DESCRIPTION:
Elisabeth Ekornes sings Musetta's Aria "Quando men vo" from the opera "La Boheme" by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
LYRICS:
Quando me'n vo
Quando me'n vo soletta per la via,
La gente sosta e mira,
E la bellezza mia
Tutta ricerca in me
Ricerca in me da capo a pie.
Ed assaporo allor la bramosia sottil che dagli occhi traspira
E dai palesi vezzi intender sa
Alle occulte beltà.
Cosi l'effluvio del desio tutta m'aggira,
Felice mi fa, felice mi fa!
E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi,
Da me tanto rifuggi?
So ben: le angosce tue non le vuoi, dir,
Non le vuoi dir, so ben,
Ma ti senti morir!


ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
WHEN I WALK

When I walk,
when I walk alone along the street
the people stop and look...
and seek the beauty in me,
they examine me
from head to toe.

And I savor the subtle desire
which leaks out from their eyes
and from my obvious charms they try to know
the hidden beauty.
Thus the scent of desire completely surrounds me,
it makes me happy!

And you who know, who remember and are consumed,
do you really want to avoid me?

I know well:
you don't want to speak your anguish,
you don't want to speak it, I know well,
but you feel yourself dying.