SCENE IV
|
||
Aufidio with guards; the aforementioned.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
Soon must thou, Cecilio,
|
||
follow my steps.
|
||
Giunia
|
||
Perhaps… to death?…
|
||
Speak… Tell me…
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
I know not.
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Let us take a last embrace,
|
||
come, my precious one…
|
||
Giunia
|
||
(To Aufidio.)
|
||
Answer… Oh heaven!
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
I do ever obey and keep silent.
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Let us not lose
|
||
the fleeting moment, my life,
|
||
that fate hath bestowed upon us. I go, I leave thee.
|
||
Receive in thy tender embrace,
|
||
my soul, all of me.
|
||
Giunia
|
||
Oh beloved bridegroom… Oh gods!
|
||
If torment can kill,
|
||
why do I not die, now, close to thee?
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
O my dearest, that weeping,
|
||
thou knowest not how within my breast… Alas! Let it suffice thee…
|
||
yes, let it suffice thee to know that in this hour
|
||
thy tears grieve me more
|
||
than the tyrannous death that awaits me.
|
||
No. 21 Aria
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Beloved eyes,
|
||
weep not,
|
||
ye cause me to die
|
||
before I am dead.
|
||
This faithful soul
|
||
will return,
|
||
hovering around you,
|
||
distilled into sighs.
|
||
(Exit with Aufidio and guards.)
|
||
SCENE V
|
||
Giunia alone.
|
||
Accompanied Recitative
|
||
Giunia
|
||
My betrothed… my life… Whither, ah…
|
||
whither away?
|
||
May I not follow thee? And who restrains
|
||
my steps?… Who can bid me?… But all around
|
||
in my misery I perceive naught
|
||
but silence and dread! Heaven itself
|
||
heeds me no more and forsakes me. Alas, maybe,
|
||
maybe my dearest
|
||
from his severed veins
|
||
already pours his soul and blood…
|
||
Alas, before he expires,
|
||
bowed over his bleeding body
|
||
I wish to die… Why do I tarry?
|
||
Bereft of hope, wherefore do I delay?
|
||
Do I hear, or seem I but to catch
|
||
the dull sound of a feeble voice,
|
||
summoning me to itself? Ah, my betrothed,
|
||
if these are the last broken sounds
|
||
of thy voice,
|
||
I hasten, I fly to fall where thou hast fallen.
|
||
No. 22 Aria
|
||
Giunia
|
||
Hedged about by gloomy thoughts of death
|
||
I see in fancy my lifeless spouse;
|
||
with ice-cold hand he shows me
|
||
the fresh, gory wound.
|
||
He speaks: "Why dost thou hesitate to die"?
|
||
Already I falter, faint and die,
|
||
and speed toward my adored dead bridegroom,
|
||
like some faithful shade I desire to follow him.
|
||
(Exit.)
|
||
Hall. |
||
SCENE VI
|
||
Silla, Cinna, Celia, senators, people and guards.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Silla
|
||
No longer, Celia, Cinna. Rome and Senate
|
||
shall ye be judges
|
||
of my righteousness and the crimes of others.
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Cecilio's life can,
|
||
more than thou wouldst have it,
|
||
be of use to thee.
|
||
Celia
|
||
Thy life…
|
||
distraught Giunia…
|
||
her consort mourned for dead and to her arms restored…
|
||
Silla
|
||
I know that ever more do I become the object of common hatred.
|
||
But a betrayed dictator
|
||
will have revenge, and he shall have it. Weary am I
|
||
of constant dread and trembling. A life
|
||
of agitation and uncertainty is,
|
||
in barbaric fear,
|
||
a life at any moment to be ended.
|
||
Celia
|
||
In vain dost thou hope, if thou hopest
|
||
in sinister and bloody devastation
|
||
thou wouldst find rest and certainty.
|
||
Cinna
|
||
The raving Giunia
|
||
wilt thou see
|
||
fill the streets
|
||
with her laments and tears.
|
||
These eyes in tears
|
||
can in the bosom of thy foe arouse…
|
||
Silla
|
||
Better than thou dost think do I perceive the danger.
|
||
Love, glory, vengeance,
|
||
wrath and fear do I feel
|
||
assail my heart. Each would
|
||
prevail. Love doth caress.
|
||
It scorneth my glory. Wrath enflames me
|
||
and cold fear hath me in icy grasp.
|
||
Vengeance impels me and threatens me.
|
||
The prey of wild sensations
|
||
and ready for defence,
|
||
is Silla's heart the victor or the vanquished?
|
||
But at the last 'its the noble deed
|
||
that doth decide whether I do merit
|
||
the laurels of glory
|
||
that o'ershadow my brow.
|
||
Rome and the world shall be my judge.
|
||
SCENE VII
|
||
Giunia with guards; the aforementioned.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Giunia
|
||
Cowardly spirit. What dost thou require of Giunia?
|
||
What wilt thou? A wretched traitor
|
||
do Rome and the Senate suffer
|
||
with such dullness and apathy?
|
||
Patricians and senators,
|
||
of you do I request vengeance and pity. Pity doth
|
||
the unhappy bride entreat, and revenge will she have
|
||
for the departed shade of a Roman and for her husband
|
||
who still lies in his own blood.
|
||
Silla
|
||
Calm thy rage. Dry thy lovely lashes.
|
||
Useless are the tears
|
||
and futile the rage. Before the face of Rome
|
||
will I have thee as witness of my crimes and cruelty.
|
||
In this place wilt thou soon acquaint
|
||
thyself with Silla's heart.
|
||
FINAL SCENE
|
||
Cecilio, Aufidio, guards and the aforementioned.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Giunia
|
||
(My betrothed?)
|
||
Cinna
|
||
(What do I see?)
|
||
Celia
|
||
(What is the secret?)
