Saturday, August 27, 2011

Ella giammai m'amò – Don Carlo


She never loved me...!
No, that heart is closed to me,
She has no love for me...!
I can still see her
How sad she seemed
The day she saw my white hair
When she came here from France.
No, she has no love for me.


Where am I...? Those torches
They’ve nearly burned out...!
The sunrise brightens my balcony!
Dawn is already breaking!
I see my days passing slowly!
Sleep, O God!
Vanished from my languishing eyes!
I will sleep alone in my royal mantle
When my day has reached evening;
I will sleep alone under the dark vault
There, in the Escurial tomb!
If the regal crown could give me power
To read the hearts, that God alone can see...!
If the prince is sleeping, the traitor is waking;
The king loses his crown, and his honor! 


Boris Christoff sings King Phillip's aria from Verdi's Don Carlo.
His voice is not quite in its prime, but still has incredible and unique qualities.
Vienna, 1980s.

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