Libretto
Libretto
Original photo by Grisha Bruev, digitally processed by Juan Fra
Index
PART ONE
01
(Narrator)
There was once a beautiful and prosperous metropolis
on the shore of the Mediterranean.
Rome governed the known world.
In the mists of time, like a diamond,
the city of Pompeii shone in all its splendor.
INTRODUCTION
(Instrumental)
We contemplate a panoramic view of the ruins of Pompeii.
PRELUDE
(Instrumental)
79 A.D. Pompeii, a Roman city in all its splendour.
DINNER IN GLAUCUS' HOUSE
The Athenian Glaucus hosts a dinner in his house.
Flying on the wings of time, you can
walk around the city of Pompeii,
admire its glow and wealth,
discover a scene
with mansions and palaces
and a story to tell us.
Tonight Glaucus has invited his best friends
to dinner at his house .
Clodius and Pansa will come with Sallust.
They will talk, carefree,
and enjoy delicious dishes.
Everything is expensive and refined.
"You appreciate art and luxury",
they compliment the Greek,
"because you have to flatter the host".
They will give toasts freely,
Glaucus will lose at dice
and the night will pass by.
When, as they tire, the end nears,
the first lights of dawn shine
and Pompeii begins to wake.
Without leaving the stage,
let's change the set
another scene awaits.
02
ARBACES IN THE TEMPLE OF ISIS
Arbaces arrives at the temple of the Egyptian goddess.
Make way, let him thought,
Arbaces is arriving at the temple.
With his peculiar reserve
and this look
of authority that power gives
and disdain to all.
Such majesty and arrogance!
Such mystery!
Before the goddess he will smile
cynically once more time.
His mind is far away,
thinking of Ione.
The opportunity is coming closer,
to use his authority
and to make a display of his faith
feigning before Isis.
Fame and gossip
have made known to the people,
that from his magic and power
they should steer clear
as he is a man to fear
for his arrogance and coldness.
But he doesn't know that a sparrow
is going to rebel.
03
A TEMPLE IN ATHENS
Reunion between Glaucus and Ione, a beautiful youth of Greek origin, orphan and pupil of Arbaces.
(Narrator)
A while ago in a temple, among people,
Glaucus contemplated her beauty for the first time.
It was in Athens where it took place,
but he has not forgotten this woman.
(Sung)
... he has not forgotten that woman.
Destiny or perhaps only chance
wants that today they meet again.
The love of Ione and Glaucus will ignite
and tomorrow it will be here.
Passion explodes just as the volcano will blow
and from its fires no one will escape.
As ashes do, passions will reach
beyond good and evil.
04
THEME OF LOVE
Ione and Glaucus, the lovers.
See how love
rises like a dawn.
Ione and Glaucus will dream,
they will be in love,
but the gods could betray them.
Their eyes are
dazzled by their love.
Now there is no one else
than the two of them
in their world of utopia and dreams.
"Without you I can't live"
say the lovers to each other every day.
"Without you,
the sun doesn't shine without you,
your eyes light it up for me. "
Immense is their love,
it is as big as the sea.
They idolise each other inceasingly,
fearlessly.
No one can come between the two.
"Without you,
there is no happiness without you"
repeat the lovers to each other every day.
"Without you,
there is no moon without you,
at night you illuminate it for me.
Without you it is not possible to be happy.
Without you it couldn't be”.
05
NYDIA
Nydia, Glaucus' blind slave, laments her love.
Eyes without life and light
condemned to weep for love.
Both obedient and strong,
young and old soul,
faithful servant.
You love Glaucus too
and he doesn’t comprehend
and your jealousy wounds
your heart
and you suffer without being understood.
Sweet love songs
that you will gift to the air
with your voice.
Like seagulls they will go
with your laments of love
to the sea.
Weeping in your solitude
no one will console you.
Only the flowers in your garden
will listen to your song, no one else.
06
ARBACES AND HIS DARK MYSTICISM
(Instrumental)
Arbaces tries to dazzle Apaecides (Ione’s brother) with cunning tricks and mystic
rituals.
07
ILL OMENS
Arbaces, as an augur, looks for answers in the stars.
(Narrator)
Arbaces, a dark character,
scheming and calculating.
Protector of Ione and her brother Apaecides,
he manipulates the young priest to satisfy his own interests.
In the night full of omens,
the stars warn him of a great danger.
(Instrumental)
08
ARBACES DECLARES HIS LOVE
Arbaces reveals his secret love to his protégé.
“Listen Ione for today
I want to speak to you of this love
that clasps my heart.
