Bellini’s 1831 opera, La Somnambula (The Sleepwalker), is a prime example of the Italian bel canto tradition. Many famous sopranos, starting with Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran, have been associated with the role of Amina. This demanding role calls for a host of virtuoso vocal techniques, including trills and florid runs and arabesques. Many plot twists are typical in bel canto operas. Amina is suspected to have been unfaithful to her betrothed, Elvino. As Amina sleepwalks dangerously across an unstable high bridge, watched by she sings this scena (recitative and aria), lamenting Elvino’s rejection and, holding a withered flower he had given to her, proves her enduring love for him. All is set right in the end.

Program Note by David B. Levy, ©2026

Original Text: 

Ah! non credea mirarti

Sì presto estinto, o fiore;

Passasti al par d'amore,

Che un giorno sol durò.

Potria novel vigore

Il pianto mio recarti...

Ma ravvivar l'amore

Il pianto mio non può. 

Ah! non giunge uman pensiero

Al contento ond'io son piena:

A' miei sensi io credo appena;

Tu m'affida, o mio tesor.

Ah mi abbraccia, e sempre insieme

Sempre uniti in una speme,

Della terra in cui viviamo

Ci formiamo un ciel d'amor. 

Translation:

Ah! I did not believe I would see you

Faded so soon, oh flower;

You passed away just like love,

Which lasted only a single day.

If only my tears could bring you

New vigor...

But my tears cannot

Revive love.

Ah! Human thought cannot conceive

The happiness with which I am filled:

I can barely believe my own senses;

Reassure me, oh my treasure.

Ah, embrace me, and always together,

Always united in one hope,

Of the earth in which we live

We will make a heaven of love.