Lohengrin (1990) - full transcript
Faithfully guided, draw near
to where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
the reward of love,
joins you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
Champion of virtue, proceed!
Jewel of youth, proceed!
Flee now the splendour
of the wedding feast,
may the delights of the heart
be yours!
This sweet-smelling room,
decked for love,
now takes you in,
away from the splendour.
Faithfully guided,
draw now near
to where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
love so pure,
joins you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
As God blessed you in happiness,
so do we bless you in joy.
Watched over by love's happiness,
may you long remember this hour!
Faithfully guarded, remain behind
where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
love and happiness
join you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
Champion of virtue, remain here!
Jewel of youth, remain here!
Flee now the splendour
of the wedding feast,
may the delights of the heart
be yours!
This sweet-smelling room,
decked for love,
has now taken you in,
away from the splendour.
Faithfully guarded,
remain behind,
where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
love and happiness
join you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
The sweet song fades;
we are alone, alone for the first
time since we met.
Now we are cut off from the world,
no eavesdropper shall hear
the salutations of the heart.
Elsa, my wife!
Dulce si pura sotie!
Tell me now whether you are happy!
How unfeeling it would be of me
to say l was merely happy,
when I am filled with heavenly joy!
As I feel my heart go out to you
I breathe delights
that God alone bestows!
lf, O fair one, you are able
to say you are happy
then you fill me too with heavenly joy!
As l feel my heart go out to you
l breathe delights
that God alone bestows!
As l feel myself
falling so passionately in love
...l breathe delights
that God alone bestows!
How noble is the nature
of our love!
Though we never met,
we sensed each other;
l was chosen to be your champion.
Love paved my way to you:
your eyes told me
you were free of guilt,
your countenance compelled me
to serve your grace.
But l had already seen you
for you had come to me
in a wondrous dream;
when in waking hours l saw you
standing before me
l knew you had come
following God's counsel.
l wanted to dissolve
before your gaze,
like a stream l wanted
to wind around your feet,
like a sweet-smelling flower
in the meadow
to incline enraptured towards
the fall of your feet.
ls this merely love?
What shall l call this word,
inexpressibly divine
as your name, which l, alas,
which l may never use
to address my most revered!
Elsa!
How sweet the sound of my name
from your lips!
Will you not grant me
the fair sound of yours?
Only when we are led
to the stillness of love
shall you allow my lips
to pronounce it.
never shall it be brought
to the ears of the world!
Can you not smell
these sweet fragrances?
How wondrously they delight
the senses!
Mysteriously they approach
through the air
and unquestioningly
l give myself over to their magic.
Thus was the magic
that joined me to you
when l first saw you,
O fair one;
l did not need to ask
where you came from,
my eyes saw you -
and my heart understood at once.
Just as these fragrances
wondrously beguile my senses,
though they approach me
from the enigmatic night,
so did your innocence enchant me,
even if l did find you
suspected of a great crime.
Oh, could l but prove myself
worthy of you,
would that l could do more
than simply melt away in you;
could but a service join me to you,
could l but see myself suffer for you!
As you found me accused
of a great crime,
oh, would that l knew you
to be in need;
that l might courageously
carry a burden,
would that l knew of a trouble
that threatens you!
ls this the nature of the secret
that your tongue keeps from the world?
Perhaps misfortune awaits you
if it is revealed to the whole world?
lf this were so and if l knew it,
if l had it within my power,
no threats would ever wrest it from me,
for you l would go to my death!
My beloved!
Oh, make me proud
through your confidence,
lest l appear utterly unworthy!
Let me know your secret,
that l may clearly see who you are!
Ah, hush, Elsa!
Reveal your noble worth to my devotion!
Tell me without remorse
whence you came -
may the power of silence
be proved through me!
You have already to thank me
for the highest confidence
since l gladly believed
the oath you made.
lf you never falter before my command
l shall consider you to be
above all other women!
Come to me, O sweet, pure one!
Be near my ardent heart,
that the eyes in which l saw
all my happiness
may shine upon me softly!
Oh, grant me that in sweet raptures
l may breathe in your breath!
Oh, let me clasp you to me firmly,
that l may be happy in you!
Your love must be the highest recompense
for that which l left behind
for your sake;
no destiny in all God's world
could have been nobler than mine.
lf the King offered me his crown
l should rightfully reject it.
The only reward for my sacrifice
is your steadfast love!
Thus do l ask you
to put doubt from your mind,
may your love be my proud recompense!
For l come not from darkness
and suffering,
l come from splendour and delight!
