Se vuol ballare

The cavatina "Se vuol ballare" is an aria for baritone or bass from the first act of the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (1784). The Italian title means "If you want to dance".

The song is sung by Figaro upon discovering the count's ploys to exercise his newly reasserted feudal Droit du seigneur, the ius primae noctis to sleep with Figaro's wife Susanna before the consummation of their marriage. Figaro sings of how he will unravel the count's schemes and thwart him. Written a mere three years before the French Revolution, it can also be read as a political attack on the power-wielding nobility of the time.

Se vuol ballare, signor contino,
se vuol ballare, signor contino,
il chitarrino le suonerò
il chitarrino le suonerò, sì,
le suonerò, sì,
le suonerò.

Se vuol venire nella mia scuola
la capriola le insegnerò,
se vuol venire nella mia scuola
la capriola le insegnerò, sì,
le insegnerò, sì,
le insegnerò.

Saprò, saprò, saprò, saprò, saprò,
ma piano, piano, piano, piano, piano, piano,
meglio ogni arcano,
dissimulando scoprir potrò.

|: L'arte schermendo, l'arte adoprando,
di qua pungendo, di là scherzando,
tutte le macchine rovescierò, rovescierò. :|.
Tutte le macchine rovescierò, rovescierò.

Se vuol ballare, signor contino,
se vuol ballare, signor contino,
il chitarrino le suonerò,
il chitarrino le suonerò, sì,
le suonerò, sì,
le suonerò..

If you want to dance, my little count,
If you want to dance, my little count,
I'll play the little guitar for you,
I'll play the little guitar for you, yes,
I'll play for you, yes,
I'll play for you.

If you want to come to my school
I'll teach you the capriole,
If you want to come to my school
I'll teach you the capriole, yes,
Teach you, yes,
Teach you.

I'll know, I'll know, I'll know, I'll know, I'll know,
but slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly;
Sooner every dark secret
by dissembling I shall uncover.

|: Artfully fencing, artfully working,
stinging here, joking there,
all of your schemes I'll turn inside out. :|
all of your schemes I'll turn inside out.

If you want to dance, my little count,
If you want to dance, my little count,
I'll play the little guitar for you,
I'll play the little guitar for you, yes,
I'll play for you, yes,
I'll play for you.

...
Wikipedia