Seguidilla (from Carmen)

More seductive music from French opera, although in this case the situation is rather different from that in Samson et Dalila. Carmen certainly uses her physical charms to get what she wants, not least through her skill in Spanish dancing - first in a habanera, now in a seguidilla - but at the same time she is genuinely in love with Corporal Don José. Her love does not last but at this point in the opera, where she is under arrest and José is meant to be in charge of her, the affair is just beginning. He forbids her to speak but there is nothing to stop her singing, she says. Her song is so explicitily provocative that he cannot resist the temptation to let her go and, in spite of the disciplinary consequences, join her later at Lillas Pastia’s.

Prés des remparts de Séville,

Chez mon ami Lillas Pastia,

J’irai danser la Séguedille

Et boire du Manzanilla,

J’irai chez mon ami Lillas Pastia.

Oui, mais toute seule on s’ennuie,

Et les vrais plaisirs sont à deux;

Donc, pour me tenir compagnie,

J’emmènerai mon amoureux!

Mon amoureux!…Il est au diable!

Je l’ai mis à la porte hier!

Mon pauvre coeur, très consolable,

Mon coeur est libre comme l’air!

J’ai des galants à la douzaine,

Mais ils ne sont pas à mon gré.

Voici la fin de la semaine:

Qui veut m’aimer? Je l’aimerai!

Qui veut mon âme? Elle est à prendre!

Vous arrivez au bon moment!

Je n’ai guère le temps d’attendre,

Car avec mon nouvel amant

Prés des remparts de Séville,

Chez mon ami Lillas Pastia,

J’irai danser la Séguedille

Et boire du Manzanilla,

Oui, j’irai chez mon ami Pastia!

Near the ramparts of Seville,

In the tavern of my friend Lillas Pastia,

I’m going to dance the seguidilla

And drink manzanilla,

I’m going to my friend Lilas Pastia’s.

Yes, but its boring on your own,

And real pleasures are shared by two;

So, to keep me company,

I’ll take my lover with me.

My lover!…He’s done for!

I showed him the door yesterday!

My poor heart, not at all inconsolable,

My heart is as free as air!

I have suitors by the dozen,

But they are not my type.

Here we are at the end of the week:

Who wants to love me? I’ll love him!

Who wants my heart? It’s there for the taking!

You have turned up at the right moment!

I scarcely have time to wait,

Because with my new lover

Near the ramparts of Seville,

In the tavern of my friend Lillas Pastia,

I’m going to dance the seguidilla

And drink manzanilla,

Yes, I’m going to my friend Pastia’s.