LA GIOCONDA
Dramma lirico in four acts

Libretto
Tobia Gorrio [=Arrigo Boito],
loosely based on the play Angelo, tyran de Padoue by Victor Hugo

Premiere
8 April 1876, Milan (Teatro alla Scala)

Cast
LA GIOCONDA (Soprano)
LA CIECA (Contralto)
ALVISE BADOERO (Baritone)
LAURA (Mezzo Soprano)
ENZO GRIMALDO (Tenor)
BARNABA (Baritone)
ZUANE (Baritone)
SINGER (Bass)
ISEPO (Tenor)
PILOT (Baritone)

CHORUS
monks, senators, sailors, shipwrights, ladies, gentlemen, populace, masquer, guards

BALLET

Place
Venice

Time

ACT ONE - THE LION'S MOUTH

THE COURTYARD OF THE DUCAL PALACE, VENICE.

A day in spring. The scene is crowded with sailors and celebrating people. Barnaba is leaning against a column with a guitar slung around his neck. In the back is a door to St. Mark's Church; above the courtyard wall is a Lion's Mouth with the inscription:

FOR SECRET DENUNCIATIONS TO THE
INQUISITION AGAINST ANY PERSON WITH
IMPUNITY SECRECY AND BENEFITS
ACCORDING TO THE LAW

CHORUS OF SAILORS and PEOPLE
Feasting and bread! Our Republic
Will subjugate all nations
Until all galley crews and people
Have feasting and bread.
Mirth extinguishes thunderbolts
And sunders the chains that bind.
We sing! Who sings is free.
We laugh! Who laughs is strong.
This is the will of that God serene
Who gladdened this lagoon
With the silver of the moon
And the crimson of the sun.
Bells peal and trumpets sound.
Bread and Feasting! The bells of St. Mark
Are joyfully pealing.
Long live the Doge and the Republic!
Feasting and bread!

BARNABA
Companions! The trumpets are now
Announcing the start of the regatta.

SAILORS
To the regatta!

CROWD
To the regatta! Come, come.

The crowd exits from the courtyard.

BARNABA
Pointing to the underground prisons
They sing over their grave
While death glowers at them!
Whether the gibbet or maypole be raised,
'Tween two columns the minstrel Barnaba
Spins his web, and the filaments
Are the strings of his instrument.
With subtle work
Of hand and ear
I pick off harmful gadflies
On behalf of the State. And never
My hearing fails. If I could ensnare
For my greedy desires and soon
A most captivating buttefly!...

A blind old woman, La Cieca, enters, led by Gioconda. They walk towards the church.

GIOCONDA
Come, beloved mother.

BARNABA
withdrawing behind a column
Here she is! Back to my place.

CIECA
Daughter, who sustains my faltering steps
Bending already towards the grave,
Blessed in this darkness
That ties me to your hand.
Daughter! Daughter!
To all men
You sing your songs;
To the angels
I chant my prayers,
Blessing
This hour and destiny
And smiling
As I go on my way.

GIOCONDA
Come! For a safe journey
By me you'll be guided.
Come! Your day begins again
Its quiet and placid course.
To the angels
You chant your prayers;
To all men
I sing my songs,
Blessing
This hour and destiny,
And smiling
As I go on my way.

BARNABA
If I could only reach out to her
With my rapacious hand!
Love her and catch her
In my spider's web!
O fearsome rapture
Of my soul!
Beware! The grateful
Butterfly looks this way!

GIOCONDA
It's not yet time for Holy Vespers.
Rest here on the steps of the church,
And I will go in search of my beloved.

BARNABA
How foolish!

GIOCONDA
I'll return with Enzo.

CIECA
May God bless you.
Farewell, daughter.

BARNABA
stepping out and barring Gioconda's way
Stop.

GIOCONDA
Who is it?

BARNABA
A man who bars your way because he loves you.

GIOCONDA
Go to the devil with your guitar!
I told you once already that
I cannot bear your enigmatic face.

BARNABA
Stay. Enzo can wait.

GIOCONDA
Go away, I despise you!

BARNABA
Still you shall hear me.

GIOCONDA
You disgust me!

BARNABA
Stay ... I adore you, bewitching creature.

GIOCONDA
Go away!

BARNABA
rushing at her
You'll not escape!

GIOCONDA
You frighten me! Ah!

Gioconda runs out.

CIECA
That cry! My child!

BARNABA
The butterfly has escaped...

CIECA
Her voice,
My child! O light of my eyes,
Where are you? Where are you?

BARNABA
The Blind One screams; let her scream.

CIECA
O terrible darkness!

BARNABA
observing her
This aged spectre with outstretched hand
Could help my cause...
If the mother were in my power...

CIECA
fingering the beads of her rosary
Ave Maria...

BARNABA
I'd hold her daughter's heart in bondage...
... with unmerciful chains.
If the angel of maternal love helps me,
Gioconda will be mine! I swear to Hades!

CHORUS
off‑stage
All hail to the winner!

The winner of the regatta enters, carried in triumph by a crowd of men, women, shipwrights, Barnabite monks, among them guardsmen, Isepo and Zuane, who stands apart sadly.

SHIPWRIGHTS
to the victor
Wrists of oak!

BARNABITE MONKS
Eyes of a lynx!

SHIPWRIGHTS
Oars of iron!

WOMEN
Courageous heart!

ALL
All hail to the winner
Of the green pennant!

WOMEN
looking at Zuane
Down with the loser!

ALL
Amidst songs and flowers
Our light‑hearted band
Through the gay streets
Carries on its shoulders
The winner
Of the regatta.

