll be, how
outraged!...
Old acquaintances... good friends!...
How many of them innocent, too...
but unlucky!..
Oh what a world! – I wish from
now on
Esser giusto, ed uman...
To be just, and humane...
PATRIZIO
to Tom
Ehi! Non v’è processo
Eh! You’re no longer to be tried
Più per te – Da Lord Giorgio nominato...
You’ve been appointed by Lord
Giorgio...
TOM
giving himself airs
Gran Carcerier...
Gaoler in Chief...
PATRIZIO
Sei tosto già approvato
Your appointment has just been
Dal Vice Re...
Approved by the Viceroy...
TOM
with a bow
Sua Grazia...
His Grace...
PATRIZIO
Attenderai
You are to wait
Quì gli ordini immediati pel tuo grado.
Here for the immediate orders for
your post.
SCENE X
Tom, then Giovanna
TOM
Benone!... a gonfie vele!...
Good!... all goes splendidly!...
GIOVANNA
from off-stage
-158-
Vado, vado –
Vi ringrazio, Milordi –
I’m going, I’m going –
I thank you, My Lords –
TOM
turning around
Questa voce... –
That voice... –
La pazza!... e se lo vede!... Oh freschi allora! The mad girl!... and if she sees me!...
then I’m for it!
GIOVANNA
making clumsy bows in the doorway, looking whence she has come; then turning:
Oh!... voi!... qui… Tom… Buon giorno…
Oh!... you!... here... Tom... Good
Vivo ancora?
morning... You’re still alive?
TOM
Son vivo… forte – sano, e spero…
I’m alive... strong – healthy, and I
hope...
GIOVANNA
Dite... e il mio bell’amico!...
Tell me... and that fine friend of
mine!...
TOM
Ah che ci siamo!
Ah, here’s the crunch!
Chi?
Who?
GIOVANNA
Il sapete – lui ch’amo, e tanto bramo,
You know – the one I love, and
want so much,
Il mio Giorgio...
My Giorgio...
TOM
E’ scappato.
He escaped.
GIOVANNA
Sì... allor con voi – Ma voi siete tornato...
Yes... at the same time as you – But
-159-
you’ve come back...
And he, too, will return with you –
will come back to be with you...
I want to wait for him here...
To see him –
Ed egli pur con voi – verrà da voi...
Aspettar qui lo voglio...
Vederlo –
TOM
(Ohimè che imbroglio!)
(Ouf! what a complicated
business!)
GIOVANNA
I’ll show him his son...
TOM
(Un altro figlio!...
(Yet another son!...
Bravo... evviva... sua Grazia!)
Bravo... long life... to your Grace!)
GIOVANNA
Lo vedrete – Il suo viso... le sue forme...
You’ll see him – His face... his
features...
becoming increasingly more passionate as she imagines she sees her baby
Tutto lui!... Caro…
The very image of him!... Dear little
fellow…
TOM
Ma…
But…
GIOVANNA
Qui... Zitto, ei dorme –
Here... Hush, he’s asleep –
[12]
Dormi, dormi, bel bambino,
Sleep, sleep, my beautiful baby,
Vago figlio del mio cor –
My heart’s fair joy –
Papà torna, è a noi vicino
Papa is coming back – he’s close at
hand –
Gli mostrerò suo figlio...
-161-
Quanta gioja, e baci allor.
What joy – how many kisses – when
he comes.
He is mine... yes... mine alone...
He was my first and only love,
Come, my dear, come and comfort
me
That through you I may live again.
Egli è mio... sì... per me sola
Fu mio primo, e solo amore,
Vieni, o caro, mi consola
Ch’io per te riviva ancor.
TOM
S’allontani... Ma di gente
Già s’ingombrano le sale
Ad udir del Tribunale
La sentenza accorrerà.
E Sua Grazia... e quella là!...
Lead her away... But already
The halls are filling with people
Hurrying to hear the sentence
Of the Tribunal.
And His Grace... and Giovanna
there!...
SCENE XI
Citizens – men and women of various classes – begin entering by the door on the right.
MEN
Adunati colà adesso
Stanno I Giudici a consesso
Della giovane accusata
Il destino qual sarà. –
Now the Judges are gathered
In session to decide
What will be the fate
Of the young woman who stands
accused. –
WOMEN
Così bella! sì gentile!...
So beautiful! so gentle of manner!...
