05 October 2010

donna giovanni



The Catalogue Aria
Food Style
"Don Giovanni, a young, arrogant, sexually prolific nobleman, 
abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast, 
until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit."
*his appetite? his ego?*
from Wikipedia (link)




Leporello sings:
Il Catalogo e Questo 
(link to original and translation)
.................................................
Madamina, here is a list 
Of the meals my master has loved,
A list which I have compiled.
Observe; read along with me.

Italian food - six hundred and forty;
German food - two hundred and thirty-one;
One hundred French meals; Turkey, ninety-one;
But Spanish (TexMex) already one thousand and three!

Among these are simple meals,
Snacks, city diners,
Maraschino cherries, princess pies,
Meals of every rank,
Every shape, served in every place.

With chicken, it is her custom
To praise its tenderness;
With meat, its tastefulness;
With desserts, its sweetness!

In winter, she likes the fatty ones.
In summer, she likes the thin ones.
She calls the tall ones "majestic."
The little ones are always "charming."

She eats at the old dives
For the pleasure of adding to the list!
Her greatest favourite 
Is the newly opened fast-food "beginner."

It doesn't matter if the food is rich,
Ugly or beautiful.
If it's on a plate
You know what she does!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
With all the usual thanks
And apologies to Mozart.
And all the real-life Don Jauns 
out there in BlogLand!

5 comments:

  1. Bound to be a slow comment day for the non-artsy-fartsy crowd!
    :(

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  2. LOL!!!! I went to the original translation and I liked yours better, though I found it has made me hungry for european fare. Perhaps some bratwurst and potato pancakes (no no! not the potato pancakes and peel that bun off the brat, I must I must!)....
    I think at this line, Id throw tomatoes at the stage hoping to hit ole Donnie square in the eye---

    It doesn't matter if she's rich,
    Ugly or beautiful;
    If she wears a skirt,
    You know what he does.

    Have a great tuesday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ah, Mozart, gotta love the humor and his beautiful heart! But he had me at "Macadamia", oh, wait, that was Madamina?

    *red faced*

    Thanks for a fun day starter!

    -Robin

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  4. I watched the whole thing and I'm not an artsy fartsy type. Boy sure makes Wilt Chamberlains record pale by comparision.I don't imagine he kept a book with caligraphied precision on his 3- 6 meals a day....but yeah Robin he had me at Macadamia too....hee hee...

    ReplyDelete

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