BARNABA
staring at Zuane
This is the man. There's no mistake.
Master Zuane, you have a sickly look.
One could truly say that in the regatta
You did not carry off the pennant.

ZUANE
The devil take you!

BARNABA
Suppose I told you
The real reason of your misfortune?

ZUANE
I know it: my prow was overweighted.

BARNABA
Nonsense!

ZUANE
What was it then?

BARNABA
Come close, unlucky one!
Your boat is bewitched.

ZUANE
Holy Virgin!

BARNABA
An evil spell hangs
Over your head. See that blind woman...

SHIPWRIGHTS
Rejoicing and card‑playing!
Gaming and horse races!

BARNABITES
Let's gamble our purses
In a game of zara.

ALL
Let's tempt the fickle
Lady Luck in a game.
Let's play zara.

Some in the crowd take out dice and start playing “zara”.

BARNABA
This morning I saw her cast on your boat
A magic spell‑a witch's charm.

ZUANE
Horror!

BARNABA
Your boat will be your coffin.
Watch out, my brother!

SHIPWRIGHTS
Six!

BARNABITES
Five!

SHIPWRIGHTS
Three!

ALL
Zara!

CIECA
praying
Turris eburnea...
Mistica rosa...

BARNABA
to Zuane
Three times I saw her cast on your oars
Terrible words ‑ mournful curses.

ZUANE and ISEPO
Great God!

BARNABA
Your boat will be your coffin.
Watch out, my brother!

SHIPWRIGHTS
Seven!

BARNABITES
Eight!

SHIPWRIGHTS
Three!

ALL
Zara!

CIECA
Turris Davidica...
Mater gloriosa...

BARNABA
Her hair is a hovel - yonder on the Giudecca Canal;
Always she wears that shawl ‑ she's blind.
Her sockets are empty ‑ and yet (who could believe it?)
The Blind One looks at us. The Blind One sees us!

FOUR SAILORS
coming near Barnaba
She sees us!

ISEPO
O horror!

THREE SHIPWRIGHTS
What happened?

ZUANE
O sorceress!

FOUR BARNABITES
What happened? What are you mumbling?

BARNABA, ZUANE and ISEPO
Cieca can see us!

CHORUS
At her! Let's put her to death!

ZUANE
Come on...
about to rush at Cieca, then receding
I'm afraid...

BARNABA
Beware, lest her evil eye curse you.

CHORUS
To the stake with the heretic!

ZUANE
Indeed, the more I see her
The more her eyes flash forth evil rays.

BARNABA
laughing
Cieca has the evil eye.

CHORUS
Ha! Ha! What a joke!

ZUANE
to Isepo
What is she mumbling?

ISEPO
She prays.

FIRST PART OF CHORUS
Get the witch!

SECOND PART OF CHORUS
Get the witch!

BARNABA
Already the sky is darkening,
I have cast my stone,
Now the avalanche will roll!

CIECA
seized by the crowd and dragged to the middle of the stage
Help!

CHORUS
Sorceress!

CIECA
Oh! Who is dragging me? I am blind!

WOMEN
Let's see her up on the pillory!

MEN
To the piombi!

CIECA
Help! Help!

WOMEN
To the galleys!

MEN
To the pozzi!

WOMEN
Between the two columns.

BARNABA
to a patrol of his henchmen
Guards, drag her away to prison.

MEN
To the stake!

WOMEN
To the pyre!

ALL
Ah!

CIECA
Holy Virgin!

WOMEN
Torture her!

ALL
Torture her!

BARNABA
The victim is in my power; two destinies are in my hand.

ALL
Death to the witch!

Enter Gioconda, and Enzo, dressed as a Dalmatian sailor.

GIOCONDA
Mother!

ENZO
Murderers! Spare that venerable head
Or I shall draw my sword!
A brave battle you wage
Against infirmity deprived of light!
Shame! A race of cowards has been born
To the winged lion of St. Mark.

CHORUS
No; God wills what the people want.
No ‑ the witch deserves no mercy.

ENZO,
tries to free Cieca of her shackles, but the crowd prevents him
Let her go! Murderers!
The shackles tear into her. Take them away!

CHORUS
We want to try her. She must die!

ENZO
Come on, shipmates! Come to the fight!

He runs towards the canal and exits.

CIECA
Ah! Hell's fury is unleashed on me!

CHORUS
Death!

From the back appear Laura and Alvise. A velvet mask is on Laura's face.

LAURA
Mercy!

ALVISE
Rebellion!
What ‑ The people assume
Within the Ducal walls
The rights of judge
And of executioner?
Speak up, captive!
Why are you held by that mob?

CHORUS
She is a witch!

GIOCONDA
She is my mother!

LAURA
She is blind. Milord ‑ let her live!

ALVISE
Barnaba, is she guilty?

BARNABA
whispering
Yes, of witchcraft.

GIOCONDA
to Barnaba
I heard you! You lie!

ALVISE
Let her be tried.

GIOCONDA
throwing herself at Alvise's feet
Mercy ... Wait that I may speak ... Now
I can break the ice that chilled me ...
My heart surges up ... She was the angel
Of my childhood. I was ever smiling...
Now I weep...
They named me “The Joyous One”.
In songs we make our livelihood and
To all who ask I sing gay melodies,
And to God she chants
Her holy prayers.

Enzo returns with Dalmatian sailors.

ENZO
Let's save this innocent woman.

LAURA
perceiving Enzo
What face do I see?

GIOCONDA
stopping Enzo
No! Wait! This powerful lord will save her!

BARNABA
observing Laura, then Enzo
How she stares at him!

GIOCONDA
to Alvise
On your words my life depends.

BARNABA
to Alvise
She's a witch. Her evil silence proves it.