-162-
Nicola Rossi Giordano
Di sua vita nell’aprile! –
In the April of her life! –
MEN
Alle incaute, sciagurata!
D’alto esempio servirà!
She will serve as a prime warning
To the incautious, poor wretch!
WOMEN
Ma tradita sventurata!
But the unfortunate girl has been
betrayed!
Perhaps she is deserving of pity.
Forse merita pietà.
MEN
Dov’è il figlio! – La spietata!...
But where’s her son! – Cruel
creature!...
No: non merita pietà.
No: she does not deserve our pity.
GIOVANNA
singing in a corner, as if she were cradling a baby on her knees
La le ra là là là là
La le ra là là là là...
CHORUS
Ma qual canto! – chi osa tanto?
But what’s that song! – who dares
sing in here?
TOM
E’ una pazza che stà là.
It’s a poor mad girl over there.
GIOVANNA
rising
Ah! Io pazza! – si vedrà –
Ah! Am I mad? – we’ll see –
turning to go away
Vieni, o caro...
Come, my dear...
Ch’io per te riviva ancor.
That through you I may live again.
MEN
E’ pazza? E pur ridere mi fa.
Is she mad? Still, she makes me
-164-
Dean Robinson
laugh.
WOMEN
E’ pazza, ma mi desta, sì, pietà.
She’s mad, yes, but she moves me to
pity.
TOM
Basta, basta, taci là.
That will do, that will do, be silent
there.
“Ah! she’s going – that’s a relief...”
“Ah! va – Respiro...”
SCENE XII
Giorgio enters in a state of dismay
[13]
Tom… la misera…
GIORGIO
Tom… poor Ida…
GIOVANNA
turning and seeing him, she is taken aback – without, however, recognising him
Ah!
Ah!
(She falls fainting into Tom’s arms.)
GIORGIO
Chi miro!
Who’s this I see!
TOM
(Or ci siam!... Pur è bellina!)
(Now we’re for it!... Yet she’s a pretty
thing!)
GIORGIO
Contro me tutto combina –
How all things conspire against me
GIOVANNA
mentally lost, but gradually coming to herself
-166-
Che m’avvenne?...
What happened to me?...
(Trumpets sound from off-stage. Tom disencumbers himself of Giovanna.)
GIORGIO, TOM & CHORUS
Ah! questo suono!... La sentenza!...
Ah! that sound!... The verdict!...
(All turn towards the great door on the left.)
GIOVANNA
Dove sono?...
Where am I?...
GIORGIO
Come tremo!
How I tremble!
TOM & CHORUS
Or sentiremo –
Now we’ll hear –
GIOVANNA
to Tom
Lo vedeste?...
You saw him?...
TOM
Chi?...
Who?...
GIOVANNA
Ei passò –
He passed by –
Tornerà… l’aspetterò.
But he’ll come back… I’ll wait for
him.
(She goes and sits in a corner.)
GIORGIO, TOM & CHORUS
Ma già il Duca a noi s’appressa,
But already the Duca approaches us,
Sta la pena in fronte, in cor.
Distress in his heart, and visible
-167-
upon his face.
SCENE XIII
The Duca enters by the great door on the left
GIORGIO
Padre… ebben!... qual’è sua sorte?...
Father... well?... what is her fate?...
(A roll of drums is heard from off-stage.)
DUCA
L’odi!... e piangi…
Listen!... and weep...
GIORGIO
Morte!...
Death!...
ALL
Morte.
Death.
SCENE XIV
Ida enters between soldiers who remain in the background. She advances slowly, then
raises her eyes, sees Giorgio, and remains thunderstruck.
CHORUS
Ida avanza.
Ciel! l’assisti.
Dio! chi vedo? Giorgio è quì?...
Ida advances.
GIORGIO
Heaven! come to her aid.
IDA
in surprise
God! whom do I see?
-168-
Giorgio... here?...
GIOVANNA
Ov’è Giorgio?
Giorgio... where is he?
singing
Egli è mio... sì... per me sola,
Fu mio primo, e solo amor.
He is mine... yes... mine alone,
He was my first and only love.
ALL
La pazza!...
She’s mad!...
TOM
to Giovanna
Zitto.
Hush.
GIOVANNA
E’ mio.
He’s mine.
IDA
to Giorgio
Che intendo?...
Tradirmi!...
What is this I hear?...
TOM
trying to lead Giovanna away
Andiam.