Dear God, what is this that l hear!
What testimony have you spoken!
You meant to enchant me but now misery is my lot!
The destiny you left behind
was your greatest happiness;
you came to me from a place of delights
and you long to return there!
How am l, poor wretch, to believe
that my devotion will ever satisfy you?
The day will come when l am robbed of you because you regret your love for me!
Do not torture yourself so!
lt is you who are torturing me!
Am l to count the number of days
that you will remain with me still?
My worrying about how long you will stay
will drain the colour from my cheek,
then you will hurry from me,
and l will remain here in misery!
Never shall your charm diminish
if you remain untainted by doubt!
Ah, what power have l
to bind you to me?
Full of magic is your being,
a miracle brought you here;
how can l ever hope to be happy,
how can l ever be sure of you?
Did you hear nothing?
Did you not hear anyone approaching?
Elsa!
Ah, no!
Yes, there! The swan, the swan!
There he comes,
swimming across the water -
you call to him - he brings the boat!
Elsa! Stop! Calm your madness!
Nothing can bring me peace,
nothing can tear me from my madness,
save - even if it should cost me my life -
knowing who you are!
Elsa, what do you venture to say?
lll-fatedly noble man,
hear the question l must ask you!
- Tell me your name!
- Stop!
- Whence did you come!
- Woe unto you!
What is your origin?
Woe unto us, what have you done!
Save yourself! Your sword, your sword!
Woe, now all our happiness is gone!
Eternal God,have mercy on me!
Take the slain man before the King,
that he may be judged!!
Adorn Elsa, my dear wife,
prepare her to be led before the King!
There will l answer her,
that she may know her husband's origin.
Hail King Heinrich! King Heinrich hail!
l thank you, good men of Brabant!
How my heart shall swell with pride
if on every acre of German soil l find
such mighteous throngs of troops!
Let the Empire's enemy now approach,
we will meet him with courage:
from the barren wastes of the east
he shall never dare attack again!
For German soil the German sword!
Thus shall the Empire's might be proved!
For German soil the German sword!
Thus shall the Empire's might be proved!
Where now is he whom God sent
to make Brabant great and glorious?
What do they bring? What does this mean?
They are Telramund's men!
Whom do you bring here?
What am l about to see?
The sight of you fills me with horror!
This is the wish
of the Protector of Brabant;
he will tell you who this is!
Behold, Elsa the virtuous approaches!
How pale and melancholy she looks!
How sad you look!
Does the departure affect you so deeply?
Make way! Make way
for the hero of Brabant!
Hail!
Hail to the hero of Brabant!
Hail to your coming, worthy knight!
Those whom you so faithfully
called to war
await you, eager to do battle,
confident of victory under you.
We await you, eager to do battle,
confident of victory under you.
My lord and King, hear my words:
those brave knights whom l have called,
l cannot lead them into battle!
God help us! What cruel words he speaks!
l have not come here
as a brother in arms;
hear me now as a plaintiff before you!
Firstly, l bring a complaint before you
and ask you to pass rightful judgement:
since this man attacked me in the night,
say whether l was right to slay him?
As your hand struck him down on earth
so shall God punish him in heaven!
Secondly, you shall hear another charge.
Before all here present l now complain
that the woman whom God made my wife
has let herself be tricked
into betraying me!
Elsa!
How could that happen?
Woe unto you! Elsa!
How could you do such a wrong?
You all heard her promise me
that she would never ask who l am?
But now she has broken her solemn vow,
her heart has succumbed to perfidious counsel!
That the wild questionings of her doubt
might now be stilled
l shall no longer withhold
the answer;
l rightly refused to yield
to the enemy's entreaties,
but now l must reveal
my name and origin.
Judge now whether l must shy away
from the day!
Before all here present,
before King and Empire,
l now faithfully reveal my secret.
Hear now whether or not
l am equal to you in nobility!
What incredible thing
must l now learn?
Oh, could he but spare himself
this enforced proclamation!
ln a far-off land,
inaccessible to your steps,
there is a castle
by the name of Montsalvat;
a light-filled temple stands within it,
more beautiful than anything on earth;
therein is a vessel of wondrous blessing
that is watched over as a sacred relic:
it was brought down by a host of angels;
that the purest of men might guard it,
every year a dove descends from heaven
to fortify its wondrous power:
it is called the Grail, and the purest,
most blessed faith
is imparted through it
to the brotherhood of knights.
Whosoever is chosen to serve the Grail
is armed by it with heavenly power;
the darts of evil
prove powerless against him,
once he has seen it,
the shadow of death flees him.