LAURA
She has a rosary!
No ‑ hell has no such piousness.

ENZO
That voice!

BARNABA and CHORUS
She must die!

LAURA
to Alvise
Save her!

ALVISE
And saved she will be.

GIOCONDA
O joy!

BARNABA
Damnation!

GIOCONDA
O joy!

CIECA
to Laura who has released her
O voice of woman or angel
Who has freed me of my chains,
My blindness forbids me
The sight of your saintly face.
Still you cannot leave me
Without a pious offering.
I offer you this rosary,
Pray, accept it.
With my prayers added
It will bring you luck.
May my benediction
Be on your head.

LAURA and ENZO
May the omnipotent God
Bear witness to her pious words!

GIOCONDA
Mother, a guardian angel
Protects you.

ALVISE
Barnaba!

BARNABA
Milord.

ALVISE
Was the hunting good
This morning?

BARNABA
I followed
In the tracks of a lion.

CHORUS
Most clearly Heaven
Protects the old woman!

Laura takes the rosary; Cieca extends her hands to bless Laura, who starts to kneel, but Alvise prevents her.

ALVISE
to Laura
What are you doing? Are you mad?
He throws a purse to Gioconda.
Lovely singer, this gold is yours.

GIOCONDA
Milord.
to Laura
Tell me your name, my unknown saviour,
So that I may say it in my prayers.

LAURA
looking at Enzo
Laura.

ENZO
It is she!

ALVISE
to Laura
Bestir yourself. We must go to church.

GIOCONDA
Mother! Beloved Enzo ‑ how I love you!

All go into church, except Enzo who remains lost in thought, and Barnaba who stands glaring at him.

BARNABA
Enzo Grimaldo, Prince of Santafior, what are you thinking?

ENZO
I am discovered.

BARNABA
That magic stupor invades you?
Are you thinking of Lady Laura Badoero?

ENZO
Who are you?

BARNABA
I know all: I can penetrate to the bottom of your thoughts.
Genoa was your birthplace...

ENZO
I am no prince; on the seas
I steer a ship; I'm Enzo Giordan ‑ Dalmatian.

BARNABA
To everybody else but not to me.
Venice has outlawed you, but a strong
Desire pulls you back once more to face death.
Once you loved a maid‑yonder on your beloved sea,
But fate condemned her to be victim of an alien marriage.

ENZO
I swore fidelity to Gioconda.

BARNABA
The wandering singer
You love like a sister, but Laura like a mistress.
Despairing of ever seeing her again on earth,
Now, under her mask, your angel appeared
And recognized you...

ENZO
O happiness! O Laura!

BARNABA
Love pierces disguises.
Tonight Badoer is at the Doge's Palace with the
Grand Council.
Laura will be aboard your ship.

ENZO
Merciful God!

BARNABA
I bring help to your anguished love.

ENZO
O my Laura, O my Laura!
O cry of my soul, bursting from a full heart!
I have found again the angel of heavenly love.
But who are you, my doleful benefactor?

BARNABA
One who detests you.
He opens his mantle and jacket and shows on his jerkin the letters in silver: C. X.
I am the powerful demon of the Council of Ten.
Read.

ENZO
How infamous!

BARNABA
I could have put you to torture; I did not.
I love Gioconda who hates me … I swore to crush her heart.
Enzo's death would be too easy. I want you to betray her.

ENZO
Great God! From her cruel sentence of grief
Save my adored Laura and return her to me.

BARNABA
Go: run to your beloved; set the sails seawards.
All my triumph is shown me by your eyes.
Well?

ENZO
At nightfall on the brigantine
I shall await Laura.

BARNABA
Good luck!

ENZO
And you be cursed!

BARNABA
Set the sails seawards.
Enzo leaves.
You curse? Well ... love blinds you.
We'll carry through this black deed:
Gioconda's idol will be destroyed...
And everything will be annulled.
He goes to the back and opens a door next to the prisons.
Isepo.

ISEPO
Master Barnaba...

BARNABA
Scrivener,
You've sold me your soul and hide
For as long as you live;
I am the hand
And you the pen -
So write.
“To the Secret Head of the Inquisition”.

Isepo writes. Meanwhile Gioconda and Cieca appear at the door of the church.

GIOCONDA
to Cieca
Hide yourself, Barnaba is there.

BARNABA
With the mariner Enzo your bride...

GIOCONDA
spying behind a pillar
O Heaven!

BARNABA
Will escape tonight
Aboard a Dalmatian brigantine.

GIOCONDA
Ah!

She disappears into the church.

BARNABA
Lower down: The Lion's Mouth.
There, hand it me. Be silent and go.
He takes the sheet and Isepo exits.
O monumentl
Ducal palace and hell hole! Evil marvel!
Glory of this and future ages;
Your wicked cruelty
Is built on two tortures.
The base are your pozzi, the peak your piombi.
Before your facade of marble and gold
Doves soar in flight.
You alternate joy and horror with secret schemes,
Here the people exult,
Here the people die.
Here sits the Doge, old skeleton
With his ceremonial headress,
Above him is the Grand Council,
That fateful oligarchy;
Above this oligarchy
Most potent of all ‑ a king: the spy.
O monument! Open your recesses.
Fling open your maw of darkness,
Even if blood should choke it!
I am the ear and your the mouth: speak!

He throws the note into the Lion's Mouth and leaves. A dancing masquerade enters; then a Barnabite, Gioconda and Cieca.

CHORUS and DANCERS
Carnival! Bacchanal!
Festive crowd of people
Come! Dance the furlana!

Strokes of a bell are heard. The dancing stops.

VOICES
from the church
Angele Dei, etc.
Glory to the Lord!

