Cardoso en Gulevandia

Marcos Mundstock:
Next, you'll hear the first act of the opera "Cardoso in Gulevandia" by Johann Sebastian Mastropiero. We'll intersperse a summary of the plot to help you understand, as this opera is mostly sung in Gulevache, a nearly extinct language. It's not like operas in Italian, German, or Russian, which everyone can understand.

SCENE ONE: Chapel of the Royal Palace of Gulevandia. Princess Creolina prays the Hail Mary with her ladies-in-waiting. It's the beautiful fragment: "Hail Mary, full of grace."

Creolina:
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among all women. Hail Mary, Hail Mary.

Marcos Mundstock: The princess hears footsteps approaching the chapel and sings the recitative: "I hear footsteps, someone is coming near." It's a very handsome young man who inspires her love, "his gallant figure and attractive face inspire me with love." Cardoso, the crown prince of Spain, arrives, presenting himself fearfully and anxiously in the chapel.

Creolina:
I hear footsteps, someone is coming near.
Oh, a very handsome youth! His gallant figure
and his attractive face inspire me with love!
Cardoso:
Beautiful princess, allow me to introduce myself:
Cardoso, crown prince of Spain.
Creolina: Cardoso!
Cardoso: What, you’re also named Cardoso?
Creolina: No, I’m called Creolina and I’m the daughter of King Wilferico of Gulevandia.
Cardoso: Creolina!
Creolina: Oh, you’re also called Creolina?
Cardoso: No, no, I’m named Cardoso.
Creolina: Oh, what a fool, damn it!
Cardoso:
Today on my way to the palace
I saw you pass, Creolina,
covered by that veil
during the wild boar hunt.
You were so graceful and proud
that even though I’d never seen you before,
I quickly knew who you were
and what the wild boar was.
Creolina: Oh, what a youth so seductive!
Cardoso:
Creolina, I beg you, my angel,
remove that veil of tulle,
see in this yearning being
your prince charming.

Marcos Mundstock: In the recitative "I don’t know if I can believe you," Creolina tells Cardoso that she doesn’t know whether to believe him or not. She is surprised and stunned, "Surprised and stunned, I don’t know if you’re my prince charming." Then, in the aria "No, I can’t show you anything," Creolina explains to Cardoso that she cannot show him her face, as in Gulevandia it is forbidden to do so before the wedding ceremony. Later, in a fervent duet, Cardoso expresses his passion for Creolina while she, as can be inferred, thinks about the wedding feast. Sorry, as can be inferred.

Creolina:
I don’t know if I can believe you, I’m very skeptical.
You leave me surprised and stunned,
I don’t know if you’re my prince charming.
Cardoso: You’re very distrustful.
Creolina: No, I’m very naive.
Cardoso: I will marry you, princess, let me see your beautiful face.
Creolina:
No, no, no, no, no.
No, I can’t show you anything
before the ceremony,
in Gulevandia it’s forbidden
it’s forbidden to show your face before marriage.
Cardoso: I love you, Creolina, you will be mine.
Creolina: And I love you, you will be mine.
Cardoso: I can’t hold back, mine!
Creolina: I can’t hold back, mine!
Cardoso: We will be very happy, we will feast on partridges.
Creolina: Yes, my love, yes, partridges.
Cardoso: You are a flower, you are a decoration.
Creolina: with potatoes in the oven.
Cardoso: and of all the most beautiful.
Creolina: and also, a paella.
Cardoso: Beautiful, divine!
Creolina: and chicken stew.
Cardoso: For your love, I’m lost!
Creolina: pork ribs.
Cardoso: Your spell blinds me...
Creolina: a Galician octopus.
Cardoso: it blinds me your spell!
Creolina: add chorizo.
Cardoso: You are so, so...
Creolina: for dessert, a flan.
Cardoso: you are so graceful.
Creolina: a flan with jam.
Cardoso: that you finally restore my faith.
Creolina: and in the end
Cardoso: Love, at last!
Creolina: and in the end coffee.
Cardoso: Love!
Creolina: Love!

Marcos Mundstock: SCENE TWO. In the throne room, the court of Gulevandia is gathered. The nobles welcome Cardoso and greet him in chorus... and orchestra. "Welcome to Gulevandia, Prince Cardoso."

Chorus: Welcome, Prince Cardoso, welcome to Gulevandia!

Marcos Mundstock: Wilferico, king of Gulevandia and father of Creolina, welcomes Cardoso according to the rules of protocol through an interpreter.

King:
I, Wilferico, king of Gulevandia, warmly welcome
Cardoso, crown prince of Spain, according to the rules
of protocol. Interpreter, come!
Interpreter: At your orders, Your Majesty.
King:
Translate my speech to Prince Cardoso...
...which certainly seems foolish.
Interpreter: "With Prince Cardoso who certainly seems like an idiot."
King: Not yet, fool!
Interpreter: "Not yet, idiot."
King: Shut up, shut up, idiot of...
Chorus: Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!

Cardoso: In the name of the King of Spain.
King: Now yes, translate, my little fool.
Interpreter: Okay. "In the name of the Spanish king."
Cardoso: Your Majesty.
Interpreter: "Your Majesty."
Cardoso: I bow at your feet.
Interpreter: "I bend at your feet."
Cardoso: and I pay you respect and homage.
Interpreter: "I pay you respect and... respect and... a lot of respect!"
Cardoso: To your glorious scepter...
Interpreter: "To your glorious... What?"
Friar: The scepter, man... something about twenty inches, the monarch's attribute!
Interpreter: "The king's attribute, twenty inches."
King: Oh, I love you all, it’s not that much!

