The Opera [Finnish translation]

[MARYA D.]

The opera, the opera!

Stop mooning and moaning, we’ll miss the curtain!

[SERVANT]

Ladies

Welcome to the opera

[SONYA]

Bare arms and shoulders

Brilliant uniforms

Pearls and silk

Glittering before our eyes

Feminine envy

A whole crowd of memories

Desires and emotions

Natasha, smooth your gown

[Chorus]

Natasha, smooth your gown

[NATASHA]

Looking in the glass

I see I am pretty

Not a girl anymore

I’ve never felt like this before

Hundreds of eyes

Looking at my bare arms

My bare arms and neck

My bare arms and shoulders

[Chorus]

The two remarkably pretty girls

Had not been seen in Moscow in many years

Everybody knew vaguely of Natasha’s engagement

One of the finest matches in all of Russia

[SONYA]

Look, there’s Alexey, home from the war at last

[MARYA D.]

He has changed

Dear me, Michael Kirilovich has grown still stouter!

[Chorus]

There’s Boris and Julie, engaged

And Anna Mikhaylovna, what a headdress she has on!

[HÉLÈNE]

And is that Natasha

[Chorus]

And is that Natasha

And is that Natasha

[NATASHA]

They are looking at me

They are talking about me!

They all like me so much

The women envious

The men calming their jealousy

[SERVANT]

Announcing Fedya Dolokhov

He dominates Moscow’s most brilliant young men

He stands in full view

Well aware he’s attracting attention

Yet as much at ease as though he were in his own room

[MARYA D.]

Dolokhov was in the Caucasus

And he killed the Shah’s brother!

Now all the Moscow ladies are mad about him

Dolokhov the assassin!

[SERVANT]

Announcing Countess Hélène Bezukhova

The queen of society

Beautiful, barely clothed

Plump bare shoulders, and much-exposed neck

Round which she wears a double string of pearls

[Chorus]

Hélène and Dolokhov, arm in arm

Pierre the cuckold sits at home

Pierre the cuckold sits at home

The poor man

[PIERRE]

No, I am enjoying myself at home this evening

[NATASHA]

Oh, that neck

Oh, those pearls

[HÉLÈNE]

So beautiful

What a charming young girl

So enchanting

[NATASHA]

I blush scarlet

[MARYA D.]

Countess Bezukhova, Pierre’s wife

Have you been here long?

And where is dear Pierre?

He never used to forget us

[NATASHA]

Yes Pierre, that good man

A little sad, a little stout

He must come visit us

[HÉLÈNE]

I will implore him to do so

[MARYA D.]

There’s a woman one should stay far away from

Now Natasha

The curtain rises

[Chorus]

The curtain rises

[NATASHA]

Everyone in the boxes and the stalls became silent

All the men, old and young, in uniform and evening dress

All the women in the hall

With gems on their bare flesh

Turned their whole attention

With curiosity to the stage

[NATASHA]

Grotesque and amazing

I cannot follow the opera

Or even listen to the music

I see painted cardboard

Queerly dressed actors

Moving and singing so strangely in the lights

So false and unnatural

I’m ashamed and amused

And everyone else seems oblivious

Yes everyone feigns delight

[SONYA]

And feeling the flood of brilliant lights

The warm perfumed air heated by the crowd

Natasha little by little

Began to pass into a state of intoxication

[NATASHA]

Oh I’d tickle you all if I could

Oh I’d tickle you all if I could

[SONYA]

And then

A rush of cold air

[NATASHA & SONYA]

An exceptionally handsome man walked in

With a confident yet courteous air

[HÉLÈNE]

This was Hélène’s brother

Anatole Kuragin

He moved with a swagger

Which would have been ridiculous

Had he not been so good-looking

And though it was the middle of the act

He walked right down the aisle

His sword and spurs jangling

His handsome perfumed head held high

And he looked right at Natasha

[ANATOLE]

Mais charmante

[HÉLÈNE]

And he took his place in the front row next to Dolokhov

[NATASHA]

How handsome he is

How intoxicating

[SONYA]

In the second act there were tombstones

The moon over the footlights

Horns and contrabass

Black cloaks and daggers in their hands

[NATASHA]

I turn around again and our eyes meet

He gazes straight into my eyes

He is talking about me

[SONYA]

Candles burning

A crimson throne

The Tsar wails a mournful tune

They all wave their arms

And everybody cheers

“Bravo, bravo!”

[NATASHA]

Every time I look at him

He’s looking at me

Every time I look at him

He's looking at me

Every time I look at him

[SONYA]

A terrible noise, a clatter in the crowd

A storm of chromatic scales and diminished sevenths

With rapturous faces everyone was shouting

Screaming and shouting, “Bravo!”

[Chorus]

Bravo, bravo

Bravo, bravo

Bravo, bravo

[SONYA]

And then

A rush of cold air

And Anatole entered the box

• Artist:Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Musical)
• Album:Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 Original Broadway Cast Recording