Sarah Brightman -- La Wally

Ebbene? ... N'andrò lontana,
come va l'eco della pia campana,
là, fra la neve bianca;
là, fra le nubi d'or;
là, dov'è la speranza, la speranza
il rimpianto, il rimpianto, e il dolor!

O della madre mia casa gioconda,
la Wally n'andrà da te,
da te lontana assai,
e forse a te, e forse a te,
non farà mai più ritorno,
nè più la rivedrai!
mai più, mai più!

N'andrò sola e lontana,
come l'eco è della pia campana,
là, fra la neve bianca;
n'andrò, n'andrò sola e lontana!
e fra le nubi d'or!

Music: Alfredo Catalani
Libretto: Luigi Illica

From: Timeless (1997).
And from: Classics (2001) as well as Classics - European release (2006) and on Amalfi: Sarah Brightman love songs (2010).

Source of the lyrics: thanks to Tsukasa Ikeguchi, with corrections by Alessandra Cavalletti and Enzo Michelangeli.
Thanks also Carlos Edmar de Almeida Souza, Benjamin Chee and Richard Radishman for various help.

On this page futhermore:: > some notes on the lyrics and the background of La Wally
> translation into English
> other translations and versions

Notes

"La Wally" is actually the title of an opera, and this song is an aria from that opera. The aria is called "Ebben? ... Ne andrò lontana" (Sarah pronounces "ne andrò" as "n'andrò") -- thanks to Carlos this info.
Enzo Michelangeli writes that "n'andrò" is a common elision (leaving-out of letters) in the spoken language and sounds more natural than "ne andrò". If it should be something else, then "Ebben? Me n'andrò lontana" (but that's not what Sarah seems to sing).
The "è" (meaning "is") in the second line of the last stanza is grammatically correct, but somewhat redundant, so I am told; perhaps Sarah pronounces it as a gliding sound.
The sheet music of the aria, Carlos Pineda wrote, contains at the very end two lines, not sung by Sarah:
Ma fermo è il pie!
n'andiam, che lunga è la via n'andiam ... !
Tsukasa added that this is one of the most popular versions of the song, and it seems there are several versions around.
The soprano B.J. Ward sings this aria on her CD Queen of the Night and the CD booklet says about "La Wally": An opera not often performed, as it involves snow stroms, glaciers, avalanches, and a soprano rappelling down a rope. All you need to know about this piece is that a woman named Wally is singing about her childhood home in the mountains. After this aria, she's crushed beneath a sliding glacier, proving once again the old adage: If you can't go to the mountain, the mountain will come to you. -- thanks to Mike King for this info.
Sarah also sings some of the lines of this aria in the song A question of honour on her CD "Fly". without any credits on the CD or in the CD-booklet.
Christian Wallenborg informed me that La Wally was used in the French cult movie "Diva" (1981) and that the aria appears also in "Someone to Watch Over Me" (1987), "Philadelphia" (1993) and "Crimson Tide" (1995). The latter two seem to have nothing to do with music or operas, but "Diva" does. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) writes it is about a bootleg recording of an exceptional American diva who refuses to be recorded. And "Someone ..." features the same aria: IMDb lists it as 'Soundtrack from "Diva"'. Janice Poss added that Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez sang the aria in "Diva", and that it is the story of a maiden who goes to the mountains to throw herself into an avalanche. According to Janice she does this because of an unrequitted love. Tom Epps wrote me that she kills herself "because her father has arranged her marriage to a much older business partner the father needs to secure his debts".

Translation into English

The following translation is from Enzo Michelangeli, who improved the translation I had first here (with thanks to Benjamin and Alessandra).

Wally
Well then? I'll go far away,
as goes the echo from the pious bell
there, amid the white snow;
there, amid the golden clouds;
there, where hope is, hope,
regret, regret, and sorrow!

O my mother's joyous house,
Wally will go away from you,
from you so far away
and perhaps to you, perhaps to you
never she will return,
nor you will see her again!
nevermore, nevermore!

I'll go alone and far away,
as is the echo of the pious bell,
there, amid the white snow;
I'll go, I'll go alone and far away!
and amid the golden clouds!

Other translations and versions

Hayley sent me a beautiful poetic translation of "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" from La Wally, taken from The Modern Soprano Operatic Album (Ricordi). It is more like a real English version than a translation, I think, but certainly worth giving here:

'Tis well! my way lies yonder!
I hear afar the snowy mountains calling;
Forth to their heights I wander,
Forth to the sunset glow;
'Tis they shall calm the sorrow, calm the sorrow,
This heart alone, this heart alone may know.

Oh! peaceful cottage,
Dear home of my childhood,
The mountains are calling me!
Alas! I now must leave thee!
And nevermore,
And nevermore shall mine eyes fondly behold thee!
Home that I love so dearly.
Farewell! farewell!

'Tis well! my way lies yonder;
I can hear the snowy mountains calling;
Forth to their heights I wander;
Farewell! farewell! home of my childhood!
Farewell for evermore!

And this web page from Shaun Ivory has slightly different lyrics and translation; perhaps it is of a slightly different version.
[Thanks to Ed Mantel for info.]

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