Let’s go.
GIORGIO
to Ida
Frenetica.
She’s raving.
IDA
You betrayed me!...
GIORGIO
to Ida
-170-
Ah! no.
Ah! no.
DUCA
to Giorgio, severely
Figlio.
Son…
TOM
Andiam.
Let’s go.
GIOVANNA
resisting Tom’s efforts
Andiam? Ah! nò.
[14]
In quest’ora tremenda, suprema,
Il mio labbro mentire non può.
Fosti, il giuro, la prima l’estrema
Pura fiamma che amor mi destò.
In quell’urna che a te si prepara
Go? Ah, no.
GIORGIO
In this final and fearful hour,
My lips are incapable of lying.
You were, I swear, the first and last
Pure flame that stirred me to love.
I swear to you, my dear, that I too
shall descend
Giuro, o cara, ch’io pur scenderò.
Into that funeral urn that they are
preparing for you.
DUCA
to Giorgio
Poni un freno agl’insani deliri,
Curb your insane ravings: Come,
Vieni, chi t’ascolta non miri?
Do you not see they are all listening
to you?
Incauto, vedi il dolor:
Rash boy, behold my grief:
Salva almeno del padre l’onor.
At least have a care for your father’s
-172-
honour.
IDA
to Giorgio
Una prece ti porgo – l’estrema –
Là sul palco al mio fianco t’avrò;
I ask one prayer of you – my last –
That I’ll have you there on the
scaffold at my side;
Quando giunta sia l’ora suprema,
When the final hour approaches,
Il mio sguardo su te poserò.
My gaze will be upon you.
E tranquilla nel seno di Dio,
And, O husband, I’ll go calmly to
wait for you
Sposo mio, ad attenderti andrò.
In the lap of God.
GIOVANNA
Quai voci... quanta gente... quai pianti...
All these voices!... so many people!...
such weeping!...
Quel ch’io cerco non trovo, ah no!
I cannot find him whom I seek!
Ah no!
Ed in mezzo a sì cupo frastuono
In the midst of such mournful
lamenting
Abandono – il mio tenero amor!
I have abandoned my child, my
tender love!
Ah! poverino, tacete, lasciate…
Ah, poor lamb! Be quiet, cease your
weeping…
Non turbate – il suo dolce sopor.
Do not disturb his sweet slumber.
Ahimè... ahimè... ahimè!
Alas... alas... alas!
TOM
to Giovanna
Vieni meco, sta buona...
Come with me, be a good girl...
to the onlookers
-173-
Questa è pazza...
Voi che fate alle donne i cascanti,
She has lost her wits...
You who grovel at the feet of
women,
Learn...
You who hearken to the promptings
of love,
Learn...
What are the fruits of love!
Imparate...
Voi che retta porgete all’amor,
Imparate...
Quali sono i frutti d’amor.
CHORUS
Sulla fronte del giudice istesso
See stamped upon the face of the
judge himself
His inner grief.
Vedi impresso – l’interno dolor.
DUCA
Guardie olà!
Guards!
indicating Ida
Quell’infelice
Al suo carcere traete:
Take that unhappy girl
Back to her cell.
to Giorgio
Voi seguirmi ora dovete.
Padre! è troppa crudeltà!
Non sperar ch’io t’abbandoni
In sì orribili momenti;
Sol conforto ai suoi tormenti
You now must follow me.
GIORGIO
Father! this cruelty exceeds all
bounds!
to Ida
Do not imagine that I shall
abandon you
In such horrible moments as these;
to his father
In her torment the only comfort
-175-
Resta a lei la mia pietà.
That is left to her is my pity.
DUCA
to the guards
Non più: cessi ogni dimora,
No more. Delay no longer:
Obbedite.
Obey.
(The guards surround Ida.)
IDA
in the greatest horror
Eterno Iddio!
Eternal God!
Nel pensar dove m’avvio
When I think of where I am bound,
Gel mortal m’ingombra il cor.
A mortal chill possesses my heart.
(She is close to collapsing, and appeals to the soldiers:)
Voi reggetemi.
Support me.
(As she turns to go off, she is seen by Giovanna, who races to her in total ingenuity
and compassion.)
[15]
GIOVANNA
Ove vai?
Così mesta e sconsolata
Tutta al pianto abbandonata,
Tutta assorta nel dolor?