A BARNABITE
The sun is setting.
Let us hear the song
Of the Holy Vesper
Kneeling on the ground.

Everyone prostrates himself, except Gioconda who is leaning on Cieca.

CHORUS
Angele Dei, qui custos es mei, etc.

GIOCONDA
Alas ... Betrayed! God! I'm dying ... My body
Trembles ... O mother, support me ... O God! God!
O heart! Fatal gift!
Heritage o sorrow!
My destiny is this:
Either love or death!

CIECA
Come!
And we'll make one woe of our two!

GIOCONDA
Here! Put your hand upon my heart.
Feel and know, mother, my sorrow!

VOICES
Angele Dei, qui custos es mei, etc.

 
ACT TWO - THE ROSARY

IN THE WATERS OF FUSINA

Night. The brigantine, Hecate, seen from the side. In the foreground a deserted shore of an uninhabited island. In the background the lagoon. To one side an altar to the Virgin with a red oil lamp burning. Some sailors are singing a shanty.

FIRST SAILORS
on deck
Ho! Heigh! Ho! Heigh!
Look to the rudder!

SECOND SAILORS
Ho! Heigh! Ho! Heigh!

FIRST SAILORS
Where is the crew?

 

PILOT

Who goes there?

 

BARNABA

My song was telling you:

A fisherman awaiting the tide.

I have a boat down there in shallow water.

Tomorrow is Ember Day, and we must fast

(Lucky for me):

A Lenten meat makes the fisherman fat.

 

SAILORS

laughing

Ha! Ha!

 

BARNABA

to Isepo

We're safe. They laughed. Eighty

They are ‑ sailors and boys. They have

Thirty oars and no more; two cannons

Of small calibre. Now with all the breath

That's left you, go and set the sentries

Where the bushes are thickest.

Here I'll stay to finish my task.

May God be with you.

Isepo leaves

Fisherman, lower your bait

And may the waves be true to you,

The sea and sky promise you

A fine evening and a good catch.

Go along, tranquil tune

Through the celestial spaces.

This night a siren

Will fall into the net.

 

CHORUS

This night a siren

Will fall into the net.

 

BARNABA

Spy, quick as lightning

With clever glances,

And in the darkness

Count all your dead.

Yes, from this island,

Deserted and dusky,

Your luck is now

About to change.

Watch out! And elude

The swift suspicion,

And laugh and watch

And sing and spy.

taking up his song again

Venus gleams serene

In a voluptuous sky.

A dazzling siren

Will fall into the net.

 

CHORUS

A dazzling siren

Will fall into the net.

Barnaba exits and Enzo enters.

 

ENZO

Nail to the songs

Of seafarers!

 

Tonight we weigh anchor.

 

SAILORS

Long live

Our prince and captain!

 

ENZO

A north-east wind

Blows. It's a good one for us. You -

Boatswain - stow the cable in the hold -

You - Master of the sails, fix to the bowsprit

Of the brigantine the Dalmatian ensign

That has protected us in many an ordeal,

And onto the mainmast hang the lantern.

to the deck hands

Be ready to cast off the lines

At my first sign.

 

Some crewmen follow out the orders, while others pick up the shanty again.

 

SAILORS
Ho! Heigh! Sails to the larboard!
Ahoy! Oars to the starboard! The sky thundered.

DECK HANDS
Among the thunderbolts of the storm,
Headlong we plunge into the clouds.
We dare to climb up in the rigging.
We are the squirrels of the sea.

ENZO
And now, go all down to rest. I'll watch
Alone on the deck for enemy fleets.
It's late.

THE CREW
Have a good watch.

ENZO
Good night.
The crew goes below. Enzo, alone, gazes at the sea.
Sky and sea! The ethereal curtain
Shimmers like a holy altar.
Will my angel come from the sky?
Will my angel come from the sea?
Here I await her, and ardently blows
The wind of love today.
That mortal man who sighs for you
Can conquer you, o golden dreams!
In the boundless space
Neither shore nor mountain appears,
The horizon kisses the waves,
The waves kiss the horizon!
Here in the darkness I wait
With a beating heart.
Come, my lady, come to the kiss
That gives life enchantment.
scrutinizing the sea
Ah! Who goes there? It can't be a phantom
Of my mind! No - that's a boat.
Already I hear the beating of its oars.
Crossing swifly over towards me...

THE VOICE OF BARNABA
Captain! Ahoy!

ENZO
Come aboard!
Help me God to bear the surge
Of my joy! Oarsmen,
Coast alongside the hold!
Here's the line ... Catch hold ... Grip it...
Don't fall! Get aboard! Get aboard!

Laura arrives.

LAURA
Enzo! My Enzo! My beloved!

ENZO
Laura! Heavenly beloved!

VOICE OF BARNABA
in the distance
Good luck!

LAURA
Oh, that sinister voice!

ENZO
But he saved you...

LAURA
Still an infernal smile was on his face.

ENZO
He is the man who gave us paradise.
Pray! Don't disturb with dire fears
The pure ecstasy of this moment.
Of love alone reason with me,
It's heaven, dearest, that you open for me.

LAURA
Ah! Tears become a heavenly joy
In the sweet enchantment of your kiss.
God does not pardon human anguish
When love is not forgiven.

ENZO
But tell me, my angel, how
You recognized me?

LAURA
Enzo I knew even as a sailor.

ENZO
In the same way, I, too,
At the first sound of your words...

LAURA
Beloved Enzo - but time flies!
Be careful! Be careful!

ENZO
Pray! Don't be afraid!
We're on an island ‑ completely deserted
Between sea and sky ‑ between sky and sea.
We shall soon see the moon sinking...
When it is gone, in the dark we shall
Weigh anchor - with sails in the wind,
And kisses on our brows.

