Questa o quella

Opera details:

Opera title:	Rigoletto
Composer:	Giuseppe Verdi
Language:	Italian
Synopsis:	Rigoletto Synopsis
Libretto:	Rigoletto Libretto
Translation(s):	English Deutsch

Aria details:

Type:	aria
Role(s):	Duke of Mantua
Voice(s):	Tenor
Act:	1.03

Previous scene:	Della mia bella incognita
Next scene:	Gran nuova gran nuova

José Carreras: Verdi - Rigoletto, 'Questa o quella'

Singer: José Carreras

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Josep Maria Carreras i Coll (Catalan pronunciation: [?u?z?p k??re??s]; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (Spanish pronunciation: [xo?se ka?re?as]), is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, he made his debut on the opera stage at the age of 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro and went on to a career that encompassed over 60 roles on the stages of the world's leading opera houses and in the recording studio. He gained fame with a wider audience as one of The Three Tenors along with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti in a series of mass concerts that began in 1990 and continued until 2003. Carreras is also known for his humanitarian work as the president of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (La Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia), which he established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988...

Lyrics & English Translation

This girl or that girl are just
the same to me,
to all the others around me
I won't give away my heart
to this beauty nor to the others.
Their charm is a gift
Given by destiny to embellish their lives
If today I love this one
I'll probably love someone else tomorrow.
We hate constancy, the heart's tyrant,
as if it were a cruel plague,
Let those who wish to be faithful
keep their fidelity alive;
There is no love without freedom.
The rage of jealous husbands
and lovers' woes I despise,
I can defy Argo's hundred eyes
If I fancy a beautiful girl.

A link to this wonderful artists personal Website:

Please enjoy!

I send my kind and warm regards,

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Libretto/Lyrics/Text/Testo:

DUCA
Né sventura per me certo saria.

Questa o quella per me pari sono
A quant'altre d'intorno mi vedo;
Del mio core l'impero non cedo
Meglio ad una che ad altra beltà.
La costoro avvenenza è qual dono
Di che il fato ne infiora la vita;
S'oggi questa mi torna gradita
Forse un'altra doman lo sarà.

La costanza, tiranna del core,
Detestiamo qual morbo crudele.
Sol chi vuole si serbi fedele;
Non v'è amor se non v'è libertà.
De' mariti il geloso furore,
Degli amanti le smanie derido;
Anco d'Argo i cent'occhi disfido
Se mi punge una qualche beltà.

Entra il Conte di Ceprano, che segue da lungi la sua sposa servita da altro cavaliere; dame e signori che entrano da varie parti.

DUCA
alla signora di Ceprano movendo ad incontrarla con molta galanteria
Partite? … Crudele!

CONTESSA DI CEPRANO
Seguire lo sposo
M'è forza a Ceprano.

DUCA
Ma dee luminoso
In corte tal astro qual sole brillare.
Per voi qui ciascuno dovrà palpitare.
Per voi già possente la fiamma d'amore
Inebria, conquide, distrugge il mio core.

CONTESSA
Calmatevi …

Il Duca le dà il braccio ed esce con lei.
Entra Rigoletto che s'incontra nel signor di Ceprano, poi cortigiani.

RIGOLETTO
In testa che avete,
Signor di Ceprano?
Ceprano fa un gesto d'impazienza e segue il Duca. Rigoletto dice ai cortigiani.
Ei sbuffa, vedete?

BORSA, CORO
Che festa!

RIGOLETTO
Oh sì...

BORSA, CORO
Il Duca qui pur si diverte!

RIGOLETTO
Così non è sempre? che nuove scoperte!
Il giuoco ed il vino, le feste, la danza,
Battaglie, conviti, ben tutto gli sta.
Or della Contessa l'assedio egli avanza,
E intanto il marito fremendo ne va.

Esce. Entra Marullo premuroso.

English Libretto or Translation:

DUKE
That wouldn't worry me at all.

Neither is any different
from the rest I see around me;
I never yield my heart
to one beauty more than another.
Feminine charm is a gift bestowed
by fate to brighten our lives.
And if one woman pleases me today,
tomorrow, like as not, another will.
Fidelity ? that tyrant of the heart –
we shun like pestilence.
Only those who want to should be faithful;
without freedom there is no love.
I find the ravings of jealous husbands
and the frenzy of lovers ridiculous;
once smitten by a pretty face
I'd not let Argus' hundred eyes deter me!

Count Ceprano enters and, from a distance, watches his wife who is on the arm of another man; more ladies and gentlemen enter.

DUKE
to Ceprano's wife, greeting her with great gallantry
You are leaving us? How cruel!

COUNTESS CEPRANO
I must go with my husband
to Ceprano.

DUKE
So bright a star should be shedding
its brilliance on my court.
You would make every heart beat faster here.
The fires of passion already flare
headily, conquering, consuming my heart.

COUNTESS
Calm yourself!

The Duke gives her his arm and leads her out.
Rigoletto meets Ceprano, then the courtiers.

RIGOLETTO
What have you on your head,
my lord of Ceprano?
Ceprano reacts with an angry gesture, then follows his wife and the Duke. Rigoletto says to the courtiers.
He's fuming, did you see?

BORSA, CHORUS
What sport!

RIGOLETTO
Oh, yes!

BORSA, CHORUS
The Duke is enjoying himself!

RIGOLETTO
Doesn't he always? That's nothing new.

Gaming and wine, parties, dancing,
battles and banquets ? anything goes.
Now he's laying siege to the Countess
while her husband goes off in a rage.

He leaves the room. Marullo enters excitedly.