Even he who is sent by it
to a distant land,
appointed as a champion of virtue,
will not be robbed of its holy power,
provided that he, as its knight,
remains unrecognized there.
For so wondrous is the blessing
of the Grail
that when it is revealed
it shuns the eye of the uninitiated;
thus no man should doubt the knight,
for if he is recognized -
he must leave you.
Hear how l reward
the forbidden question!
l was sent to you by the Grail:
my father Parzival wears its crown,
l, its knight - am called Lohengrin.
To hear him thus attest
his sacred origin
causes my eyes to brim
with tears of blessed joy!
l swoon! What dreadful darkness!
l gasp! l gasp for air,
wretch that l am!
The swan! The swan!
Behold, it approaches once again!
The swan! Woe, it approaches!
Oh, horror! Ah, the swan!
The Grail sends for the one
who is late in returning!
My dear swan!
Ah, how gladly l would have spared you
this last, sad journey!
At the end of a year your time of service
would have come to an end -
then, freed by the power
of the Grail,
you would have appeared to me
in a different form!
O Elsa! l had longed to witness
just one year of happiness by your side!
Then your brother, whom you thought dead,
would have returned,
accompanied by the blessed retinue
of the Grail.
When he comes home,
when l shall be far away,
give him this horn,
this sword and this ring.
The horn shall bring him
succour in danger,
the sword shall bring him
victory in wild battle;
but the ring shall remind him of me,
who once freed you too
from shame and need!
Farewell! Farewell!
Farewell, my sweet wife!
Farewell! The Grail will be angry
with me if l stay longer!
Farewell, farewell!
Woe!
Woe! You noble, distinguished man!
What terrible distress you cause us!
Go home! Go home, you proud knight,
that l may jubilantly tell
the foolish girl
who it was that brought you in the boat!
By the chain that l wrapped around him
l clearly recognized this swan:
he is the heir of Brabant!
Ah!
Thank you for driving away the knight!
Now the swan will lead him home!
lf the hero had stayed any longer
he would have freed the brother, too!
Loathsome woman!
Ha, what a crime you have confessed to
in your brazen scorn!
Learn how the gods take vengeance on you
who no longer worship them!
Behold the Duke of Brabant!
He shall be your leader!
My husband! My husband!
to where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
the reward of love,
joins you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
Champion of virtue, proceed!
Jewel of youth, proceed!
Flee now the splendour
of the wedding feast,
may the delights of the heart
be yours!
This sweet-smelling room,
decked for love,
now takes you in,
away from the splendour.
Faithfully guided,
draw now near
to where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
love so pure,
joins you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
As God blessed you in happiness,
so do we bless you in joy.
Watched over by love's happiness,
may you long remember this hour!
Faithfully guarded, remain behind
where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
love and happiness
join you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
Champion of virtue, remain here!
Jewel of youth, remain here!
Flee now the splendour
of the wedding feast,
may the delights of the heart
be yours!
This sweet-smelling room,
decked for love,
has now taken you in,
away from the splendour.
Faithfully guarded,
remain behind,
where the blessing of love
shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage,
love and happiness
join you in faith
as the happiest of couples.
The sweet song fades;
we are alone, alone for the first
time since we met.
Now we are cut off from the world,
no eavesdropper shall hear
the salutations of the heart.
Elsa, my wife!
Dulce si pura sotie!
Tell me now whether you are happy!
How unfeeling it would be of me
to say l was merely happy,
when I am filled with heavenly joy!
As I feel my heart go out to you
I breathe delights
that God alone bestows!
lf, O fair one, you are able
to say you are happy
then you fill me too with heavenly joy!
As l feel my heart go out to you
l breathe delights
that God alone bestows!
As l feel myself
falling so passionately in love
...l breathe delights
that God alone bestows!
How noble is the nature
of our love!
Though we never met,
we sensed each other;
l was chosen to be your champion.
Love paved my way to you:
your eyes told me
you were free of guilt,
your countenance compelled me
to serve your grace.
But l had already seen you
for you had come to me
in a wondrous dream;
when in waking hours l saw you
standing before me
l knew you had come
following God's counsel.
l wanted to dissolve
before your gaze,
like a stream l wanted
to wind around your feet,
like a sweet-smelling flower
in the meadow
to incline enraptured towards
the fall of your feet.
ls this merely love?
What shall l call this word,
inexpressibly divine
as your name, which l, alas,
which l may never use
to address my most revered!
Elsa!
How sweet the sound of my name
from your lips!