ENZO and LAURA
Down there in the distant mists,
Down there in the unknown darkness,
Lies the sign of our way.
Through waves, through shadows, through winds,
Confident, smiling, fleeing,
We cast our life and destiny
Into the waves, the shadows, the wind.
Like a bride at the altar
Swathed in dewy veils,
The moon gently descends
And hides in the waves
Its darkened face. Now into the sea
The moon has sunk with slow rhythm.

ENZO
And now your pilot
Prepares your flight. Beloved woman
Wait for me here.

Enzo goes below deck.

 

LAURA

My heart is full of rears.

What is that light! Ah, a Madonna!

While Laura prays, Gioconda, masked, merges from a hidingplace.

Star of the mariner! Blessed Virgin!

Protect me in this supreme hour.

You see what passion and what

Faith drew me to such a daring step!

Under your veil that covers the wretched,

Shelter me as I pray and tremble.

With this fervid prayer, Mother of Pardon,

May a blessing

Descend on my head...

 

GIOCONDA

And a curse!

 

LAURA

Ah! Who are you?

 

GIOCONDA

Who I am do you ask?

I am a shadow that waits for you!

My name is Revenge.

I love the man whom you love.

 

LAURA

Heavens!

 

GIOCONDA

Pointing to the bow

Yonder I waited and bided my time

Like a beast in its lair.

The superhuman strength

Of fury invades my blood!

You want to flee? Does love consume you?

You want to flee, happy rival?

Yes, the mast and the rudder

Are ready. Very well, go, flee!

LAURA

You horrible fury!

 

GIOCONDA

Ah! You're afraid!

And dare you love with true love

That hero?

 

LAURA

I challenge your heart, o rival!

 

GIOCONDA

You blaspheme!

 

LAURA

You lie!

I love him as the light of Creation,

Like the air that enlivens the breath,

Like the heavenly and blessed dream

From which came my first sigh.

 

GIOCONDA

I love him as the lion

Loves blood, and the whirlwind its flight,

And lightning the peaks, and halcyons

The whirlpools, and the eagle the sun!

 

LAURA

For his sweet kiss I defy

The pale horror of death!

 

GIOCONDA

flashing a dagger

For his sweet kiss I will kill you.

I am stronger; stronger is my love!

My arm is seizing you!

Come that I may see your face. Down! Down!

Now there is no more escape for you!

This dagger...

But no... you shall have as a fate

A more crushing blow...

Look, there...

 

LAURA

Heavens!

 

GIOCONDA
In that dark boat yonder...
Your consort is there!

LAURA
I am lost!

GIOCONDA
The curse is fulfilled!
Neither a god nor a sanctuary
Can save you now.

LAURA
lifting up the rosary
Help me!

GIOCONDA
Ah, that rosary! Flee! Here!
This mask will hide you.

She pulls her to the bank.

LAURA
What are you doing?

GIOCONDA
I’m saving you ‑ here is my skiff!

Two sailors appear with a boat.

LAURA
Will you tell me who you are?

GIOCONDA
I am Gioconda.

Gioconda pushes Laura into the boat that quickly draws away. From the bank Barnaba sees Laura’ boat and in the distance Alvise's gondola.

BARNABA
Damnation! She's taken flight. Captain!
There ... in the dead canal ... row harder!

Barnaba leaves.

GIOCONDA
She is safe! Ah, mother, how much you cost me!

Enzo comes from the deck.

ENZO
Laura, Laura! Where are you?

GIOCONDA
Laura disappeared.

ENZO
Gioconda! Heavens! What happened?

GIOCONDA
In vain your sighs
Call her to the guilty kisses of your dreams.

ENZO
You lie, o cruel one!

 

GIOCONDA

No! She loves you no more!

There, in the dead canal, you see

A boat which quickly plies its course?

She is fleeing. Her remorse

Was stronger than her love!

To her this is a fateful shore

Because death lurks about...

She flees and here I stay...

Which of us has the greater love?

 

ENZO

Be quiet! Alas! Since I've seen you

A nefarious ambush I suspected.

Don't tell me that you love me,

You carry only hate in your heart!

But from her barbarous husband

My angel I'll know how to snatch...

Yonder there is life!

 

GIOCONDA

Yonder there is death!

 

ENZO

What are you saying?

 

GIOCONDA

Look to sea.

A gunshot is heard. Sailors from the Hecate come out from everywhere, some with torches in their hands.

 

SAILORS
The galleys! The galleys! Let's flee!

GIOCONDA
You've been betrayed! A villain
Revealed your name to the Grand Council...
Put an end to delays ‑ set sail quickly.
Heaven can still save you!

ENZO
Silence! That council of cowards is an insult;
Where death is, there I stand more firmly!
Well known to me is the awful fleet's roar.
Flight or surrender - I know not what it means!

ALL
Let's flee! There's no more hope!
There's no more safety, no escape!

ENZO
snatching a torch
No - not while I live!
Ashes and embers we'll leave to the enemy!
Fire!

He sets the Hecate afire.

ALL
Fire! War! Death! Massacre!

ENZO
jumping into the sea
O Laura, farewell!

GIOCONDA
from the bank
Always Laura! Ah, at least I can die with you!

The ship sinks.

ACT THREE - THE HOUSE OF GOLD

A room in the “Ca’ d’Oro”. Evening. AIvise enters in great excitement.

