in June of last year I wrote about how much I was enjoying Jane Eaglen's
Tosca in English, on Chandos 3000:

  http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0206&L=classical&P=R14122&I=-3.

I have since picked up the English versions of Madame Butterfly (Chandos
3070) and La Boheme, the latter of which retains its French title even
when sung in English (Chandos 3008).  While neither of these match up
to Tosca, I'm still enjoying both of them very much.  As with Tosca,
I've been paying as much attention to the translations and how they
compare with the Italian and another translation.  I don't speak Italian,
but I think I'm gaining a better appreciation of Puccini -- if that were
possible -- by following along with the English and comparing it to the
Italian.  Below are a few phrases that caught my eye.  See how many you
can identify; they are in random order.  I start with the Chandos
translations; English versions in the (a) section are taken from the
booklet accompanying the EMI Callas Boheme (5 56295).

1.  "Oh!  How dreadful!  How dreadful!  The key to my poor attic!  Where
could I have left it?" "Come, don't stand in the doorway, the draft there
will blow out your candle."

2.  "I must complete the article for my new journal, The Beaver." "You
must shorten the Beaver's growing tale!"

3.  This Red Sea passage feels damp and chill to me.  See how the smoke
is lazily drifting up from the stoves all over Paris.

4.  Your tiny hand is frozen.  Let me warm it into life.

5.  As through the street I wander on my way, the people turn to look
at me, my beauty fascinates them, all eyes admire my charm, all eyes
admire my charm and my grace.

6.  Tell me how old you are, my dear M'sieur Benoit.

7.  Two lovely eyes have stolen every precious possession from my wealth
of hidden treasures.  Your roguish eyes have robbed me, of all my dreams
bereft me...

8.  I do not like a woman who is a mound of lard or whose face is too
round and moon-like, but skinny, downright skinny, No, oh no!  It is a
thin woman's satisfaction to drive us to distraction.

9.  Rodolfo loves me yet shuns me!  My dear Rodolfo is jealous, madly
jealous.  A glance, a gesture, a gift of a flower will rouse in him
suspicions.

10.  Lovely maid in the moonlight, vision entrancing enfolded in the
radiance from above; With you before me the dream that I would ever
dream, now returns!

Answers:

1a.  Oh!  sventata, sventata.  "(Mimi) Oh!  Foolish me!  Where have I
left the key to my room?" (Rodolfo) "Don't stand in the doorway; the
wind makes your light flicker." This phrase comes shortly after the first
words between Mimi and Rodolfo.  The parallel with Tosca is worth keeping
in mind.  The first 20 minutes or so of both operas contain male voices
only.  Then a female voice rings out, in both cases from off-stage.  The
women then appear on-stage in glorious voice, immediately changing the
entire feel of the performance.

2a.  Clever pun by librettists Giacosa and Illica, or was it the
English translator?  I don't know if the pun works in the original as
well.  Suffice to say that in the translation accompanying the Callas
Boheme, they translate it as "Beaver's tail," not "tale." I like the
Chandos version better.

3a.  Questo Mar Rosso mi ammolisce.  "This 'Red Sea' of mine makes
me feel cold and numb.  I'm looking at Paris, seeing the skies gray
with smoke from a thousand chimneys." The first sentence is the first
line of the opera, and the second comes just a few seconds thereafter.
I like the Chandos version of the first, but the translation in the
Callas book of the second sentence -- with the "thousand chimneys" --
to me works better.  The Chandos booklet points out that the many howlers
contained in the original translation begin with these first words: "This
Red Sea Passage feeleth damp and chill to me." David Parry did some
fine-tuning to the original translation, and there are no parts in it
that cause unintentional laughter.

4a.  Che gelida manina!  Se la lasci riscaldar.  "How cold your little
hand is!  Let me warm it for you." What everybody comes to hear.

5a.  Quando men' vo soletta per la via.  "As I walk alone through the
streets, the people stop to look and inspect my beauty." Musetta in full
flower.  And I love the libretto's line here: "Her first name is Musetta;
Her surname is Temptation!"

6a: Dica: quant'anni ha, caro Signor Benoit?  (Schaunard) "Tell me,
how old are you, dear Monsieur Benoit?" The Chandos translation, barely
different from the Callas version, is a clear winner here.  In the Chandos
version, look how Schaunard invites Benoit to join the conversation.
The Callas version makes the introduction sound too much like an
interrogation.  And the Chandos version allows Schaunard to rhyme "are"
and "Benoit" (pronounced "Benwah").  Another point of interest is how
the Chandos Schaunard (William Dazeley) sings the first sentence with a
seemingly genuine interest in Benoit's age.  But in the next sentence,
his voice turns oily, and you can just tell that he has ulterior motives
in mind.  The main ulterior motive, of course, is how to put Benoit on
the defensive and thus get out of paying the rent.

7a.  Talor dal mio forziere.  "But sometimes my strong-box is robbed
of all its jewels by two thieves: a pair of pretty eyes.  But the theft
doesn't upset me, since the empty place was filled with hope." Di Stefano
on the Callas disc absolutely soars at "Poiche, poiche v'ha preso stanza
la speranza." And the Chandos translation misses that crucial rhyme of
stanza and speranza.  This is a true goose-pimple moment, one of the
greatest in all the Puccini I'm familiar with.

8a.  Benoit's admission to Schaunard, as he falls into their trap of
avoiding paying the rent.  The Callas translation: "...a lively woman...a
bit...well, not a whale exactly or a relief-map of the world or a face
like a full moon, but not thin, really thin.  No!  Thin women are worrisome
and often...a nuisance...always full of complaints." Both translations
have their attractions.

9a.  Rodolfo m'ama e mi fugge.  "Rodolfo--he loves me but flees from me,
torn by jealousy." This is the beginning of the Mimi-Marcello duet in
which she asks him to help her break up with Rodolfo.  It in turn leads
to simultaneous dialogues that over the span of just a few minutes turns
all the relationships in the opera upside-down.  Marcello starts by
telling Mimi how much in love he is with Musetta; Mimi in turn asks
Marcello to help her break up with Rodolfo.  But as this glorious music
unfolds, Marcello argues with Musetta -- "Call yourself a painter?"
"Viper!" "Pig!" "Slut!" -- and Rodolfo reconciles with Mimi.  It's all
done together, as if Puccini is saying, "These two relationships are
going in separate ways, but because it is done to the same music, you
can see that the two different fates are just different aspects of the
same emotions." For all the attractions of the first-act arias, it's
this scene that shows Puccini's genius best.

10a.  O soave fanciulla, o dolce viso.  "Oh!  lovely girl!  Oh, sweet
face bathed in the soft moonlight.  I see in you the dream I'd dream
forever!" Thus Rodolfo and Mimi seal the deal, in this recapitulation
of their Act-One duet after Rodolfo calls down to his friends on the
street below.  In the recent production I saw, the moonlight appeared
right here.  It's probably been done that way ever since the opera's
premiere, and it is still effective.

David Parry conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.  Cynthia Haymon and
Dennis O'Neill are Mimi and Rodolfo.  This is another winner for the
Chandos Opera in English series, but I have to rate it slightly lower
than Butterfly, which in turn I rate slightly lower than Tosca.  But
all discs should suffer "lower" ratings like this.

Mitch Friedfeld