BONONCINI: Pupille Nere
O dark eyes,
You cause cities and towers
To topple with but a single glance.
My heart is nothing in comparison;
Weak as clay, what chance does it have
Of resisting you?
DONAUDY: Sento nel core
I feel in my heart a certain sorrow
Which goes on disturbing my peace;
There shines a torch that inflames my soul;
If it is not love, it will be love soon.
HANDEL: Bel piacere
‘Tis great pleasure to enjoy,
To enjoy a faithful love!
This brings contentment to the heart.
Splendor is not measured by beauty,
If it does not come from a faithful heart.
MOZART: Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte
Generated by ardent fantasy; in a rapturous hour brought into this world—perish, you children of melancholy!
You owe the flames your existence, so I restore you now to the fire, with all your rapturous songs. For alas! He sang them not to me alone.
I burn you now, and soon, you love letters,
There will be no trace of you here. Yet, alas! The man himself who wrote you may still perhaps burn long in me.
MENDELSSOHN: Frühlingslied, No. 1, op. 19
In the forest, little birds are singing sweet sounds;
Along the heath are blooming beautiful flowers in the May shine.
Thus blooms my valiant courage, when it thinks of her goodness, which enriches my spirit as dreams do for poor men.
Hope has set my expectation upon high things, may I be successful with her, so that a sweet lot may yet fall to me.
I rejoice in this expectation: May God grant that I complete it, that she does not change the illusion that makes me so fervently happy.
BRAHMS: Vergebliches Ständchen
Good evening, my treasure, good evening sweet girl! I come from love of you, ah, open the door, open the door for me!
My door is locked, and I won’t let you in: My mother has advised me well! If you came in, it would be all over for me!
The night is so cold, and the wind so icy that my heart will freeze, and my love will be extinguished! Open for me, sweet girl!
If your love starts dying, then let it be extinguished! If it keeps dying, go home to bed, and rest!
Goodnight, my boy!
CHAUSSON: Le charme
When I caught your smile, I felt all my being atremble, but what has conquered my mind I did not know at first.
When your glance rested on me, I felt my soul melting, but what this emotion might be I could not explain at first. What conquered me forever was a much sadder charm; and I only realized I loved you when I saw you shed your first tear.
DEBUSSY: Romance
The spent and suffering soul, the sweet soul, the soul steeped in the divine lilies I gathered in the garden of your thoughts, where have the winds dispersed it, this adorable lilies’ soul?
Does not a single scent remain of the heavenly softness of the days when you enclosed me in a supernatural mist, made of hope, of faithful love, of bliss and of peace?
HAHN: Si mes vers avaient des ailes!
My verses would flee, sweet and frail, to your garden so fair, if my verses had wings, like a bird. They would fly like sparks to your smiling hearth, if my verses had wings, like the mind.
Pure and faithful, to your side they’d hasten night and day, if my verses had wings, like love!
FLORA BAZA QUAN: Hågu
You somehow stepped into my life and you bring sunshine to my eyes.
You make my world worth living for and you make me hold onto my dreams once more.
You, my friend, give me strength that will never end.
Do believe in me, for I believe in you, and the two of us will see it through
And I know that you are feeling the way I do
KIMIÉ MINER: O ʻoe hoʻokahi/Hoʻomālamalama
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You’ll never know dear how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
