Saturday, July 30, 2011

Madamina, il catalogo e' questo – Don Giovanni

Miss, this is the catalog 
Of all the beauties that my master has loved;
A catalog that I have made myself.
Look at it, read it with me.
In Italy 640,
In Germany 231,
100 in France, in Turkey 91,
But in Spain 1,003!
Various women – peasants
servants and city girls,
countesses, baronesses,
marchionesses, princesses,
Women of every rank,
Of every shape and age.

In the blondes, he usually
Praises their kindness
The brunettes their constancy,
The older ones their sweetness.
In the winter, he likes the chubby one,
In the summer, he likes the skinny one;
The tall ones, he calls majestic, 
The young girl is always charming ...
The older ones make a conquest
Simply for the pleasure of adding them to the list;
but his predominant passion
is the young beginner
It’s not about whether she’s rich,
Or ugly, or beautiful;
Just so long as she’s wearing a skirt,
You know what happens then!

Bryn Terfel as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Ferrara, 1997. Conductor: Claudio Abbado. 

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