Va pensiero - Muti speech with English translation and encore

March 12, 2011, Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, Italy

Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate;-------------------Fly, thought, on wings of gold;
va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli,-------------------go settle upon the slopes and the
----------------------------------------------------------hills,
ove olezzano tepide e molli -------------------where, soft and mild, the sweet airs
l'aure dolci del suolo natal! --------------------of our native land smell fragrant!

Del Giordano le rive saluta,-------------------Greet the banks of the Jordan
di Sionne le torri atterrate... -------------------and Zion's toppled towers...
Oh mia patria sì bella e perduta!-------------Oh, my country so beautiful and lost!
Oh membranza sì cara e fatal! ---------------Oh, remembrance so dear and so ----------------------------------------------------------fatal!

Arpa d'or dei fatidici vati,------------------------Golden harp of the prophetic seers,
perché muta dal salice pendi? --------------why dost thou hang mute upon the ---------------------------------------------------------willow?
Le memorie nel petto raccendi,--------------Rekindle our bosom's memories,
ci favella del tempo che fu! --------------------and speak to us of times gone by!

O simile di Sòlima ai fati ----------------------Mindful of the fate of Jerusalem,
traggi un suono di crudo lamento,-----------give forth a sound of crude -----------------------------------------------------------lamentation,
o t'ispiri il Signore un concento ---------------or may the Lord inspire you a -----------------------------------------------------------harmony of voices
che ne infonda al patire virtù. ------------------which may instill virtue to suffering.

Category:

Music

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• muti
• va
• pensiero
• speech
• english
• translation

[LimmieP]

So moving! I still remember my first time in Italy and hearing an entire crowd in a piazza singing this chorus...the unofficial anthem of Italy.