By Richard Munro

“Quando me’n vo’“, also known as “Musetta’s Waltz“, is a famous soprano aria a waltz in Act II of Puccini’s 1896 opera LA BOHEME. VICTORIA DE LOS ANGELES MADE A FAMOUS RECORDING circa 1959 (see below) Maria Callas made a famous recording circa 1958 (See below). There are also beautiful arrangements and instrumental versions.

It is sung by Musetta, in the presence of her friends, hoping to reclaim the attention of her occasional boyfriend Marcello.

This scene takes place at the  Cafe MOMUS. Shortly after Mimì, Rodolfo, and their friends have taken seats for a drink. Mussetta grabs the spotlight, musically speaking, for a short self-promoting aria (Quando me’n vo’). It is a song directed at the people in the café as much as at the audience in the theater. Here we have the limits of art. Whatever Mussettals character her goddesslike beauty and charm overwhelm us.

Libretto

Quando me’n vo’
Quando me’n vo’ soletta per la via,
la gente sosta e mira
e la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me
da capo a piè …

Ed assaporo allor la bramosia
sottil, che da gli occhi traspira
e dai palesi vezzi intender sa
alle occulte beltà.
Così l’effluvio del desìo tutta m’aggira,
felice mi fa!

E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi
da me tanto rifuggi?
So ben:
Le angoscie tue non le vuoi dir,
ma ti senti morir!

When I walk
When I walk all alone in the street,
people stop and stare at me
and look for my whole beauty
from head to feet …

And then I taste the slight yearning
which transpires from their eyes
and which is able to perceive from manifest charms
to most hidden beauties.
So the scent of desire is all around me,
it makes me happy!

And you, while knowing, reminding and longing,
you shrink from me?
I know it very well:
you don’t want to express your anguish,
but you feel as if you’re dying!