# Favorite romantic lines from opera



## OperaChic (Aug 26, 2015)

I was recently reminded of one of my favorite romantic lines from opera when posted this line from Il Trovatore in another thread:

_Sei tu dal ciel disceso,
o in ciel son io con te?_

Have you come down from heaven,
or am I in heaven with you?

Another one of my favorites is from La boheme:

_Ho tante cose che ti voglio dire, 
o una sola, ma grande come il mare, 
come il mare profonda ed infinita... 
Sei il mio amore e tutta la mia vita!
_

I have so many things that I want to say to you
Or just one, but it's as big as the sea
As deep and infinite as the sea...
You are my love and my whole life!

What are some of your most memorable romantic declarations in opera?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Vien ... venere splende!
Come, Venus is shining.
(Love duet from _Otello_)

Ah! dolce notte! quante stelle!
Non le vidi mai sì belle!
Trema, brilla ogni favilla
col baglior d'una pupilla.
Oh! quanti occhi fisi, attenti,
d'ogni parte a riguardar!
pei firmamenti, via pei lidi,
via pel mare...ride il ciel!
Ah! dolce notte!
Tutto estatico d'amor,
ride il ciel!

_Oh, lovely night! What a lot of stars!
Never have I seen them so beautiful!
Every spark twinkles and shines
with the brilliance of an eye.
Oh! What a lot of eyes fixed and staring,
looking at us from all sides!
In the sky, along the shore,
out to sea...the sky is smiling!
Oh, lovely night!
In an ecstasy of love
the sky is smiling!_

(Love duet from Madama Butterfly)


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Berlioz - Les Troyens - Nuit d'Ivresse

DIDON, ÉNÉE
Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie!
Blonde Phoebé, grands astres de sa cour,
Versez sur nous votre lueur bénie;
Fleurs des cieux, souriez à l'immortel amour!

DIDON
Par une telle nuit, le front ceint de cytise,
Votre mère Vénus suivit le bel Anchise
Aux bosquets de l'Ida.

ÉNÉE
Par une telle nuit, fou d'amour et de joie,
Troïlus vint attendre aux pieds des murs de Troie
La belle Cressida.

...

DIDO, AENEAS
Endlessly intoxicating night of ecstasy!
Golden Phoebe, and you, great stars of her court,
Shine upon us your blessed light;
Heavenly flowers, smile upon eternal love!

DIDO
On such a night, crowned with golden laburnum,
Your mother Venus followed the fair Anchises
To the groves of Mount Ida.

AENEAS
On such a night, headlong in joyous love,
Troilus came to the foot of Troy's walls
To await the lovely Cressida.

And my favourite version of it...


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

OperaChic said:


> I was recently reminded of one of my favorite romantic lines from opera when posted this line from Il Trovatore in another thread:
> 
> _Sei tu dal ciel disceso,
> o in ciel son io con te?_
> ...


SNAP!

Those two are also my favourites!

I also love the poetry in Isolde's Liebstod.

N.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

There are many, of course...

But I have always found fascinating this declaration of love from a mature man, to her wife, a much younger woman, and shared with none other than the rival for the love of the woman:


Lyubvi vsye vozrasti 
pokorni, 
Yeyo porivi blagotvorni 
i yunoshe v rastsvyete lyet 
yedva uvidevshemu svyet, 
i zakalyonnomu sudboi 
boitsu s sedoyu golovoi! 
Onegin, ya skrivat ne stanu, 
Bezumno ya lyublyu Tatyanu! 
Love doesn't respect age,
it gives its blessing alike
those in the bloom of youth
yet unacquainted with the world
than to the grey headed warrior
experienced in the ways of the world!
Onegin, I won't disguise the fact
that I'm madly in love with Tatyana!


The translation is not mine, I can't speak Russian.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

It's not so much a favourite romantic line for me, but it has become one outside of the opera world. In Verdi's Falstaff, Fenton sing to Nannetta:

_Come ti vidi
M'innamorai,
E tu sorridi
Perchè lo sai.
_
_When I saw you I fell in love
And you smiled because you knew._

Because of the Shakespearian source material, it was widely assumed this was from Shakespeare, but it's Arrigo Boito's own lyric. Thanks to Internet folk always liking to correct others, he's now getting the credit he deserves. Who could have supposed that his name would be known outside of the opera world because of a translated rhyme?

Do take a look at the Google images link:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Whe...+smiled+because+you+knew&source=lnms&tbm=isch


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Probably the greatest romantic line was said by Siegfried:

"That's not a man!"


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

SeptimalTritone said:


> Probably the greatest romantic line was said by Siegfried:
> 
> "That's not a man!"


It was not funny the first time.
It is one of the most beautiful scenes in any opera and people mock it.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

schigolch's post reminded me of another unforgettable declaration of love based on Pushkin's words and Tchaikovsky's melody. I won't pretend to understand the Russian either, but even in translation it's powerful stuff:

_I love you, love you beyond all measure,
I cannot conceive a day without you,
I am ready to accomplish for our sake
A heroic task requiring matchless strength.
But be assured I do not wish in any way
To restrict the liberty of your heart,
I am ready to hide my feelings in order to please you
And master the heat of jealousy,
I am ready to do any thing, anything for you!
I should like to be not simply a loving husband
Or a sometimes useful servant,
But your friend and always your consoler.
Yet I see clearly and feel it now
How I allowed myself to be misled by my dreams,
How little trust you have in me, how alien and
How remote I seem to you.
Oh! I am tormented by this remoteness,
All my soul shares in your suffering,
Your sadness is mine. Your tears, I weep them too!
Oh! I am tormented by this remoteness.
All my soul shares in your suffering!_


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## akhchew (Sep 14, 2011)

So many.. where to start? For the most the ones I remember are because the music frames the words to perfection!

