Verdi: Brindisi (second version)
Fernando Cisneros
Francesco Maria Piave (1810-1876) gave Verdi more librettos than anyone else: Ernani, I due Foscari, Attila, Macbeth, Il corsaro, Stiffelio, Rigoletto, La traviata, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino. The busy poet collaborated with at least twenty other composers, and one of his non-Verdian texts became, at the time, a repertory staple: Crispino e la comare with music by the Ricci brothers. But at the end of 1867, just as Verdi was about to turn to him for an eleventh project (Aida), Piave was felled by a stroke that left him unable to speak or work.
Piave at his writing-desk (undated photograph)
Verdi immediately set about organizing a project to provide support for his stricken friend (who lingered eight more years as an invalid) and his wife and daughter. By longstanding Italian tradition, romanze were published in “albums” of six, so Verdi proposed to supply one song and to recruit five other composers for a publication whose proceeds would go directly to the family. He hoped Pauline Lucca (see Il poveretto) might persuade Wagner to contribute, but nothing came of this. In the end the album was by Thomas, Auber, Cagnoni, Mercadante, Federico Ricci, and Verdi, who ended the collection on an upbeat note with verses by his longtime friend Andrea Maffei.
The published version of the song (heard here) was actually Verdi’s second draft. The first draft is different mostly on the first and last pages - but both versions are so good that we will present a recording of the other one later in this series.
Mescetemi il vino! ~ Tu solo, o bicchiero,
Fra gaudi terreni ~ non sei menzognero,
Tu, vita de' sensi, ~ letizia del cor.
Amai; m'infiammaro ~ due sguardi fatali;
Credei l'amicizia ~ fanciulla senz'ali,
Follia de' prim'anni, ~ fantasma illusor.
L'amico, l'amante ~ col tempo ne fugge,
Ma tu non paventi ~ chi tutto distrugge:
L'età non t'offende, ~ t'accresce virtù.
Sfiorito l'aprile, ~ cadute le rose,
Tu sei che ne allegri ~ le cure noiose:
Sei tu che ne torni ~ la gioia che fu.
Chi meglio risana ~ del cor le ferite?
Se te non ci desse ~ la provvida vite,
Sarebbe immortale ~ l'umano dolor.
Mescetemi il vino! ~ Tu solo, o bicchiero,
Fra gaudi terreni ~ non sei menzognero,
Tu, vita de' sensi, ~ letizia del cor.
Pour me some wine! Only you, oh wineglass…
among earthly pleasures, are not deceitful.
You, life of the senses and joy of the heart!
I have loved: two fatal eyes inflamed me.
I believed that friendship would never fly away.
Youthful folly, illusory phantom!
Friends and lovers flee with time,
but you do not fear that destroyer of all.
Age only increases your virtues.
When April’s flowers are gone, when roses fade,
It’s you who lightens our tiresome cares.
It’s you who restores the joy of the past.
Who better cures a wounded heart?
If the generous vine did not give you to us,
human sorrow would be immortal!
Pour me some wine! Only you, oh wineglass,
Among earthly pleasures, are not deceitful.
You, life of the senses and joy of the heart!