ALVISE
Yes! Die she must! Shall infamy
Be written on my name with impunity?
Who betrays a Badoer
Can hope for no pity! ...
If yesterday on that fatal island
This hand of mine did not seize her,
Expiation will be no less terrible!
A dagger should have pierced her breast.
Today ... it will not be steel .. . but poison!
Pointing to the adjoining rooms
There, let the gay party
Keep on its whirling dances.
Here, with a groan of agony
Let the festivities be mixed!
Shades of my forefathers
Do not blush yet!
Death revenges everything –
Even betrayed honour!
There, nobleman of Venice,
Be gracious host to your guests.
Here, outraged husband,
Look to your honour!
Tremble in your dances and songs!…
It is a faithless wife who dies!

Laura enters wearing a rich ball dress.

LAURA
You summoned me here?

ALVISE
If it pleases you...

LAURA
Milord…

ALVISE
Be seated!
So beautiful, milady, I have never seen you.
Still your smile is languid; why are you so silent?
Tell me: is it a gentle mystery hard to reveal,
Or a black veil - which I must tear away?

LAURA
In your unusual tone, I sense a cruel irony,
Your lips seem kind, but anger bursts out of them …
My noble husband, I do not understand you yet!

ALVISE
Milady, the hour has come to drop your mask.

LAURA
What are you saying?

ALVISE
The hour has come! To another man,
Sinful woman, your first sigh is directed...

LAURA
Another man? What do you say?

ALVISE
Yes, sinful woman!
Yesterday I almost caught you.

LAURA
Heavens, what do I hear?

ALVISE
But you saved yourself and fled...
Today I have you in my hand.
You can escape no more - you must die!

He throws her down violently.

LAURA
at Alvise's feet
To die! It is too horrible!
To have Heaven before me...
And to go down into the darkness
Of a desolate grave!
Feel! A stream of warm blood
Flows through my bosom ...
If I cry and live,
Why tell me: You must die,
Death is an infamous punishment
Even for the greatest guilt!

ALVISE
In vain you cry ‑ in vain you hope.
God cannot grant your wish!
In Him collect your thoughts;
Prepare to die!
Since for nuptials new,
Your soul sighs, faithless one,
Come here and look!

LAURA
Where are you leading me?

Alvise raises the curtains leading to the room beyond and points to a catafalque.

ALVISE
Come, this is your nuptial bed!

LAURA
Ah!

A SERENADE
from the lagoon
The cheerful song
Makes the echo languish
And its gay sound
Changes into a sigh.

Gioconda enters and hides in the back.

ALVISE
taking out a vial
Take this poison; and since you seem
So strong in your daring words,
With those lips that tasted kisses -
Taste death.
You have no escape.
Do you hear this song?
You must die before it reaches its last note.

Alvise leaves; Gioconda runs to Laura, seizes the poison that Laura has in her hands and gives her another vial.

SERENADE
off-‑stage
With lovely illusion
The moon reflects
Its silvery beam
On the spacious lagoon.
In that divine shimmer
Is sublimated
The romantic rhyme
Created by God.

GIOCONDA
Give me that philtre! Drink this instead!

LAURA
Gioconda, here?

GIOCONDA
I foresaw your fate.
Don't fear, to save you I armed myself.
My narcotic is such that it feigns
The lethargy of death ... Agonizing,
Brief are the moments ...

LAURA
You frighten me!

GIOCONDA
If he returns he kills you.

LAURA
Dark anguish!

GIOCONDA
Down there my mothers prays for you
In the chapel; my loyal singers
Are near ... listen.

LAURA
Horror!
Already the song is dying away!

GIOCONDA
With it you die!
You know the sentence:
“Before it reaches its last note...”

LAURA
Hand it to me! Here, I have drunk it.

Laura disappears into the death chamber.

GIOCONDA
For me that potion! Almighty God!

She decants Alvise's poison into the vial of the narcotic, then rushes out. Alvise enters and sees the empty vial of poison.

SERENADE
off-stage
Hear the soothing
Songs wandering.
The oars are marking
The chords on the waves.
Go along, serenade,
Through the crystalline air,
Go along, serenade,
Over the enchanted waves.

ALVISE
Everything is done! The glass is empty.

He enters the death chamber, then returns.

SERENADE
off-stage
Hear the soothing
Songs wandering,
Of a soul unknown
It is the faithful echo.
Its final note
Fades away in the sky.

ALVISE
Death hovers over her.

Alvise exits and Gioconda reappears.

GIOCONDA
O mother, on that fateful island
Because of you I controlled the deathly urge
Of spurned rivalry. Now more terrible
Is my sacrifice ... I saved her
For him - for him who loves her!

A ROOM IN THE “CA’ D’ORO”
Alvise is in a sumptuous room adjoining the death chamber, decorated for a party.  Enter lords, ladies, dancers and singers.

ALVISE
Welcome gentlemen! Andrea Sagredo!
Erizzo, Loredan! Venier! Whom do I see?
Isepo Barbarigo, returned to us
From pale China! And my beloved
Cousin Partecipazio! How many
Handsome lords ... beautiful ladies!
And you, gay singers and maskers,
Make haste with dances and songs.

CHORUS
Let’s praise the Ca' d'Oro
Where the laurel of virtue
And the myrtle of love
Entwine their golden branches.

CHORUS
Marvellous! Enchanting!

The Dance of the Hours:
Morning, Noon, Evening and Night.

At the end of the dance Barnaba enters, dragging Cieca.

BARNABA
Come!

CIECA
Let me go! Alas!

CHORUS and ALVISE
The Blind One!

GIOCONDA
Mother!

ALVISE
to Cieca
Why are you here?

BARNABA
In the forbidden rooms
I found her intent on an evil spell!

CIECA
I was praying for the dead!

CHORUS
For the dead? What do you say?
The death toll of a bell is heard.
What a funereal sound!

