Abscheulicher! wo eilst du hin?

Elizabeth Connell as Leonore in Beethoven’s FIDELIO.

Abscheulicher! – FIDELIO – Elizabeth Connell – Met bcast 2~16~91

“You monster! Where will you go?
What have you planned in your cruel fury?
The call of pity, the voice of mankind,
Will nothing move your tiger’s heart?
Like storm-driven ocean waves,
Ire and anger rage in your breast.

And yet, a rainbow on my path still shines,
Which brightly rests o’er sombre clouds:
It looks so calm, so peaceful to me,
reminding me of happier days
And soothing thus my troubled heart.

Come hope, let not the last bright star
be obscured by doubt!
Illuminate my goal, however far:
Through love I shall reach it still.

I follow my inner calling,
I shall not waver:
Strength I derive
From my marital vows.
Oh you, for whom I have endured so much:
If only I could penetrate
Where malice has imprisoned you,
And bring to you sweet comfort!
I follow my inner calling…
In faithfulness and love, I shall triumph!”