The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro (or Le nozze di Figaro) is an opera buffa composed in 1786 by Mozart. The libretto, by Lorenzo Da Ponte, is based on the play La folle journée, ou le mariage de Figaro by Pierre de Beaumarchais.

English quotations are cited from the translation by Hannah Kilpatrick.

• Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio...
  Or di fuoco, ora sono di ghiaccio...
  Ogni donna cangiar di colore,
  Ogni donna mi fa palpitar.
  Solo ai nomi d’amor, di diletto
  Mi si turba, mi s'altera il petto,
  E a parlare mi sforza d’amore
  Un desio ch'io non posso spiegar!
  • I don't know what I am any more, or what I'm doing
    Now I'm on fire, now I'm freezing
    Every woman makes me change colour,
    Every woman makes my heart flutter.
    Simply at the name of love, of delight
    I am upset, and my heart beats faster
    And I find myself talking of love
    From a need I can't explain.
  • Cherubino, Act I, sc. v

• Così fan tutte le belle!
  • All pretty women are like that.
  • Basilio, Act I, sc. vii
  • Così fan tutte was later used as the title of another opera by Mozart and Da Ponte.

• Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso,
  Notte e giorno d'intorno girando,
  Delle belle turbando il riposo,
  Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor.
  • No more you'll wander, my amorous little butterfly,
    Flitting about by day and night
    Disturbing the rest of all those pretty women
    My little Narcissus, young Adonis of love.
  • Figaro, Act I, sc. viii

• Ricerco un bene fuori di me,
  Non so chi 'l tiene, non so cos'è.
  Sospiro e gemo senza voler,
  Palpito e tremo senza saper,
  Non trovo pace notte né dì:
  Ma pur mi piace languir così.
  • I look for something beautiful outside of myself,
    I don't know who has it, I don't know what it is.
    I sigh and groan without wanting to,
    I quiver and tremble without knowing it,
    I find no peace night or day,
    And yet I like suffering this way!
  • Cherubino, Act II, sc. iii

• Aprite un po' quegli occhi
  Uomini incauti e sciocchi,
  Guardate queste femmine,
  Guardate cosa son.
  Queste chiamate Dee
  Dagli ingannati sensi,
  A cui tributa incensi
  La debole ragion,
  Son streghe che incantano
  Per farci penar,
  Sirene che cantano
  Per farci affogar.
  Civette che allettano
  Per trarci le piume,
  Comete che brillano
  Per toglierci il lume.
  • Open your eyes a little,
    Incautious and stupid men,
    Look at these women,
    Look at what they are!
    These you call goddesses
    With your cheated senses
    To whom our weak reason
    Burns incense,
    They're witches who enchant
    To cause us pain,
    Sirens that sing
    To land us on the rocks,
    Owls who allure
    To steal our feathers,
    Comets that shine
    To take our light away.
  • Figaro, Act IV, sc. viii

External links

• The Marriage of Figaro at Italian Wikisource