Aria: La fleur que tu m’avais jetée (The flower song)
Opera: Carmen, Act II
Role: Don José
Voice Part: Tenor
Setting: In an inn/tavern near Seville, Spain
Synopsis: After being released from prison, Don José visits Carmen at the tavern. When he hears the bugle call for him to return to his regiment, Carmen mocks his loyalty. To prove his love for her, he reveals the dried and wilted flower that she had given him when they first had met. He tells her that the flower was what had kept his faith and hope of reuniting with her after his release.
Translation:
The flower that you threw to me
Remained with me while I was in prison.
Withered and dried, the flower
Always maintained its sweet scent.
And for hours,
My eyes, with eyelids closed,
I became intoxicated by this smell
And in the night I saw you!
I began to curse you,
I detested you, to saying to myself:
Why is it necessary for fate
To put herself there in my path?
Then I accused myself of blasphemy
And I felt only within myself
I felt but one desire
A single desire, a single hope
To see you again, oh Carmen,
To see you again!
For you had only to appear
Only to throw your glance at me
In order to take a hold of all my being
Oh my Carmen!
And I was owned by you.
Carmen, I love you!
Recordings:
Nicolai Gedda; The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda, EMI Classics, Catalog #85090
Placido Domingo, Nessun Dorma ~ 20 Great Tenor Arias, Decca, Catalog #B000007OTX
Scores:
Complete opera score available from G. Schirmer and Alkor-Edition Kassel
Aria available in:
Opera Arias for Tenor – G. Schirmer
Operatic Anthology (Tenor) - G. Schirmer
French Operatic Arias for Tenor - C.F. Peters
Celebrated Opera Arias (Spicker) - Petelsons