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
(What is that?)
|
||
Silla
|
||
Let all Rome, the Senate
|
||
and the people hear me. I bring before you
|
||
an banished citizen
|
||
who dared secretly to break the Law.
|
||
He it is, who, armed with a sword,
|
||
before my guards did try at the Capitol
|
||
to murder his ruler.
|
||
He seeks no pardon, indeed fears me not,
|
||
he maligns and hates me. This now is the moment
|
||
that decides his fate. Silla here asserts
|
||
the power that Rome
|
||
invests in him. Giunia shall hear me
|
||
and insult me if she can. This vile Silla,
|
||
proud tyrant, hated by all,
|
||
decrees that Cecilio shall live and be thy husband.
|
||
(He presents him to Giunia.)
|
||
Giunia
|
||
It were true?… My life…
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Faithful bride… what joy…
|
||
what a transformation is this?
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
(What did occur?)
|
||
Celia
|
||
(The gods be praised!)
|
||
Cinna
|
||
(I stand here full of wonder.)
|
||
Silla
|
||
Patricians and senators. I desire of you now
|
||
that all whose names here stand written –
|
||
(He presents the scheet to a senator.)
|
||
here are contained the names
|
||
of banished citizens –
|
||
may now return to native hearth.
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Oh, how worthy, now, thou art
|
||
of this high splendour that doth surround thee.
|
||
Giunia
|
||
At last dost thou see me compelled thee to admire.
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
(Alas, certain ruin
|
||
do I see before me.)
|
||
Silla
|
||
Amid
|
||
the general jubilation and so much praise
|
||
sincerely given to Silla from every lip,
|
||
why is Cinna only from me parted,
|
||
sighs and is silent,
|
||
lost in gloomy thought?
|
||
(He wants to embrace him.)
|
||
Faithful friend…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Oh, cease
|
||
to call me so. You shall know that all the time
|
||
I have concealed the fiercest hatred toward you
|
||
in my breast. Through my labours
|
||
did Cecilio return to Rome. I ran to the Capitol
|
||
to pierce thee through, and armed, not far away,
|
||
a hundred valiant men,
|
||
I alone incited discord,
|
||
was the danger for thee…
|
||
Silla
|
||
Thou hast spoken enough, and all have I comprehended.
|
||
Celia
|
||
(Sweet hope farewell.)
|
||
Silla
|
||
Now dost thou perceive the punishment
|
||
of secret conspiracy:
|
||
Celia, my sister, shall be thy wife.
|
||
Giunia
|
||
(What virtue!)
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
(What a magnanimous heart!)
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Oh righteous heaven, how shameful
|
||
blushes burn my face.
|
||
How can I…
|
||
Silla
|
||
Thy tortures of conscience do suffice me. I forget all.
|
||
Celia
|
||
(How happy am I!)
|
||
(To Cinna.)
|
||
Reward at last
|
||
my constant love! Prove yourself
|
||
worthy of the grace and of the virtue
|
||
and compassion of his manly heart…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Here is my hand.
|
||
Silla
|
||
Which of my victories
|
||
can compare to this, o eternal gods?
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
Let me at thy feet
|
||
entreat pardon of thee. My counsel,
|
||
the flattering praise
|
||
now do I rue…
|
||
Silla
|
||
Rise, Aufidio! I forgive thee.
|
||
Thus do I crown
|
||
my laudable work. Romans, friends!
|
||
From my head I now remove
|
||
the victorious and honourable laurel wreath:
|
||
No longer am I your ruler, I am become as you.
|
||
(He removes the laurel wreath.)
|
||
Herewith be freedom given
|
||
to our native land. May the people's tears
|
||
be dried. No. Greatness
|
||
is not the highest treasure. It is the mother
|
||
of care, fear,
|
||
deception, betrayal. It often leads
|
||
the blind mortal away from the path
|
||
of mercy and justice.
|
||
I know now
|
||
that innocence and a virtuous heart
|
||
are to the soul more welcome
|
||
than false glory.
|
||
No. 23 Finale with Chorus [Ciaccona]
|
||
Chorus
|
||
Great Silla, before the face of Rome,
|
||
which owes him life and breath,
|
||
stands today as victor
|
||
beyond all praise and fame.
|
||
Giunia and Cecilio
|
||
The fate, bitter for him,
|
||
is bliss for me.
|
||
Cinna and Silla
|
||
And Latium's liberty
|
||
snaps its chains.
|
||
Chorus
|
||
Great Silla stands today
|
||
high above all praise.
|
||
Giunia, Cecilio, [Celia], Cinna, Silla, [Aufidio]
|
||
Virtue and mercy
|
||
have triumphed over a base love.
|
||
Silla [and Aufidio]
|
||
There is no triumph to equal
|
||
the victory over one's own heart.
|
||
Chorus
|
||
Upon the Capitol
|
||
all Rome merrily exults and is jubilant for Silla,
|
||
high above all fame and praise
|
||
he stands today as conqueror.
|
||
End of the opera.
|