Marcos Mundstock: Cardoso praises the virtues of Creolina through the interpreter and asks for her hand in marriage. It is granted to him, her hand. Everyone raises their glasses in the famous toast "Cheers, let’s toast" which culminates with a B-flat from the tenor "Hallelujah and olé." The chorus responds in Gulevache "Joy and olfated."

Cardoso: Oh, magnanimous and slender king!
Interpreter: "Oh, king so handsome."
Cardoso: Having heard...
Interpreter: "While being heard."
Cardoso: that your daughter, Princess Creolina
Interpreter: "That your daughter, Princess Creolina."
Cardoso: is educated
Interpreter: "Instructed."
Cardoso: refined
Interpreter: "Refined."
Cardoso: and so humble and modest
Interpreter: "And so proletarian."
Cardoso: harbors...
Interpreter: "Harbors."
Cardoso: and shelters
Interpreter: "And shelters."
Cardoso: great gifts in her bosom
Interpreter: "In her bosom, great gifts."
Cardoso: and, captivated
Interpreter: "And, captivated."
Cardoso: by her graceful figure
Interpreter: "Her figure so graceful."
Cardoso: and her smiling, beautiful face
Interpreter: "And her smiling, beautiful face."
Cardoso: I ask...
Interpreter: "I ask."
Cardoso: enraptured
Interpreter: "Enraptured."
Cardoso: for her hand
Interpreter: "For her paw."

King: Prince Cardoso, you are accepted!
Creolina: (Hooray!)
Interpreter: "Prince Cardoso, you are accepted."
Cardoso: And when can we get married?
Interpreter: "And when can we get married?"
King: Tomorrow morning.
Interpreter: "Tomorrow morning."
Cardoso: Hallelujah!
Interpreter: Joy!
Chorus: Joy, joy, joy!

Creolina:
Tomorrow morning,
I will marry the prince,
with the very handsome prince.....
Cardoso:
I will marry, I’m so happy, tomorrow morning
and I will love you forever, my Creolina,
beloved princess...
King and Interpreter:
You will marry, tomorrow morning.
Cardoso, you are accepted.....

Cardoso: King Wilferico.
Interpreter: "King Wilferico."
Cardoso: may you be
Interpreter: "May you be..."
Chorus: May you be, may you be, may you be, may you be...
Creolina: (With the handsome prince I will marry.)
Cardoso: may you be praised, illustrious King Wilferico.
Interpreter: "Praised and polished King Wilferico."
King: Serve the wine, let’s toast, cheers, cheers!
Chorus: At last, at last, cheers!
Cardoso: Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Chorus: Joy, joy!
Cardoso: Hallelujah and olé!
Chorus: Joy and olfated!

Marcos Mundstock: In the baritone area "Creolina, my daughter" the king expresses his emotion "Hooray, joy, my heart is racing" and authorizes the princess to show her face "Remove that veil that hides your face, show it, reveal it." Creolina uncovers herself but Cardoso, upon seeing her, rejects her in a vibrant outburst "Back, monster, harpy, witch, indescribable spawn." Creolina cries out offended "Cardoso, you offend me, call me indescribable."

King:
Creolina, my daughter, joy!
Creolina, Creolina, my daughter,
Hooray, hooray, joy, my heart is racing!,
at last we have placed you.
Remove that veil that hides your face,
show it, reveal it...
Cardoso: I will see your face, I will finally see your angelic face.
King: At last, your splendid face.

Creolina:
Now yes, Cardoso, now yes, I reveal myself.
My Cardoso, I reveal myself... This is me!
Cardoso:
Ah, what horror, what horror, what horror!
What an unpleasant surprise,
what confusion, what a strange thing,
maybe that’s not the princess
or maybe that’s not the face!

Creolina:
Cardoso, my Cardoso, little by little you will know more about me,
new facets, other faces, ...
Cardoso: Oh no, more still!
Creolina: Cardoso, they are yours, kiss me...
Cardoso: Back, horrible monster, odious freak, dreadful witch, harpy, indescribable spawn!
Creolina: Boo, Cardoso, you offend me, call me indescribable!
Chorus: Horrifying, horrifying!

Marcos Mundstock: The court is horrified. In the final concert, Creolina laments "Oh me, in pain, in anguish, I am hungry." The king comforts her "My daughter, what a disaster." Cardoso remains in horror and the nobles demand his punishment, "Imprison him, whip him, torture him, dismember him."

Creolina: Oh, oh me, in pain, in anguish
King: My daughter, what a disaster!
Creolina: in anguish, I am hungry!
King: My daughter, what a disaster, one more that scares us!
Cardoso: That’s not the face, the wild boar was more beautiful.
Chorus:
Prince Cardoso, you have offended our princess,
infamous, insolent! Backtrack,
backtrack, infamous, think it over...
think it over, you can backtrack...
Cardoso: Yes, I think it over well, the wild boar was more beautiful!
Chorus:
Offended! Offended!
To imprison Cardoso, torture him, whip him!
To torment Cardoso, crucify him, whip him!
Cardoso: That’s not the face, the wild boar was more beautiful.
Chorus:
Dismember him, torture him, hang him, impale him,
stone him, waste him, trilapidate him!

King: Creolina, my daughter, for how long will I buy you ointments and colorful creams?
Creolina: Oh me, I forgot to put on makeup.
King: For how long will I buy you those oils from the East?
Creolina: Oh me, I forgot to shave, what a distraction, damn it!
King: Oh, Creolina, my daughter, what a disaster.
Cardoso: That’s not the face, the wild boar was more beautiful.
Creolina: Oh me, I am hungry, oh me.
Chorus:
To dismember Cardoso, to screw him, to rivet him!
To sodomize Cardoso, to stuff him, to gratin him!
To dismember him, to torture him, to whip him,
To dismember him, to screw him, to rivet him, to sodomize him!
Damn it, damn it, damn it!