ENZO
to Barnaba
A death toll! For whom?

BARNABA
For Laura.

ENZO
For Laura! Horror!
What more remains if that angel dies?

ALVISE
What? Joy has disappeared!
If Badoero is gay
Who of the guests has a right to grief?

ENZO
I have it more than others.

ALVISE
You - who are you?

ENZO
throwing down his mask
I am your outlaw, Enzo Grimaldo,
Prince of Santafior! Of country and love
You have robbed me...
Now complete your crime!

ALL
What daring! Horror!

ALVISE
You will answer with your head, Barnaba,
For this insulting coward!

CHORUS
The cold wing of a deadly vampire passed
And turned all lights to funeral torches,
A sinister gleam shone upon all brows
No longer can joy reign at this feast.

ENZO
My star of love - my faithful goddess,
If you're stolen from me, I'll see you in Heaven!

GIOCONDA
O Cruel torture! Unheard-of grief.
How much he loves her!

CIECA
to Barnaba
O deadly informer!

BARNABA
I swear to Heaven, if yesterday that guilty Laura saved you,
Revenge now will escape me no more!

ENZO
Already I see you still and wan
All wrapped in a white veil.
You are dead, you are dead,
My sweet and faithful angel!
May the executioner's axe fall on me,
May the fatal abyss open up
And sorrow lead me
To a heavenly marriage.

GIOCONDA
Tears trickle down, drop by drop,
In the silence of my grief.
Weep, o heavy eyes,
While my heart is bleeding.

BARNABA
to Gioconda
Yield, at last. Here you see
The fatal work of my hand.
Fear me! A mysterious force
Draws me toward evil,

GIOCONDA
If you save and take him to the shore
Yonder near the Church of the Redeemer,
My body I will surrender to you,
O fearful minstrel.

BARNABA
This gift is desperate,
Still your minstrel accepts it.
For, to have you on my heart
I will scoff at pitiless fate.

CIECA
Your tears, o Gioconda,
Why don't you pour them on my heart?
There is no love around you
That is equal to my love.

ALVISE
to Enzo
Milord, you came untimely
To the brilliance of this feast.
The happiness of the Badoers
Seems to be deadly for you!
But already I am preparing
A frightful scene for your distress.
You will see if one can soil
The pure honour of my name.

CHORUS
Sad events! Ghastly daring!
What a frightening banquet!
How the avalanche of destiny
Quickly crashes downward!

ALVISE
Now heed me all. The woman who was mine
Brought to my name the greatest outrage!
He raises the drapes of the death chamber. Laura is laid out on her death bed. Enzo rushes forward, brandishing a dagger.
Look at her! It is I who killed her!

ENZO
Executioner!

CHORUS
Horror!

Gioconda runs out after Enzo who is being dragged away by guards. Barnaba grabs Cieca by the hand and pushes her into a secret door.

ACT FOUR - THE ORFANO CANAL ON THE ISLAND OF GIUDECCA

The hall of a dilapidated palace. On a table are a vial of poison and a dagger. Gioconda is alone, then two men enter from a dark alIey with Laura in their arms.

GIOCONDA
No one has seen you?

FIRST SINGER
No one.

GIOCONDA
Lay her on that bed.

They put Laura on a bed behind a screen.

GIOCONDA
Our friends - they'll come tonight?

SINGER
Yes.

GIOCONDA
Here is the gold I promised you.

SINGER
We don't want it ...
Friends give a hand to friends.

GIOCONDA
O generous hearts,
For that love that created you, another
Favour I ask. Last night
My blind mother disappeared.
In despair I looked for her ‑ in vain.
Pray! Search the streets, the squares.
May God lead you to that dear old woman.
Tomorrow, if you find her, at Canareggio
I shall await you. Soon I shall leave
This miserable hole.

SINGER
Trust in us.
They go out. Gioconda takes up the vial of poison.

GIOCONDA
Suicide! ... in these
Awful moments
You alone remain to me.
You alone tempt me.
Last voice
Of my destiny,
Last cross
Of my journey,
Once upon a time
The hours gaily flew by;
Lost now is my mother,
Lost is my love.
I overcame the consuming
Fever of jealousy.
Now I sink exhausted
In the darkness!…
I am reaching the end...
I only ask of Heaven
To sleep quietly
Within the grave.
Here - Laura's poison for another
Victim was meant! I'll drink it! When
He comes here tonight, I shall not see
Their infinite embrace.
But who will help them to escape? No!
She throws down the poison.
No! Away, temptation! My soul,
Strengthen your divine powers!
Laura is there ... on the bed ... alive? ... dead?...
I don't know ... Had she perished!
I wanted to save her, Heaven knows it!
Still, were she dead ... a faint ray of hope
Flashes in my heart ... Let's see ... Courage!
She starts toward the bed, then stops.
No ... no ... never ... never!
No, may not this secret doubt escape me!
But if she lives? Well, she's in my hand.
We're alone. It's night. No one ever
Could know ... the lagoon is deep...

A DISTANT VOICE
Eh, you in that gondola,
What news do you have?

A MORE DISTANT VOICE
There are corpses
In the Orfano Canal.

GIOCONDA
Horror!
What sinister voices! In the distance
Venice glitters all lit for a festival.
And in my heart
The tempest stirs again -
Raging! Overwhelming!
O love! O love!
Enzo, have pity!

Enzo comes in from the alley.

ENZO
Gioconda!

GIOCONDA
Enzo ... It's you!

ENZO
Out of jail
You have taken me; from my bonds
You have freed me; here I am at liberty
And armed. What do you wish from me?

