Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni
(1787)

Excerpt from the English translation by Donald Pippin, at Pocket Opera.


Act I opening aria (Notte e giorno faticar)

Leporello:

Night and day it's toil and sweat
For a master hard to please,
Out in weather cold and wet,
Often down on hands and knees.

Why should he hold all the aces?
While he makes a gallant entry
I'm stuck outside playing sentry....

I am all for changing places;
Servant work is not for me;
Toil is not my cup of tea.
No, no, no, no, no, no,
This work is not for me.




Donna Elvira seeks vengeance for Don Giovanni's having abandoned her

Donna Elvira:

Where is the kindly person
To tell me where he's fled?
A helpless prey of passion,
By love was I misled,
Flattered, and then betrayed.

Oh, let him run for cover,
Turn from the tears I've shed.
I'll find the faithless lover
And see my pain repaid.






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