Alessandro the Wise

Lyrics

[MARQUIS, spoken] Benvenuto, I implore you, this is your last chance. You know how much my monarch admires your genius. He will give you work, money, everything! [OTTAVIANO, spoken] Open the door! In the name of the great Duke, open the door! [SOLDIERS] Make way for the noblest of nobility Make way or suffer his rebuke Bow low to show humility Bow, you peasants, in the presence of the Duke! [ENSEMBLE] Sing his praises to the skies Alessandro the Wise! Hail the man you subsidize Alеssandro the Wise! [DUKE] A hundred yеars or so ago the Medici— That's my family—began to win renown When lovely Florence, be it to her credit, she Got grandpapa's papa to rule the town [WOMEN] Sing out, sing out, or have it played orchestrally Sing out the while you worship at his shrine [DUKE] There never was a fellow who, ancestrally Could boast a genealogy like mine Lorenzo the Magnificent And What's His Name?—the Wondrous And many and many another Whose deeds were great and thunderous We've many blossoms in our pedigree But I'm the flower of the family [ENSEMBLE] He's the flower of the family [DUKE] I'm aesthetic, poetic To beauty I'm sympathetic [ENSEMBLE] A patron of the arts is Alessandro! [DUKE] My weakness is chicness If the lady has no antiqueness [ENSEMBLE] The ladies lose their hearts to Alessandro! [DUKE] My art collection features Botticelli and da Vinci But also I collect young women who are plump and pinchy I sponsor the celestial But I don't run down the bestial That combination makes 'em idolize [ENSEMBLE] Alessandro the Wise! [DUKE] Alessandro the Wise! I've a yearning for learning To which I am always returning [ENSEMBLE] It's women, wine and song for Alessandro! [DUKE] Patrician, musician And a bit of a mathematician [ENSEMBLE] It's figures all day long with Alessandro! [DUKE] I try to raise the public taste whenever I can contrive it So paintings pornographic I will only show in private By action I embellish both the heavenly and the hellish [ENSEMBLE] That combination makes 'em idolize [DUKE] Alessandro the Wise! [ENSEMBLE] Alessandro the Wise! [NARRATOR] Despite the title of that song I always feel they get it wrong For when a Duke speaks, as a rule He comes across as, well, a fool For instance, Ben's unfinished work Was commissioned as a ducal perk Yet still the Duke, who's rather rash Likes it so much he offers cash His cousin, Ottaviano A charming man, as villains go Tries to make him see the light By pointing out it's his by right [OTTAVIANO, spoken] But your Highness has bought it.  [DUKE, spoken] I have? Then why didn't I take it? [OTTAVIANO, spoken] Because it wasn't finished.  [DUKE, spoken] Why not? [OTTAVIANO, spoken] Because Cellini attacked Maffio.  [DUKE, spoken] Then why hasn't he hanged? [OTTAVIANO, spoken] Because you pardoned him.  [DUKE, spoken] Why the devil did I do that? [OTTAVIANO, spoken] Because the statue wasn't finished.  [DUKE, spoken] I think we ought to buy it. Is that why we came here? [OTTAVIANO, spoken] Forgive me, cousin. I can't remember.  [DUKE, spoken] No! It was about Maffio! I remember that myself.  [NARRATOR, spoken] Now Cellini's life's in danger Things begin to get yet stranger For Angela, scantily attired to pose Returns and complete throws The Duke off guard. He now decides To take this nymph where he resides The summer palace is the place Just look at poor Cellini's face He's overcome and starts to grieve Then the Duke says: Don't dare leave Your house. Now, as the pretty maid Is forced to leave her handsome blade To join the Duke and all his throng She starts to sing a farewell song