GIOCONDA
Alas, wretched me! What do I wish?
To give you back sun and life,
Endless freedom,
Joy and the future,
The smile of ecstasy,
The sigh of rapture,
Love ... paradise!
(Almighty God! Let me die!)

ENZO
Woman, with your raving,
You mock a dying man.
No more balms has love for me
Nor is there joy in the world.
Farewell...

GIOCONDA
What are you doing?

ENZO
Don't ask.

GIOCONDA
Stay ... listen to me.

ENZO
Let me go.

GIOCONDA
You want to die for her!

ENZO
Yes, I want to kiss once again
The poor departed
In her holy tomb.

GIOCONDA
Well then, speed to your tryst,
Sad and faithful hero!
Laura's crypt is empty;
I have removed her!

ENZO
Heavens! No - you lie, you lie...

GIOCONDA
pointing to a cross on the wall
I swear, I swear by that cross.

ENZO
No - wipe that atrocious blasphemy
From your impure lips!
Confess that you lied!

GIOCONDA
I spoke the truth!

ENZO
O you raging hyena
Prowling the cemetery!
O you cursed Fury,
Jealous even of death!
Tell me where you are hiding
My pale-cheeked angel.
Speak! Or in this doleful hour
It is fit that here you die...
See' Already the steel
Of my dagger is gleaming...

He draws out his dagger and grabs Gioconda.

GIOCONDA
O joy! he will kill me!

ENZO
I will uncover your secret.

GIOCONDA
No.

ENZO
Speak.

GIOCONDA
No.

ENZO
Very well… infamous creature… die!

LAURA
behind the screen
Enzo!

ENZO
Who is there?

GIOCONDA
My God!

LAURA
appearing
Enzo, my love!
Ah! my heart revives again...
Enzo… come ... I'm alive!

ENZO
Heaven! I don't rave! Alive! Laura! Laura!

GIOCONDA
wrapping her head in her mantle
Hide them from me, o darkness!

LAURA
looking at Gioconda
Alas! That shadow drawing on his cloak...
It's Alvise ... flee, Enzo...

ENZO
No, put aside your fears.

LAURA
recognizing Gioconda
It's you? It's she who saved my life.

ENZO
Saintly maiden!

ENZO and LAURA
Let me fall at your feet!

Laura and Enzo fall on their knees before Gioconda.

SERENADE
off‑stage
Go along, serenade,
Through the crystalline air,
Over the enchanted waves.
Hear the soothing
Songs wandering.
The oars are marking
The chords on the waves.
The song is life,
It is nourished by dreams,
And dreams it lives again.
Of a soul unknown
It is the faithful echo.
Its final note
Fades away in the sky.

GIOCONDA
Do you remember this song, Laura?
It is the song of your destiny.

ENZO and LAURA
Saintly maiden!

GIOCONDA
It is coming nearer.
Listen closely, my friends,
These oarsmen will bring you to safety tonight,
I have carefully provided everything for your flight.

ENZO and LAURA
Oh! blessed maiden!
Blessed!

GIOCONDA
The boat is drawing near… Before dawn
My companions will take you to the bank
Of the Three Bridges… Speedily
To Aquileja direct your flight,
And a short way from there Illyria's sun
Will shine freely on your faces.
to Laura
Here is the boat… Farewell…
My mantle will hide you.
What do I see! The rosary! Great God!
Thus went the obscure prophecy:
“I offer you this Rosary
Pray, accept it.
With my prayers added
It will bring you luck…”
And so be it! This final
Kiss that my tears are drowning
Receive on your foreheads.
It is the poor kiss of my lips.
Sometime in your memories
Give a thought to Gioconda.
Love each other…
Live happily… Farewell!

ENZO and LAURA
Upon your hands
Our soulful tears fall.
No, never on these tears
Will oblivion fall.
We shall remember the victim
Of this saintly sacrifice.
The angels bless you –
Farewell ... Gioconda. Farewell.

The boat carries them away.

GIOCONDA
grasping the vial of poison
Now I can die! Everything is over.
Ah no, not yet! My mother! Help!
Help, Holy Virgin!
Too many sorrows for a single heart!
I'll go and seek my mother! But terror!
Now I remember the pact. The fear
Of Barnaba turns me to ice!
To see here again the horror of his face!
She prostrates herself before the image of the Virgin.
Drive away the demon, Holy Virgin!

Barnaba comes from the alley and spies at the half‑closed door.

BARNABA
The sky is darkening.
She prays, and she doesn't know
Who witnesses her prayers.

GIOCONDA
Drive away the demon, Holy Virgin...
Why am I so distracted?

BARNABA
Ah! She wants to flee...

GIOCONDA
Escape is my only salvation!

Barnaba opens the door and meets Gioconda as she is about to flee.

BARNABA
That's how you keep the pact!

GIOCONDA
Yes, I keep the pact ‑ we have sworn it.
Gioconda must not betray that oath.
May God forgive me for the enormous sin
I am about to commit!

BARNABA
Rapture! Delirium! Supreme dream of mine!
I have you and suddenly this arid heart
Is flooded with joy! Already I palpitate
And quake under love's beam!

GIOCONDA
Stay. Restrain your savage joy!
Gayer, brighter I want to make myself.
For you I shall adorn my fair tresses
With purple and gold!
Already I'm covered with all the tinsel
Of the stages of frivolous theatres.
Listen to the sweet song of this
Worldly‑wise siren.
I have kept my word, and not betrayed you.
You wanted my body, you cursed devil?
And my body I give you!

She stabs herself in the heart.

BARNABA
Stop! What mockery! ... well ... you
Hate me ... and damned you die!
He bends over Gioconda and shouts.
Yesterday your mother insulted me!
I drowned her!...
She hears no more!

Barnaba rushes out.