Forse cercavi quì
Il tuo perduto amor:
No’l ritrovasti? Dì?
E perciò piangi ancor.
Ma non ti lascio, o cara,
Sola in sì acerbo stato:
Ti fugga il mondo ingrato,
Where are you going?
So downcast and disconsolate,
So totally abandoned to your tears,
So entirely absorbed in your grief?
Perhaps you came searching here
For your lost love:
Did you not find him? Tell me.
Is that why you are still crying?
But I shall not leave you alone,
My dear, in such a sorry state:
Though the ungrateful world shun
-176-
Io starò ognor con te.
Della tua sorte amara
Io mi farò compagna
Ovunque volgi il piè.
Le separate.
you,
I’ll stay with you always.
Wherever you turn your steps,
I’ll make myself the companion
Of your bitter fate.
(She embraces her fervently.)
DUCA
Separate them.
(The soldiers try to part them.)
GIOVANNA
No, è inutile.
No, it is useless.
IDA
Vanne infelice, ah! lasciami.
Go, unhappy girl, ah! leave me.
GIOVANNA
No, non ti lascio.
No, I’ll not leave you.
ALL
(Chi può frenar le lagrime.)
(Who can hold back tears?)
GIOVANNA
“Io voglio star con te.”
“I want to stay here with you.”
(Ida and Giovanna, in each other’s arms, fall to their knees, while Giorgio raises his
eyes to Heaven.)
[16]
IDA & GIOVANNA
Oh Dio possente! – Bontà infinita!
O God almighty! – in your infinite
goodness
Tronca lo stame – di questa vita,
Cut short the thread – of this life,
“E’ troppo atroce – tanto soffrir.
“It is too appalling to have to suffer
so much.
-178-
“Io non sospiro – che di morire.”
Concedi all’alma – che spieghi i vanni
“I wish for nothing – but to die.”
Grant to my soul – that it may
spread its wings
To where you bestow reward – upon
sufferings.
Dove agli affanni – Tu dai mercè.
ALL
Oh Dio possente – al lor soffrire
O God almighty – grant them
reward
“Al lor martire” – dona mercè.
For their suffering – “for their
torment.”
(Patrizio succeeds in separating Giovanna from Ida. The guards carry Ida, more dead
than alive, away to prison. Giorgio is dragged away by the Duca.)
ACT THREE
SCENE I
The central courtyard of the prison. There is a great barred door on one side, and another,
smaller, at the back, centre. Two roughly hewn tables, and various wooden benches.
The prisoners. Some are seated on benches, at the table; others are drinking, stretched out
on the ground. Some play at cards, others at dice. Two, who win, get up and pour out
liquor for the others.
CHORUS
Canta, canta o prigionier
Al bel suono dei bicchier…
Sempre allegro, e fermo il cor.
Sing, sing, prisoner,
To the joyous clink of the cups...
Let your heart be ever cheerful and
-179-
firm,
For tomorrow perhaps... who
knows!
One of us will go aloft;
That’s destiny: we are born, we die;
And so, for as long as we’re down
here,
Let’s make merry, drink and swill,
glug! glug!
Doman forse... chi lo sa!
Un di noi su in alto andrà;
E’ destin, si nasce e muor,
Dunque fin che siam quaggiù
Allegria, facciam glù, glù.
SCENE II
Tom appears, dressed as a gaoler, in the centre back doorway.
TOM
Bravi, allegri, su… glù, glù…
Brave lads, good cheer, up and to
it... glug, glug...
CHORUS
submissively
Oh! il novello carcerier,
Che si dice tanto fiero!
Seguitate...
Oh! it’s the new gaoler –
They say he rules with a heavy
hand!
TOM
coming forward, smiling
Go on...
CHORUS
recognising him
-180-
Ah! Tom! Tu! è vero?
Ah! Tom! You! Is it true?
TOM
Sì... ex Colleghi.
Yes, my ex-companions.
CHORUS
Oh! che piacer!
Tieni… a te: con noi glù glù.
Oh! what a welcome surprise!
A cup for you: come drink with us.
TOM
Tentazion – Non bevo più. –
Temptation – I’m no longer a
drinker. –
CHORUS
Di natura hai tu cangiato!
You have truly changed your
colours!
TOM
Sono adesso un uom di Stato,
Ho bisogno di mia testa,
Ho giurato, ed abjurato,
I’m now an employee of the State,
I have need to keep my head:
I’ve taken an oath, abjured, and
sworn
To forget all my former ways.
