from Act III, Scene 1 of the French opera
Guillaume Tell by Gioacchino Rossini
Libretto: Étienne de Jouy
Role: Mathilde, an Austrian Princess in the house of Hapsburg
Voice Part: soprano Fach: lyric coloratura|dramatic coloratura
Setting: the interior of a ruined chapel on the grounds of the Governor's palace at Altdorf, Switzerland, thirteenth century
Synopsis: Arnold has informed Mathilde that he must leave her in order to avenge her father's death and support the cause of the Swiss resistance to the Austrian rule. Mathilde is devastated and believes that all her happy moments with Arnold are now over. Although her sense of reason understands his reasons, her heart wishes that Arnold could forget his dangerous pursuit of revenge and instead stay with her. Finally though, she gives him her entire support and tells him that, although she cannot be there with him in person, she will be with him in his heart.