Your peerless beauty
has overturned my reason
and I will no longer be silent.
I want the honey of this flower,
to kiss your lips with passion.
Only you will be mine, my love.
As a girl I took you in,
I was your teacher and your protector.
But your childhood is over.
Your beauty and your splendour
have made me mad with passion
and your heart will be mine.
No, I don’t like your expression.
Don’t think you can reject me.
Spurn me, woman, never”.
09
ARBACES' FURY
Arbaces showed her his love
with such vehemence
and such passion
that he never imagined
that the girl
naively and without fear
would reveal to him that another love
already beats
in her loving heart.
Faced with Ione’s rejection, a furious Arbaces tries to rape her, at which moment
Glaucus appears and intervenes in her defence.
10
FIGHT TO THE DEATH AND EARTHQUAKE
(Instrumental)
The two men initiate a brutal fight which is interrupted by a sudden earthquake.
The image of Isis falls on Arbaces leaving him gravely wounded.
Original photograph by Karl Allen Lugmayer, digitally processed by Juan Fra
PART TWO
11
POMPEIAN NIGHT
The city sleeps on a warm summer's night.
(Narrator)
Glaucus, Arbaces’ rival...
Ione, Julia’s rival, a noble and rich heiress...
Nydia, Glaucus’ naive slave, who loves him secretly...
The witch of Vesuvius, maker of spells and magic concoctions...
Intrigues, deceits, jealousies, rival passions, revenge, murder...
The life that flows in each street and on every corner.
PRELUDE PART TWO
(Instrumental)
Arbaces profoundly hates Glaucus and in his mind he hatches his revenge.
JULIA VISITS ARBACES
Julia, infatuated with Glaucus, seeks help from Arbaces as a magician.
He suggests that she turn to the witch of Vesuvius for help.
The Egyptian sees the opportunity that he was waiting for to take his revenge.
In Arbaces’ mansion
comes Julia today looking for
the Egyptian’s magic powers
a ritual or elixir with which to
attract Glaucus.
Out of spite she wants his love too
for she has been humiliated.
She was obvious
with all her flirtations.
He ignored her in front of all,
not even a look
And what’s more,
he announced that he is
going to be
married to the infernal Ione.
Julia is furious and is not going to give up.
These are a lover’s jealousies.
Now the astute Arbaces
he knows how he will act.
He will use Julia for his plans
and this time
he will be able to attain his desire,
finish with the Athenian
and thereby regain
his most beloved Ione.
12
WALK AT SUNSET AND THE WITCH’S CAVE
(Instrumental)
Ione and Glaucus are returning from a carriage ride from the side of Vesuvius when they are caught in torrential rain. They seek refuge in the cavern where a sinister and sullen woman lives who, after a discussion, predicts a disastrous future
for them.
13
JULIA VISITS THE WITCH
(Instrumental)
Following Arbaces’ advice, Julia turns to the witch who supplies her with a love
potion to seduce Glaucus.
14
ARBACES AND THE WITCH
(Instrumental)
No sooner has Julia left, Arbaces appears in the cave and coerces the witch so that
the potion she has given Julian be a death one.
15
BANQUET IN JULIA'S HOUSE
Julia hosts a banquet during which she plans to give the potion to Glaucus.
Nydia, aware of her intention and ignorant of the authentic nature of the potion, has substituted the mortal contents of the jar with water. She will be the one to gain the favour of her beloved master.
Julia will seize the moment in the banquet
to offer Glaucus to drink from her cup.
With wine she will give him the love potion and as they toast
she will think that the Greek will finally be her lover.
What Julia doesn’t know is that all this scheming will fail,
because there is someone else doing the intriguing too.
Nydia dreams that she will conquer the Athenian.
She has stolen the potion and is determined.
She stealthily replaced the potion with water
that the feared witch gave to Julia.
What the blind girl doesn’t know is that she will bear a mortal potion.
Someone has committed a cruel murder.
Soon Arbaces will fulfil his obsession to kill
this Greek who disputes his love.
Once Glaucus is dead, Ione, finally, will have no rival.
Now he just has to wait for his revenge to be carried out.
The witch fears the Egyptian and will not doubt to intrigue
and in the plot, Julia will be the one deceived.
16
HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED
Julia is frustrated by the ineffectual concoction.
In her master’s house, Nydia finds the moment to give the potion, diluted in a drink, to her beloved. At the first sip, Glaucus becomes mad and leaves his house, roaming the streets aimlessly.
Nydia, frightened, follows him, without understanding what is happening.
