"Torna ai felici di"
(Return to the Happy Days)
Roberto's aria from "Le Villi"
an opera by Giacomo Puccini
Roberto:
Here is her house.
O God, what a horrible
night!
Weird voices pursue
me.The Willis: away with them!
They are imaginings!
No, the fatal vendetta
of the Wilis
Does not pursue me!
Viper of Hell!
Thou alone, remorse,
dost plague me!
Viper of the poison of
Hell!
My anguished thought
Returns to those happy
days
When May was gay with
flowers
And love blossomed for
me!
Then everything was
blackened
By lugubrious
mysteries,
And now in my heart
there is
Naught but sadness and
terror!
Perhaps she still
lives! I shall knock!
What a shudder ran through me!
I could not lift
My hand to her door!
Willis:
Come, damned soul, make haste!
Roberto:
I seem to hear
A funeral dirge!
O great God! This is the end
Of my journey, of my destiny.
Let forgiveness bring me
A single moment of happiness,
Then I shall die!
I cannot pray!
Ah, cursed be the day
When I left this village!
And cursed be your beauty,
O vile courtesan!
[Editor's Note: I do not much care for tragedy, which the opera, "Le Villi," most certainly is; I always want endings to be happy. But, I greatly appreciate the artistry of Giacomo Puccini and the talent of Placido Domingo -- and, the legend of "the Willis" (the Fairies) fascinates me -- so, here they all are together. By the way, neither do I care much for comedy. No tragedy, no comedy? What else is there? Romance, of course.]
