"Le Minaccie, I Fieri Accenti "
May your threats and fierce words...
DON ALVARO
May your threats and fierce words,
be blown away by the wind.
Forgive me, have pity,
brother, have pity, have pity!
Why offend in this way
a man who was only unfortunate?
Come, let us bow before fate,
brother, have pity, have pity.
DON CARLO
You soil the very name of pity...
Ah! You left my sister
betrayed and abandoned
to infamy and disgrace.
DON ALVARO
No, she was not disgraced.
I swear it as a man of God.
On earth, I adored her
as I would love her in heaven.
I love still her, and if she loves me,
my heart cannot ask for more.
DON CARLO
You cannot placate my anger
by your lies and cowardly words.
Take up your sword,
and fight me, you traitor!
DON ALVARO
If my remorse or tears
cannot speak for me,
I’ll do something no-one has ever seen me do,
I prostrate myself at your feet!
DON CARLO
Ah, the stain upon your name
is proved by this act!
DON ALVARO
It shines brighter than a jewel.
DON CARLO
It’s tainted by your half-caste blood.
DON ALVARO
That’s a lie!
Give me a sword!
A sword! Fight!
DON CARLO
At last!
DON ALVARO
No, hell shall not triumph.
Go, leave me be.
DON CARLO
Are you mocking me now?
DON ALVARO
Go.
DON CARLO
If you won’t accept my challenge,
you’re a gutless coward,
and I condemn you to dishonour.
DON ALVARO (furious)
Ah, now you have sealed your fate!
To the death!
(He takes up the sword again.)
DON CARLO
Death for us both!
DON CARLO and
DON ALVARO
Ah! Come to your death, come!
Love, death, vows of vengeance, a gypsy fortune teller, prayers for forgiveness, assumed identities, battle wounds, friendships betrayed, duels, retreat from the world, revelations of true identities, an honour killing, a tragic end for lovers finally reunited. Guiseppe Verdi’s opera La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny) has it all.
In this duet, Don Carlo, bent on avenging his sister Leonora's disgrace and father's murder at the hands of Don Alvaro (an Inca of royal descent), finally tracks down the errant lover – who is now living as a monk. Don Carlo goads him into a duel and is mortally wounded. Leonora (who has been living as a hermit) appears, but is killed by her brother in his dying moments and so the tragedy reaches its destined conclusion.