Will you not grant me
the fair sound of yours?
Only when we are led
to the stillness of love
shall you allow my lips
to pronounce it.
never shall it be brought
to the ears of the world!
Can you not smell
these sweet fragrances?
How wondrously they delight
the senses!
Mysteriously they approach
through the air
and unquestioningly
l give myself over to their magic.
Thus was the magic
that joined me to you
when l first saw you,
O fair one;
l did not need to ask
where you came from,
my eyes saw you -
and my heart understood at once.
Just as these fragrances
wondrously beguile my senses,
though they approach me
from the enigmatic night,
so did your innocence enchant me,
even if l did find you
suspected of a great crime.
Oh, could l but prove myself
worthy of you,
would that l could do more
than simply melt away in you;
could but a service join me to you,
could l but see myself suffer for you!
As you found me accused
of a great crime,
oh, would that l knew you
to be in need;
that l might courageously
carry a burden,
would that l knew of a trouble
that threatens you!
ls this the nature of the secret
that your tongue keeps from the world?
Perhaps misfortune awaits you
if it is revealed to the whole world?
lf this were so and if l knew it,
if l had it within my power,
no threats would ever wrest it from me,
for you l would go to my death!
My beloved!
Oh, make me proud
through your confidence,
lest l appear utterly unworthy!
Let me know your secret,
that l may clearly see who you are!
Ah, hush, Elsa!
Reveal your noble worth to my devotion!
Tell me without remorse
whence you came -
may the power of silence
be proved through me!
You have already to thank me
for the highest confidence
since l gladly believed
the oath you made.
lf you never falter before my command
l shall consider you to be
above all other women!
Come to me, O sweet, pure one!
Be near my ardent heart,
that the eyes in which l saw
all my happiness
may shine upon me softly!
Oh, grant me that in sweet raptures
l may breathe in your breath!
Oh, let me clasp you to me firmly,
that l may be happy in you!
Your love must be the highest recompense
for that which l left behind
for your sake;
no destiny in all God's world
could have been nobler than mine.
lf the King offered me his crown
l should rightfully reject it.
The only reward for my sacrifice
is your steadfast love!
Thus do l ask you
to put doubt from your mind,
may your love be my proud recompense!
For l come not from darkness
and suffering,
l come from splendour and delight!
Dear God, what is this that l hear!
What testimony have you spoken!
You meant to enchant me but now misery is my lot!
The destiny you left behind
was your greatest happiness;
you came to me from a place of delights
and you long to return there!
How am l, poor wretch, to believe
that my devotion will ever satisfy you?
The day will come when l am robbed of you because you regret your love for me!
Do not torture yourself so!
lt is you who are torturing me!
Am l to count the number of days
that you will remain with me still?
My worrying about how long you will stay
will drain the colour from my cheek,
then you will hurry from me,
and l will remain here in misery!
Never shall your charm diminish
if you remain untainted by doubt!
Ah, what power have l
to bind you to me?
Full of magic is your being,
a miracle brought you here;
how can l ever hope to be happy,
how can l ever be sure of you?
Did you hear nothing?
Did you not hear anyone approaching?
Elsa!
Ah, no!
Yes, there! The swan, the swan!
There he comes,
swimming across the water -
you call to him - he brings the boat!
Elsa! Stop! Calm your madness!
Nothing can bring me peace,
nothing can tear me from my madness,
save - even if it should cost me my life -
knowing who you are!
Elsa, what do you venture to say?
lll-fatedly noble man,
hear the question l must ask you!
- Tell me your name!
- Stop!
- Whence did you come!
- Woe unto you!
What is your origin?
Woe unto us, what have you done!
Save yourself! Your sword, your sword!
Woe, now all our happiness is gone!
Eternal God,have mercy on me!
Take the slain man before the King,
that he may be judged!!
Adorn Elsa, my dear wife,
prepare her to be led before the King!
There will l answer her,
that she may know her husband's origin.
Hail King Heinrich! King Heinrich hail!
l thank you, good men of Brabant!
How my heart shall swell with pride
if on every acre of German soil l find
such mighteous throngs of troops!
Let the Empire's enemy now approach,
we will meet him with courage:
from the barren wastes of the east
he shall never dare attack again!
For German soil the German sword!
Thus shall the Empire's might be proved!
For German soil the German sword!
Thus shall the Empire's might be proved!
Where now is he whom God sent
to make Brabant great and glorious?
What do they bring? What does this mean?
They are Telramund's men!
Whom do you bring here?
What am l about to see?
The sight of you fills me with horror!
