"Il Segreto per esser felice"
The Secret to being happy...
The secret to being happy,
I know it well and I tell it to my friends:
Whether the sky is overcast or clear,
Each time, whether it's hot or cold,
I joke and drink and laugh at the madmen
Who spare a thought for the future.
Let's not try to solve an uncertain tomorrow,
When our today is ready to be enjoyed!
ALL
Yes, let's not try to solve an uncertain tomorrow,
When our today is ready to be enjoyed!
The verse is ready.
Let's take delight in our youthful years,
As pleasure makes them go slower;
If old age, with a pale face,
Stands right behind me while threatening my life,
I joke and drink and laugh at the madmen
Who spare a thought for the future.
Let's not try to solve an uncertain tomorrow,
When our today is ready to be enjoyed!
ALL
Yes, let's not try to solve an uncertain tomorrow,
When our today is ready to be enjoyed!
Lucrezia Borgia by Gaetano Donizetti
Sung by a woman (a 'trouser role'), Orsini is a young man the court of the infamous poisoner, Lucrezia Borgia . The cheerful vitality of this aria contrasts starkly with the opera's sombre ending: Lucrezia has poisoned the wine Orsini and his friends drink while partying and they are doomed. In a further convoluted twist, one of Orsini's companions is Lucrezia's illegitimate son. She tries to save him with an antidote but he rejects her and dies. In despair, Lucrezia poisons herself.
Oblivious to Lucrezia's plans for vengeance on those who have mocked her, Orsini makes merry with no thought to what the future might bring.