FAUST
Eternelle! O nuit d'amour!
Ciel radieux! Ô douces flammes!
Le bonheur silencieux verse les cieux
Les cieux dans nos âmes!


MARGUERITE
Je veux t'aimer et te chérir!
Parle encore! Je t'appartiens!
Je t'adore! Pour toi je veux mourir!
Parle..parle encore! Ah! je t'adore.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Before framing and legally killing his wife, Beatrice di Tenda, Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, sings this passionate declaration of love to Agnese del Maino, with lyrics by Felice Romani, and music by Vincenzo Bellini:


O divina Agnese! 
Come t'adoro, e quanto
Solo il mio cor può dirti:
Gioia mi sei nel pianto,
Pace nel mio furor.

Se della terra il trono
Dato mi fosse offrirti,
Ah! non varrebbe il dono,
Cara del tuo bel cor

Oh, divine Agnes!.
thou alone wouldst fill up
my whole heart. 
How I love thee,
my heart can only tell.
Thou changest tears to joy
and fury to peace.
If I possesed the thrones
of the whole Earth
I should not have a gift for thee
worthy of thy heart

The translation is again not mine. Tough, in this case, I'm fluent in Italian, the one above is so delicious and old-fashioned, that it's surely better to share it.

Let's hear a rendition by the Italian baritone Antonio Salvadori:


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## Queen of the Nerds (Dec 22, 2014)

Becca said:


> Berlioz - Les Troyens - Nuit d'Ivresse
> 
> DIDON, ÉNÉE
> Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie!
> ...


OK... Not to digress, but that's also MY favorite version!!!


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

"_In vano un dio rivale s'oppone all'amor mio. Non può nemmen un dio, donna, rapirti a me._" especially when sung by Cappuccilli.


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## pcnog11 (Nov 14, 2016)

The duet between Pamina and Papageno in the Magic Flute:

Duetto.

Bey Männern, welche Liebe fühlen,
Fehlt auch ein gutes Herze nicht.

Papageno.
Die süßen Triebe mit zu fühlen,
Ist dann der Weiber erste Pflicht.

Beyde.
Wir wollen uns der Liebe freu'n, 
Wir leben durch die Lieb allein.

Pamina.
Die Lieb' versüßet jede Plage,
Ihr opfert jede Kreatur.

Papageno.
Sie würzet unsre Lebenstage,
Sie wirkt im Kreise der Natur. 

Beyde.
Ihr hoher Zweck zeigt deutlich an,
Nichts edlers sey, als Weib und Mann.
Mann und Weib, und Weib und Mann,
Reichen an die Götter an.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Wagner Siegfried: "Das ist kein man!!" :lol:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Vien ... venere splende!
> Come, Venus is shining.
> (Love duet from _Otello_)
> 
> ...


This will do for me.


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## russetvelvet (Oct 14, 2016)

Might be bizarre, but I found it nevertheless touching:

"Hai un sposo e padre in me" - Don Ottavio telling the newly bereft Donna Anna that he can love her as both husband and father.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

_The prologue to Götterdämmerung:

BRÜNNHILDE
O heilige Götter!
Hehre Geschlechter!
Weidet euer Aug'
an dem weihvollen Paar!
Getrennt - wer will es scheiden?
Geschieden - trennt es sich nie!

SIEGFRIED
Heil dir, Brünnhilde,
prangender Stern!

BRÜNNHILDE
Heil dir, Siegfried,
*siegendes Licht!*

SIEGFRIED
Heil, strahlende Liebe!

BRÜNNHILDE
Heil, strahlendes Leben!

BEIDE
Heil! Heil!_

BRÜNNHILDE
O sacred gods!
Supreme beings!
Feast your eyes
on this dedicated pair!
Apart, who shall separate us?
Separate, we shall never part!

SIEGFRIED

Hail you Brünnhilde
radiant star!

BRÜNNHILDE

Hail you Siegfried,
victorious light!

SIEGFRIED

Hail, shining love!

BRÜNNHILDE

Hail, shining life!

BOTH
Hail! Hail!


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

I have kissed your mouth.


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

SimonTemplar said:


> I have kissed your mouth.


Romantic, until you realize what's actually going on on stage! :lol:


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

One tender line that has stuck in my memory comes from Gerard Hoffnung's _Let's Fake an Opera_

(to the tune of 'La Ci Darem...')

"So cross my palm with silver
And I will tell you all your fate.
Mate".


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

From Bellini's I PURITANI, Act II...

Elvira (to a weeping Riccardo):
M'odi, m'odi e dimmi --
Amasti mai?

Riccardo:
Gli occhi affissi sul mio volto,
ben mi guarda e lo vedrai...

Elvira:
Ah! Se piangi, ancor tu sai...
Che un cor fido nell'amor
Sempre vivo nel dolor!

English translation...

Elvira:
Listen, and tell me -- 
Have you ever loved?

Riccardo:
Fix your eyes upon my face --
Look closely, and you will see.

Elvira:
Ah! If you weep, then you know
That when a faithful heart loves, 
It lives always in pain!


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

[Raoul & Christine]
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Love me, that's all I ask of you

[Phantom]
I gave you my music, made your song take wing.
And now, how you've repaid me, denied me and betrayed me.
He was bound to love you, when he heard you sing.
Christine, Christine.

[Raoul & Christine]
Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you
Share each day with me, each night, each morning...

[Phantom]
You will curse the day you did not do!
All that the Phantom asked of you!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

"Ti amo". Found in every Italian opera ever written.


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