This is the wish
of the Protector of Brabant;
he will tell you who this is!
Behold, Elsa the virtuous approaches!
How pale and melancholy she looks!
How sad you look!
Does the departure affect you so deeply?
Make way! Make way
for the hero of Brabant!
Hail!
Hail to the hero of Brabant!
Hail to your coming, worthy knight!
Those whom you so faithfully
called to war
await you, eager to do battle,
confident of victory under you.
We await you, eager to do battle,
confident of victory under you.
My lord and King, hear my words:
those brave knights whom l have called,
l cannot lead them into battle!
God help us! What cruel words he speaks!
l have not come here
as a brother in arms;
hear me now as a plaintiff before you!
Firstly, l bring a complaint before you
and ask you to pass rightful judgement:
since this man attacked me in the night,
say whether l was right to slay him?
As your hand struck him down on earth
so shall God punish him in heaven!
Secondly, you shall hear another charge.
Before all here present l now complain
that the woman whom God made my wife
has let herself be tricked
into betraying me!
Elsa!
How could that happen?
Woe unto you! Elsa!
How could you do such a wrong?
You all heard her promise me
that she would never ask who l am?
But now she has broken her solemn vow,
her heart has succumbed to perfidious counsel!
That the wild questionings of her doubt
might now be stilled
l shall no longer withhold
the answer;
l rightly refused to yield
to the enemy's entreaties,
but now l must reveal
my name and origin.
Judge now whether l must shy away
from the day!
Before all here present,
before King and Empire,
l now faithfully reveal my secret.
Hear now whether or not
l am equal to you in nobility!
What incredible thing
must l now learn?
Oh, could he but spare himself
this enforced proclamation!
ln a far-off land,
inaccessible to your steps,
there is a castle
by the name of Montsalvat;
a light-filled temple stands within it,
more beautiful than anything on earth;
therein is a vessel of wondrous blessing
that is watched over as a sacred relic:
it was brought down by a host of angels;
that the purest of men might guard it,
every year a dove descends from heaven
to fortify its wondrous power:
it is called the Grail, and the purest,
most blessed faith
is imparted through it
to the brotherhood of knights.
Whosoever is chosen to serve the Grail
is armed by it with heavenly power;
the darts of evil
prove powerless against him,
once he has seen it,
the shadow of death flees him.
Even he who is sent by it
to a distant land,
appointed as a champion of virtue,
will not be robbed of its holy power,
provided that he, as its knight,
remains unrecognized there.
For so wondrous is the blessing
of the Grail
that when it is revealed
it shuns the eye of the uninitiated;
thus no man should doubt the knight,
for if he is recognized -
he must leave you.
Hear how l reward
the forbidden question!
l was sent to you by the Grail:
my father Parzival wears its crown,
l, its knight - am called Lohengrin.
To hear him thus attest
his sacred origin
causes my eyes to brim
with tears of blessed joy!
l swoon! What dreadful darkness!
l gasp! l gasp for air,
wretch that l am!
The swan! The swan!
Behold, it approaches once again!
The swan! Woe, it approaches!
Oh, horror! Ah, the swan!
The Grail sends for the one
who is late in returning!
My dear swan!
Ah, how gladly l would have spared you
this last, sad journey!
At the end of a year your time of service
would have come to an end -
then, freed by the power
of the Grail,
you would have appeared to me
in a different form!
O Elsa! l had longed to witness
just one year of happiness by your side!
Then your brother, whom you thought dead,
would have returned,
accompanied by the blessed retinue
of the Grail.
When he comes home,
when l shall be far away,
give him this horn,
this sword and this ring.
The horn shall bring him
succour in danger,
the sword shall bring him
victory in wild battle;
but the ring shall remind him of me,
who once freed you too
from shame and need!
Farewell! Farewell!
Farewell, my sweet wife!
Farewell! The Grail will be angry
with me if l stay longer!
Farewell, farewell!
Woe!
Woe! You noble, distinguished man!
What terrible distress you cause us!
Go home! Go home, you proud knight,
that l may jubilantly tell
the foolish girl
who it was that brought you in the boat!
By the chain that l wrapped around him
l clearly recognized this swan:
he is the heir of Brabant!
Ah!
Thank you for driving away the knight!
Now the swan will lead him home!
lf the hero had stayed any longer
he would have freed the brother, too!
Loathsome woman!
Ha, what a crime you have confessed to
in your brazen scorn!
Learn how the gods take vengeance on you
who no longer worship them!
Behold the Duke of Brabant!
He shall be your leader!
My husband! My husband!