Meanwhile, Arbaces argues with Apaecides who, sick of his tricks, threatens him
with making his false religiousness public. Arbaces, enraged, murders him.
It was no longer worth flirting
a potion will not change
the situation.
Things did not turn out
as Julia imagined.
Nydia deceived for love.
There was no evil in her actions.
She erred
and the result worsened her pain.
The frustration will pass.
The deception hurts even more
than the indifference.
Hate and pride
sow despair.
And someone will smile
Arbaces saw his ill-fated
plan germinate
and knows that in the end
he will win.
Glaucus could not suspect
the mortal concoction.
He drunk from Nydia’s cup
and became delirious.
Not understanding
what was happening,
Nydia felt terror
shaking her.
She ran for help
lost in her confusion.
Glaucus also moved away.
His lucidity faded.
Driven mad,
he roamed the streets.
Meanwhile and elsewhere
Arbaces was brutal.
A crime was perpetrated
and he wants Glaucus to be blamed.
Apaecides confronted the
unfaithful magician. He cornered
and menaced him
with demasking him
before the people
and before his God.
Arbaces saw his honour
and dignity in danger
and without thinking twice
cunningly wielded a dagger
and felled the youth.
17
A FALSE ACCUSATION
When the young priest falls down Glaucus appears driven mad and Arbaces, understanding that the potion has taken effect, although not how he had hoped,
takes the opportunity to blame him for the crime. Alarmed by his cries people
start to gather. Nydia, hidden in the shadows, understands the situation.
Without a cry of pain,
the priest gave in
and there stretched out by the sea
he faded away.
In the silence there was heard
an uncertain step and a voice
and before the Egyptian young
Glaucus appeared.
Seeing him, Arbaces understood
that the curse had worked
and he enjoyed the taste
of revenge.
He called the people
and accused him,
feigning terror and astonishment
and Glaucus didn’t defend himself
but spoke nonsense.
18
POMPEIAN FUNERAL
In the funeral for Apaecides, Ione, his friends and all the people weep for the
young priest.
Who could put out his youth?
Who took away thus your light?
With your wings today you can fly
and without a goodbye
you will go away.
A wind destroyed your abode
and you
will leave but you will never return.
These flames will anoint you
with a fire that will raise you up.
Our heart will cry for you
tears of emotion,
rivers without end.
Hades, severe and mysterious
will open
the paths of eternity for you.
One more star today will be seen
like a lighthouse in darkness.
With your intense light
you will illuminate
the path of freedom.
Joined hands by the sea intone
a song of love and fraternity.
19
TRIAL AGAINST GLAUCO
The witch, fearing the consequences, did not put the poison Arbaces asked for in
the potion, she put in a different one, one with a temporary alienating effect only.
Now Glaucus is faced with a death sentence for murder. He will die torn to pieces
by a lion in an amphitheatre.
Glaucus survived
But his situation
is not in the end the best.
Now he is in prison
and he knows that
he never killed anyone.
Soon they will judge him,
all will accuse him
and he feels incapable
of showing the court
that he is not a criminal.
Nydia has understood
that Arbaces was the aggressor
and has found a witness.
She will accuse him,
she will put herself in danger.
She will tell the truth.
Of course! It is not to be like this.
Arbaces will put a stop to it,
he won’t allow it.
He will harass her, follow her,
and kidnap her.
The games in the city
will very soon start and
another prisoner will fall.
The crowd will revel.
Another exemplary death.
Only two more days
and Glaucus they will make him fight
with a fierce rival.
Against a lion they will set him.
No one can save him.
20
NYDIA'S MISSIVE
Nydia finds a witness to acquit Glaucus but she is found out by Arbaces who
kidnaps her. In prison she convinces her jailer to get a letter delivered to Sallust,
Glaucus’ best friend.
“Glaucus must not die.
Run, Sallust, to advise the Praetor.
Glaucus was not the aggressor.
Free me for I am in prison.
Arbaces has kidnapped me,
he killed the priest,
and now he wants to stop my voice
from being heard.
Run, Sallust, to advise the praetor”.
SALLUST
When Sallust received
Nydia’s letter
it was late and he could
no longer do anything.
It was now too late to save him.
How he cried! How he cried!
When his friend was to die,
Nydia’s letter was now there.
He could no longer do anything
to save him, it was too late.
How he cried! How he cried!
The Last Days of Pompeii by Ulpiano Checa. Oils on canvas. 359 x 550 cm. Gold medal in the Universal Exhibition of Paris 1900. Ulpiano Checa Museum. Colmenar de Oreja. Madrid.
