Words by Carla Passino - Photos courtesy of Andreas Tille
I will confess: It made me cry. More than once. But then again, E lucean le stelle is one of the most moving romanzas of Italian opera.
The melody is sad, yearning, full of regret and impending doom. And the words capture both the joy of life—the smell of the soil, the sound of a door opening, soft footfalls, the rustle of a dress—and the despair of death.
Short but emotionally powerful, E Lucean le Stelle is sung in the third act of Puccini’s Tosca, as Mario Cavaradossi, the leading male character, prepares for his execution.
Tosca is perhaps the darkest of Puccini’s operas, so much so that its very first prima in Rome in 1899 was a flop, as the public deemed it too different and much gloomier than the composer’s previous work, the acclaimed La Boheme. But it is also his most powerful and emotionally compelling one—indeed, after that initial flop, the opera went on to achieve overwhelming success.
The story is a mix of jealousy and political intrigue. Cavaradossi, an artist and Napoleon sympathizer, shelters the former Roman consul and political dissident Angelotti, who managed to escape from prison. The evil baron Scarpia, who runs the Pope’s police service, is trying to recapture Angelotti and is suspicious of Cavaradossi, whom he hates anyway because he wants the artist’s lover, beautiful singer Floria Tosca.
Determined to get rid of his love rival, Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi and gives orders to have him tortured to extract from him the information about Angelotti’s hiding place. He also forces Tosca to listen to her lover being tortured. Even though Cavaradossi has begged her to keep Angelotti’s secret, Tosca breaks down and reveals to Scarpia where the former consul is hiding. As a result, Cavaradossi turns his back on her. Just at that moment, the news arrives about Napoleon’s victory at the battle of Marengo. Cavaradossi rejoices, and Scarpia uses this as an opportunity to accuse him of treason and sentence him to death. Tosca begs for a pardon, which the baron says he will grant if she agrees to sleep with him. After chiding God for having put her in such a dire situation (with the exceptional Vissi d'arte), Tosca gives in. Scarpia then leads her to believe that Cavaradossi will only face a mock execution, then tries to get his way with her. But Tosca chooses violence over dishonour, and kills him.
Meanwhile, Cavaradossi is in prison, waiting for his execution. And it is then that he sings his torment, his desire to live and love Tosca when he is forced to die. The clarinet strikes a somber note first, then the heart-rending melody begins before the tenor's powerful voice echoes the clarinet's notes half way through the romanza.
Just when the music wraps you in Cavaradossi’s pain, on stage comes Tosca, who reveals to her lover that she persuaded Scarpia to organize a mock execution for him before she killed him, and that he only has to pretend to die, then they’ll flee. The two dream of their future together.
But of course it is not to be. Treacherous Scarpia never gave the order to spare Cavaradossi , who is shot and dies. When Tosca realizes the truth, she jumps from the ramparts and kills herself. And, just to twist the knife in your heart, the orchestra ends with the yearning notes that introduced E lucean le stelle.
Italian
E lucevan le stelle,
e olezzava la terra
stridea l'uscio dell'orto
e un passo sfiorava la rena.
Entrava ella fragrante,
mi cadea fra le braccia.
O dolci baci, o languide carezze,
mentr'io fremente le belle forme disciogliea dai veli!
Svanì per sempre il sogno mio d'amore.
L'ora è fuggita, e muoio disperato!
E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!
English
And the stars shone
and the earth smelled sweet
the orchard gate creaked
and a step touched the sand.
She came in, fragrant,
And fell into my arms.
Oh, sweet kisses and languid caresses,
While I released her beautiful shape from her veils
My love dream has vanished forever.
The time has fled and I die in despair.
And I never loved life so much.
