The text of Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo was
written by Mozart's sometime librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who famously provided the words
for Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. In
fact, this aria originally stood in the score of Così fan tutte, where it was to
have been sung by Francesco Benucci (ca.1745–1824), in the role of Guglielmo. Benucci
was by then a Mozartean stalwart, having appeared as the original Figaro, as the first
Bocconio (in Lo sposo deluso), and as Leporello in the first Viennese production
of Don Giovanni. This aria was to have fallen in Act One, Scene Three of Così
fan tutte, where Guglielmo, disguised as an Albanian, joins his pal Ferrando (also in
disguise) in wooing their girlfriends in an effort to prove that women are fickle. It's a
delightful aria (though modern listeners may be baffled by some of the text's mythological
and historical references), but in the course of rehearsals Mozart and Da Ponte decided it
just didn't work in context. They therefore replaced it with the shorter aria "Non
siate ritrosi," in which Guglielmo gets to proclaim the excellence of his own
mustache.
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Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo
e vedrete come sta.
Tutto dice: io gelo, io ardo...
idol mio, pietà! |
Turn your glance his way
and see his condition.
Everything says: I freeze, I burn…
my idol, have pity! |
E voi, cara, un sol momento
il bel ciglio a me volgete,
e nel mio ritroverete
quel che il labbro dir non sa.
Un Orlando innamorato
non è niente in mio confronto;
un Medoro il sen piagato
verso lui per nulla io conto;
son di foco i miei sospiri,
son di bronzo i suoi desiri. |
And just for a moment, my dear,
turn your beautiful eyes toward me,
and in mine you will find
that which lips cannot say.
An Orlando in love
is nothing compared to me;
the wounded breast of a Medoro
I count for nothing compared to him.
My sighs are of fire,
his desires are of bronze. |
Se si parla poi di merito,
certo io sono, ed egli è certo,
che gli uguali non si trovano
da Vienna al Canadà. |
Where worthiness is concerned,
I am certain, and he is certain,
that you will not find our equals
from Vienna to Canada. |
Siam due Cresi per richezza,
due Narcisi per bellezza;
in amor i Marcantoni
verso noi sarian buffoni;
siam più forti d'un Ciclopo,
letterati al par di Esopo;
se balliamo, un Pich ne cede,
sì gentil e snello è il piede. |
For riches we are two Croesuses,
for beauty two Narcissuses;
in the matter of love, Marc Antonys
are clowns compared to us.
We are stronger than a Cyclops,
as well-educated as Aesop;
when we dance, Puck has to give up,
so graceful and nimble are our feet. |
Se cantiam col trillo solo
facciam torto all'usignolo,
e qualch' altro capitale
abbiam poi che alcun non sa. |
When we sing our trills
we embarrass the nightingale,
and heaven knows
what other talents we have. |
(Bella, bella, tengon sodo:
Se ne vanno ed io ne godo.) |
(Well, well, they don't give up.
They are leaving and I'm enjoying it.) |
Eroine di costanza,
specchi son di fedeltà. |
Heroine of constancy,
we are the very mirrors of honor. |
| Lorenzo Da Ponte |
Translation © Lucy E. Cross |