E scordati tutti i fu.
CHORUS
E scordar ti puoi di noi...
De’ tuoi bravi, e fidi amici?
Ah! ricordati quell’ore
And can you put us out of mind –
Your brave and faithful mates?
Ah! cast your mind back to those
hours,
So free and happy,
When under the influence of rum...
Now, as we danced with the belles,
Now, as we sang and revelled,
The sentinels would rouse us...
With their whistles... and then... on
Così libere e felici,
Che del Rhum infrà il vapore...
Or danzando colle belle,
Or cantando e gavazzando
Ci scuotean le sentinelle...
Co’ lor fischi... e allor... là... giù!...
-181-
guard!...
mimicking a fight
Botte... adosso, al legno... e su!
To blows... and then to ship...
aboard!
pretending to clamber aboard a vessel
E i delusi doganier
And the disappointed excise men...
laughing
Che restavan brutti… là! ah! ah! ah!
Left there looking foolish... ha! ha!
ha!
pointedly
Ti ricordi!...
Don’t you remember?...
TOM
whose enthusiasm has been growing warmer as the action has progressed
Come jer,
As if it were yesterday…
calling for a drink and tossing it off
Un bicchier – vi canto quì. –
A cup! I’ll sing you a song here. –
Contrabbandier, al mare, al mar...
Mates in contraband, to sea, to sea...
Lascia di ber, di folleggiar –
Quit your drinking, playing the
fool –
Non ti doler... non sospirar
Don’t fret... don’t sigh
S’hai da lasciar cara beltà.
If you have to leave some dear
beauty.
Sien tuoi pensier preda e valor –
Let your thoughts run on plunder
and valour –
L’ora verrà poi dell’amor…
Later will come the time for love...
Contrabbandier al mare… al mar.
Mates in contraband, to sea... to sea.
Ma la notte è cupa omai...
But by now the night is overcast...
Forse Ronda è a noi vicina –
Perhaps the patrol is close at hand –
-182-
Se t’arresta, tu lo sai
Qual cravatta ti destina!
If they arrest you, you know
What neck-tie is in store for you!
making the sign of a noose
Schioppo, e sciabla a dirittura…
Think of nothing but musket and
sword...
Fuoco... dagli con bravura –
Deliver your fire for all you’re worth
Morti là da nostre mani
These dogs must end up dead there
Questi cani han da restar.
At our hands.
Zitto, ora è già di ritirarsi, entrate
But quiet, now it’s already the hour
to retreat,
Ne’ vostri appartamenti –
Return to your quarters –
Ci conosciam...
We understand each other...
CHORUS
Ma...
But...
TOM
Zitti... Siate prudenti.
Quiet... A word to the wise...
(The prisoners retire.)
SCENE III
Tom, and Giovanna, her hair arranged in a bizarre manner
TOM
Oh! Ancor quì un’altra conoscenza!..
M’hanno
Oh! there’s another old
acquaintance still here!
GIOVANNA
entering
They’ve already
-183-
Già messa in libertà – Tornano adesso
A condurmi quì dentro? – e perché mai?
Set me free once – Are they coming
back now
To take me inside again? – and why
ever so?
TOM
Perché altro tu non fai
Because you’ve done nothing else
since
Da jeri, che rubar – Al cestellajo
Yesterday but steal – from the
basket-maker
Il suo più bel paniere.
His best pannier,
La coltrina di seta al tappezziere:
From the upholsterer a silk coverlet:
E paglia, e latte...
And straw… and milk...
GIOVANNA
Non per me. – D’altronde
But not for myself. – Besides,
Non ho tempo a restar – Ho già ordinato
I’ve no time to stay – I’ve already
ordered
D’illuminar il tempio – Preparato
Candles to light the church –
prepared the
L’addobbo – anche la musica – è ben d’uopo Decorations – and the music – I
must needs
Ch’io sia là. – Voi vedete
See to it all in person. You see how
Come io sono abbigliata... graziosa! –
I’m dressed... becoming, isn’t it!...
TOM
Ah! ah! – Forse sua Grazia si fa sposa! –
Ha! ha! – Can your Grace be getting
married? –
GIOVANNA
No, adesso: ma più tardi:
Not now: but later:
-184-
Appena torna Giorgio –
As soon as Giorgio gets back –
TOM
with displeasure, to himself
Ah! sciagurato!...
