German endearments from opera

Cafe Society
1

Dear denizens of Cafe Society,

I am in pressing need of a few words from a German aria that are endearments and would sound fairly wretched to an English speaker, especially coming after some nice, fluid Italian. I would like something a little bit more verbose than just “Schätzchen” or “Liebchen” but less than twenty words would be best.

It doesn’t have to specifically be from an aria, but I would like it to be from a fairly well known opera for ca. 1840. The Italian I’m using is “Pace, pace, o vita mia / In contento ed allegria / Notte e dì vogliam passar” (Peace, peace, oh my dearest love / In happiness and joy / Let us pass our nights and days) from “Batte, batte, o bel Masetto” sung by Zerlina in “Don Giovanni.”

Thanks!

2

Why not stick with Mozart? I just saw Die Zauberflöte, and it had tons of great romantic lines that sounded harsh and awkward in German. Here’s the libretto in German with a side-by-side English translation – you should be able to find something that will work.

3

I can’t be sure, but I think it’s because I’m a moron. Seriously, I skimmed right over “Die Zauberflöte,” because I’ve only ever seen it as “The Magic Flute,” so it completely didn’t register.

This is my punishment for not enjoying sung German very much.

4

Don’t be too hard on yourself. I always thought of it as The Magic Flute too, until I saw it a few weeks ago and was struck by how amusing all the romantic parts sounded in German.