E Susanna non vien..

Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (7 November 1926 - 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s. One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's Alcina. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, "supremely" pinpoint staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti once called Sutherland the "Voice of the Century"; Montserrat Caballé described the Australian's voice as being like "heaven"...

Lyrics & English Translation

And Susanna hasn't come!
I'm anxious to know
How the Count took the proposition.
The plan seems to me a little rash,
And against such a quick and jealoushusband!
But what harm is there in it?
To change my clothes with Susanna's,
And hers with mine under cover of night.
Oh, Heaven! What a fatal comedown
I'm reduced to by a cruel husband!
Who, after he had me, [gave me] an
unheard-of mixture
Of infidelity, jealousy and rage!
First loved, then insulted, and
at last betrayed,
You force me to seek help from one
of my maids!

Where are the lovely moments
Of sweetness and pleasure?
Where have the promises gone
That came from those lying lips?
Why, if all is changed for me
Into tears and pain,
Has the memory of that goodness
Not vanished from my breast?
Ah! if only, at least, my faithfulness,
Which still loves amidst its suffering,
Could bring me the hope
Of changing that ungrateful heart!


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