Ah! the rogue!...
Ed io quella infelice avea scordato! –
And I had forgotten all about poor
Ida! –
(He leaves.)
GIOVANNA
looking around her
Oh! quì è bello! – è ben meglio che
Oh! it’s nice here! – much better
quel vecchio
than that old
Mio campanil che casca!... Non v’è
Bell-tower that’s tumbling down!...
uno specchio
But there’s
Per aggiustarmi un poco.
No mirror for me to spruce myself
up a little.
SCENE IV
Giovanna, Giorgio and a Turnkey
GIORGIO
to the Turnkey
La di lei stanza?...
Her cell?...
(The Turnkey points towards a gallery on the left, and departs.)
Ah! ch’io
Ah! but I have
Non ho coraggio, né speranza, oh Dio!
No courage, no hope – Oh God! –
_____________________________________
4
One wonders whether Rossi did not really write ‘Per salvarla’ – ‘Of saving her’ – rather
than ‘Per salvarmi’ – ‘Of saving myself ’.
-185-
Per salvarmi4. Volea pormi alla testa
Of saving myself. I intended to
place myself
Di que’ contrabbandieri,
At the head of those smugglers, and
seize her
E rapirla al momento di... ma jeri
In the very moment of... but
yesterday
Sparve il loro vascello, che traditi
Their vessel vanished, since those
who were
Fur quei ch’erano in terra
Ashore were betrayed, either
through the madwoman’s fault
Per fallo o per vendetta della pazza. –
Or as a result of her wish for
revenge. –
Quì Giovanna!...
Giovanna... here!...
GIOVANNA
turning round
Giovanna!
Giovanna!
Eccola, chi la chiama?
Here I am, who calls me?
(She rises and comes forward.)
GIORGIO
(Ella quì? – )
(What’s she doing here? – )
GIOVANNA
stopping short
Un gran signor! – Da me che brama?
Some great lord! – What does
he want of me?
Ah! Ah! adesso indovino,
Ah! Ah! now I have it:
E’ per la cerimonia, ella è il padrino.
It’s for the ceremony – he’s the
godfather.
GIORGIO
-186-
Ma... Giovanna...
But... Giovanna...
GIOVANNA
with clumsy curtseys
Milord... mi favorisca
Milord... pray give me
La di lei man, la prego.
Your hand, I pray you.
GIORGIO
Più non mi riconosce.
She no longer recognises me.
GIOVANNA
Lo vedrete
You’ll see how
Com’è bello il mio figlio.
Beautiful he is, my son.
GIORGIO
taken aback: with sudden force
Un figlio! –
A son! –
GIOVANNA
shrinking back a little
Oh Dio!
Oh God!
Voi mi fate paura.
You make me afraid.
GIORGIO
restraining himself
Perdonate.
Forgive me.
Ditemi... e questo figlio!...
Tell me... this son of yours!...
GIOVANNA
Io gli formai
I made him his cradle
La culla d’un panier... la sua coperta
Out of a basket... his coverlet
Di cortina di seta, e gli diei nome...
From a silk curtain, and I gave him
the dearest
-187-
Il più caro del mondo – Giorgio. –
Name in the world – Giorgio. –
GIORGIO
E come?
How’s this?
GIOVANNA
E allor che il padre suo farà ritorno
And when his father comes back
Io gli dirò... tien, vedi
I shall tell him... look, see
Qual cura io presi del bell’angiolino
How I’ve taken care of the sweet
little angel
Che m’inviasti un dì nella capanna
You sent me one day to my mother’s
Di mia madre.
Hut.
GIORGIO
Che intendo! Ida in giudizio
What do I hear! In fact Ida at
her trial
Depose in fatti... oh Ciel!... Se da un indizio Gave evidence... Oh Heavens!... If
from a sign
S’attacan gl’infelici
Unfortunate folk cling
A un’ombra di speranza...
To a shred of hope...
with warmth to Giovanna
quel che dici
This that you say
Di quel figlio!...
About this son of yours...!
GIOVANNA
Parlate pian – se ancora
Speak softly – in case once more
Mel tornano a rapir...
They’re coming back to steal him
from me...
GIORGIO
Che?
What are you saying?
GIOVANNA
mysteriously
-188-
Un’altra volta
Me l’han fatta, ma... io...
Ripresi il mio bambin.
