Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848):
Quel guardo il cavaliere (cavatina)?So anch?io la virtu magica (cabaletta)
(from Don Pasquale) (1843)
Text: Giovanni Ruffini and the composer, after Angelo Annelli?s libretto for
Stefano Pavesi?s Ser Marcantonio
Original Key/Recorded Key (cabaletta): B-flat Major
Standard Internal Cuts in This Recording:
from m. 123 (?i cori a lento foco?) to m. 139 (?D?un breve sorrisetto?)
Teach-Track begins: m. 8 (3 measures before voice enters)
Accompaniment Track begins: same as teach-track
Pianist: Daniel Michalak
N.B. Measure 26 (?conquiso?) is usually sung approximately as follows: E-flat 16th-note; G natural 8th-note tied to a 32nd; F-sharp 32nd-note; the remaining 6 notes as 2 groups of triplet 32nd-notes.
In some editions the B-flats at ?Ho testa bizzarra? (m. 161, 3rd m. of poco piu) are corrected to D-naturals, by analogy with the E-flats of m. 89.
For the singer?s final, awkward ?scherzar,? the following substitution (recorded here) is usually made: F-natural quarter-note on beat 2 of m. 194; high B-flat held out to the end (cut-off with orchestra). The ?mi piace scherzar? in mm. 187-189 is also sometimes not sung at all (to allow for a good breath before the high B-flat on ?ah!?).
In m. 188, piano RH should be as in m. 186 (i.e. a third-inversion V7 chord).
Notes © 1999 by Daniel O. Michalak
Cavatina:
Quel guardo il cavaliere in mezzo al cor traffisse,
That look the knight in middle to-the heart transfixed,
(That look transfixed the knight, )
piego il ginocchio e disse: son vostro cavalier.
he-bent the knee and said: I-am your knight.
E tanto era in quel guardo sapor di paradiso
And so-much was in that look taste of paradise
(And there was such a taste of paradise in that look)
che il cavalier Riccardo, tutto d'amor conquiso,
that the knight, Richard, completely by-love conquered,
giuro che ad altra mai non volgeria il pensier. Ah!
swore that to another never [notl would-he-turn the thought. Ah!
(swore that he would never think of another. )
Aria:
So anch'io la virtu magica d'un guardo a tempo e loco,
Know also-I the virtue magic of-a look at time and place,
(I, too, know the magic power of a look at the right time
and place, )
So anch'io come si bruciano i cori a lento foco;
Know I-also how [themselves] burn the hearts at slow fire;
(I, too, know how hearts burn with a slow fire;)
d'un breve sorrisetto conosco anch'io l'effetto,
of-a brief little-smile know also-I the-effect,
di menzognera lagrima, d'un subito languor.
of (a) deceitful tear, of-a sudden faintness.
Conosco i mille modi dell' amorose frodi,
I-know the thousand ways of-[the] loving deceptions,
i vezzi e l'arti facili per adescare un cor.
the caresses and the-skills easy to entice a heart.
So anch'io la virtu magica per inspirare amor,
Know also-I the virtue magic to inspire love,
(I also know the magic power to inspire love,)
conosco l'effetto ah! si, per inspirare amor .
I-know the-effect, ah, yes, to inspire love.
Ho testa bizzarra, son pronta, vivace,
I-have head whimsical, I-am alert, vivacious
(I have a whimsical mind; I am alert, vivacious;)
brillare mi piace, mi piace scherzar.
to-scintillate me it-pleases, me it-pleases to-banter.
Se monto in furore di rado sto al segno,
If I-mount in fury of rare I-remain to-the sign,
(If I become angry, I rarely remain that way,)
ma in riso lo sdegno fo presto a cangiar.
but in laughter the wrath I-make quickly to change.
(but I turn wrath quickly into laughter. )
Ho testa bizzarra, ma core eccellente, ah!
I-have head whimsical, but heart excellent, ah!
(I have a whimsical mind, but a very fine heart. )
Translation copyright © l972 by G. Schirmer, Inc.; used by
permission from their book Bringing Arias to Life, by Boris
Goldovsky and Arthur Schoep, New York: G. Schirmer.