Once before
They stole him from me, but... I...
Took my baby back again.
GIORGIO
in a glow of hope
Se fosse!... oh Dio...
If it were he!... Oh God...
[17]
Giovanna... questo figlio!...
Giudami a lui... Dov’è? –
Oh! fisa in me quel ciglio
Ravvisa Giorgio in me.
Lasciatemi... Voi Giorgio!...
Volete voi burlar.
Sì fier? Con que’ begli abiti? –
No, no, non si può dar.
Ah! un lampo di ragione! –
Le richiamasse amore! –
Giorgio era buon, sensibile,
L’ho sempre in mente, in cuore.
M’ascolta...
Non sei lui. –
Giovanna... this son!...
Take me to him... Where is he? –
Oh! look closely at me:
Recognise Giorgio in me.
GIOVANNA
Let me be... You Giorgio!...
Do you want to make fun of me?
So lordly? With those fine clothes? –
No, no, it cannot be.
GIORGIO
Ah! would that love would recall
A glimmer of reason to her mind! –
GIOVANNA
Giorgio was good, and sensitive,
He is ever in my mind, in my heart.
GIORGIO
Listen to me...
GIOVANNA
You are not he. –
GIORGIO
tenderly
-190-
Mi guarda…
Look at me…
GIOVANNA
with an outburst of force
No, no, no, –
[18]
Voi quell’aria non avete
Così dolce, interessante,
Quella voce sì toccante
Che diceva in que’ bei dì:
No, no, no –
You don’t have that air
That was so sweet and interesting,
That voice that was so touching,
Which used to say to me in those
happy days:
– Mia Giovanna, ti son caro?
– My Giovanna, am I dear to you?
M’amerai tu ognor così?
Will you always love me as you do
now?
GIORGIO
with all possible passion
Odi ben per un momento
Listen carefully for a moment
Come il tuo diletto amante
To the way your cherished lover
Colla voce sua toccante
With his touching voice
Ti diceva in que’ bei dì...
Used to say to you in those happy
days...
– Mia Giovanna, ti son caro?
– My Giovanna, am I dear to you?
M’amerai tu ognor così?
Will you always love me as you do
now?
GIOVANNA
surprised
Ah! mi parve...
Ah! it seemed to me...
GIORGIO
tenderly
-192-
Ti son caro?...
Am I dear to you?...
GIOVANNA
Questa voce sì toccante!...
This voice that is so touching!...
GIORGIO
with all affection
Oh! mi guarda...
Oh! look at me…
GIOVANNA
gazing at him, and breaking out in joy
Quel sembiante…
That face...
Così dolce… tutto amor!...
So endearing... all love!...
GIORGIO
Oh Giovanna!... m’ami ancor?
Oh Giovanna!... do you love me
still?
GIOVANNA
transported with happiness
Sì è la voce del mio bene,
It is the voice of my beloved,
E’ il mio Giorgio ch’io rivedo:
It is my Giorgio I see once more:
Ei che a rendere mi viene
He who comes to restore to me
Il piacer di que’ bei dì.
The joy of those happy days.
GIORGIO
Sì è la voce del tuo bene,
It is the voice of your beloved,
E’ il tuo Giorgio che rivedi,
It is your Giorgio you see once
more:
Ei che a rendere ti viene
He who comes to restore to you
GIOVANNA
M’ami tu?
You love me?
GIORGIO
-193-
T’amo...
I love you...
GIOVANNA
Dillo ancor...
Say it again...
GIORGIO
T’amo ancor…
I love you still...
TOGETHER
E mi rendi
And you restore to me
GIORGIO
with increasing urgency
Ed intanto...
Meanwhile, though...
GIOVANNA
not heeding him
Ah! più non bramo!
Ah! I wish for nothing more!
GIORGIO
Mi dicevi...
You were telling me...
GIOVANNA
Quanto io t’amo!
How I love you!
GIORGIO
Mi riparla di quel figlio...
Tell me again about your son...
GIOVANNA
Zitto – è ver... già… mi rammento…
Hush – it’s true… now… I
remember…
GIORGIO
Ebben… Dimmi…
Well… Tell me…
GIOVANNA
gathering up her ideas
Sì – un momento…
Yes – give me a moment…
-195-
(Voices are heard coming from the square outside.)
CHORUS
E’ già l’ora, che si fa?
Already it’s the appointed hour,
what’s happening?
E la rea non viene ancor?
Is the guilty woman not yet
coming?
Non v’è grazia, non pietà,
There’s no pardon for her, no mercy,
Alla morte, è troppo orror.
Hale her to death, too horrible
though it may be.
Quali grida!...
What shouts are those?...
GIOVANNA
becoming confused
Quali grida! Queste voci!...
What shouts are these? What
voices!...
GIORGIO
Giusto cielo!...
Just Heaven!...
GIOVANNA
“Quei feroci...
“Those fierce men...
“Vengon... eccoli...
“They’re coming... here they are...
GIORGIO
“Oh periglio!”
“Oh what danger!”
GIOVANNA
Vuon rapirmi ancora il figlio.
They want to snatch my son from
me again.
GIORGIO
Ah! ritorna a delirar!...
Ah! she’s beginning to rave once
-196-
more!...
GIOVANNA
Tien... l’ascondi... il dei salvar.
Come... hide him... you must save
him.
[19]
GIORGIO
Oh momento di supplizio!...
Oh moment of torture!...
Più crudele della morte. –
More cruel than death. –
Dell’orribil nostra sorte
Almighty God, take pity upon
Abbi tu gran Dio pietà.
Our terrible fate.
GIOVANNA
Quei là gridano supplizio!
Those men there are crying out for
torture!
Un bambin! si vuol sua morte.
A baby! yet they wish his death.
Dell’orribile sua sorte
Mighty God, take pity upon
Abbi tu gran Dio pietà.
His terrible fate.
CHORUS
from without
Morte... morte!
Death... death!
(Giorgio is dragged away by Giovanna.)
SCENE THE LAST
Tom, who comes running in disarray, with a sabre in his hand. An alarm bell is heard
ringing.
[20]
Salva! Salva! al foco, al foco!
TOM
Save yourselves! Save yourselves!
Fire! Fire!
-198-
Oh! qual trama! Salva! Salva!
Tutto il foco omai distrugge!
Oh! what a plot! Save yourselves!
By now the fire is destroying
everything!
Ah canaglie, sciagurati!
Ah! the rabble, the wretches!
Ma l’avran da far con me.
But they’ll have to settle their score
with me.
(He races away.)
(The scene changes before the audience’s eyes, and represents the main square of
Edinburgh, lit up by the fire and filled with people. In the background can be seen the
bell-tower. The flames have reached the narrow internal staircase. Scaffolding on the
outside of the Cathedral is also alight.)
Ida is at the front of the stage, surrounded by guards. Giorgio, Tom and the Duca
appear in that order.
CHORUS
pointing to Giovanna, who may be seen in the belfry at the top of the bell-tower.
La vedete! è giunta in cima!
Look at her! She has reached the
top!
Dio! l’aita in tal periglio.
O God! help her in such danger.
GIOVANNA
crying out from the top of the tower, and holding a reed basket arranged in the
manner of a cradle and covered with a cloth
Prendi, o Giorgio, è sangue tuo!
Take him, Giorgio, he’s your flesh
and blood!
GIORGIO
Che mai disse?
Whatever did she say?
IDA
falling to her knees and crying out:
-200-
Oh Ciel! è il figlio mio!
O Heavens! it is my son!
(Giovanna can be seen through the open fretwork of the tower cutting one of the bell
ropes with a knife. She ties an end of this to the basket, and begins lowering it down
the outer wall, avoiding the lancets from which the flames are escaping.)
[21]
ALL
all dropping to their knees
La sua man, oh Ciel tu guida –
Oh Heaven, guide her hand –
Tu proteggi l’innocenza! – ...
Protect the innocent mite! – ...
Oh Ciel! tu lo salva... Oh Ciel! è salvo!
Oh Heaven, save him... Oh Heaven!
he’s saved!
GIOVANNA
crying out to Ida from aloft
Io tel tolsi – Il rendo a te.
I took him from you – I give him
back to you.
(While all are directing their prayers to heaven, Ida slowly and cautiously approaches
the bell-tower. As soon as the cradle reaches the ground she uncovers it and utters a cry
of joy. The Duca holds his son firmly by the hand, and opens his arms to Ida.
Giovanna, meanwhile, is engulfed by flames as she crosses her arms over her breast as
if in sign that she is resigned to die.)
Upon this stage picture the curtain descends.
-202-
Sir Peter Moores

la prigione di edimburgo - i

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