May 16, 2018 13:49
6 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term
luchador a campo abierto
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Opera
Hi folks,
This is an informative text on the background of Bellini's opera 'I Puritani'. I'm not too sure about this expression. I think it means that Bellini wasn't as defiant as Hugo, and because he didn't want to make any waves, he abandoned the idea of creating a work that the authorities at the very least wouldn't like and would probably prohibit. Maybe you have a brilliant way to express this that retains the colour of the original expression?
But Bellini, unlike Hugo, wasn't xxxx.
Antes de idear I Puritani Bellini había acariciado el proyecto de componer una ópera inspirada en Hernani. Pero Bellini, a diferencia de Hugo, no era un luchador a campo abierto. Abandonó ese proyecto por encontrarse desasistido de su experimentado libretista Romani y porque se preveían problemas con las censuras austríaca y napolitana.
This is an informative text on the background of Bellini's opera 'I Puritani'. I'm not too sure about this expression. I think it means that Bellini wasn't as defiant as Hugo, and because he didn't want to make any waves, he abandoned the idea of creating a work that the authorities at the very least wouldn't like and would probably prohibit. Maybe you have a brilliant way to express this that retains the colour of the original expression?
But Bellini, unlike Hugo, wasn't xxxx.
Antes de idear I Puritani Bellini había acariciado el proyecto de componer una ópera inspirada en Hernani. Pero Bellini, a diferencia de Hugo, no era un luchador a campo abierto. Abandonó ese proyecto por encontrarse desasistido de su experimentado libretista Romani y porque se preveían problemas con las censuras austríaca y napolitana.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+1
12 mins
Spanish term (edited):
no era un luchador a campo abierto
Selected
was unwilling to court controversy
I think your interpretation is correct, Lisa.
Perhaps this would work:
"...unlike Hugo, preferred to avoid courting controversy"
or
"...unlike Hugo, was unwilling to court controversy"
Perhaps this would work:
"...unlike Hugo, preferred to avoid courting controversy"
or
"...unlike Hugo, was unwilling to court controversy"
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
philgoddard
: No, that's only one of the reasons why he abandoned the project, the other being that he lost his librettist.
16 mins
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Thanks, Phil, but I don't see what that has to do with the phrase "no era un luchador a campo abierto".
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agree |
Charles Davis
: Good solution. / It occurs to me that one might add "openly" to this to take account of "a campo abierto".
2 hrs
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Thanks, Charles :-)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks Robert. I liked your solution a lot. It is exactly what I was thinking."
+1
18 mins
a lone warrior / a lone wolf
Two options.
Judging from the fact that there are fewer than 10 independent Google references, the phrase does not seem to be particularly common in Spanish.
Here is one reference from a blog referring to Che Guevara:
http://pc-celulaluisemiliomendozav.blogspot.mx/2007/10/
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Note added at 20 mins (2018-05-16 14:09:48 GMT)
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I see the phrase as having the sense of "being willing to take on the world against all odds, no matter what the consequences.
Judging from the fact that there are fewer than 10 independent Google references, the phrase does not seem to be particularly common in Spanish.
Here is one reference from a blog referring to Che Guevara:
http://pc-celulaluisemiliomendozav.blogspot.mx/2007/10/
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Note added at 20 mins (2018-05-16 14:09:48 GMT)
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I see the phrase as having the sense of "being willing to take on the world against all odds, no matter what the consequences.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
philgoddard
: I agree with your final sentence, though I think you have to say "warrior" rather than "wolf", which simply means he preferred his own company. You could also say "he was not one to go to the barricades for/fight to the death over a project".
3 hrs
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Maybe even: "He wasn't willing to die on that hill." Thank you, Phil.
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+1
56 mins
fight battles out in the open
Another option.
Bellini, unlike Hugo, prefered not to fight his battles out in the open.
Bellini, unlike Hugo, prefered not to fight his battles out in the open.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
franglish
43 mins
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Thank you, Franglish.
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neutral |
philgoddard
: This implies that he fought them in private, which he didn't.
2 hrs
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I don't see how my suggestion implies that any more than the original does.
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9 hrs
unwilling to take on an open fight/competition
In this answer, 'take on' is key. The solution is not as bellicose and I think it captures the original intent more accurately.
take on someone/something
— phrasal verb with take US /teɪk/ verb [ T ] past tense took /tʊk/
to fight or compete against someone or something:
I’ll take you on in a game of chess.
You have to be brave to take on a big corporation in court.
take on someone/something
— phrasal verb with take US /teɪk/ verb [ T ] past tense took /tʊk/
to fight or compete against someone or something:
I’ll take you on in a game of chess.
You have to be brave to take on a big corporation in court.
Discussion
I think you're making your point very clear, but I think that point is mistaken. There's no "logical disconnect", unless you think every sentence has to limit itself to repeating what the previous one said in different words. The first part of the second sentence adds new information (another reason why he abandoned the project, apart from the main one just mentioned); the second part explains in what sense he was not a "luchador a campo abierto" in this instance.
It seems to me that you are applying an arbitrary and preconceived notion of what the relationship between the sentences must be and it is preventing you from seeing what this expression actually means. I don't think there's a plausible interpretation of it that includes the idea of the missing librettist (pace Robert Forstag).
You're still missing my point. If you say "He was unwilling to court controversy. He lost his librettist" is a logical disconnect: the second statement doesn't follow from the first.
Anyway, let's see what Lisa thinks...
What actually happened was that Romani promised to do him a libretto for Hernani, but then went off and did one for Donizzetti instead, leaving Bellini temporarily without a librettist. Bellini got cold feet (because of the prospect of trouble with the police) and when Romani was free again (very soon afterwards) they did La Sonnambula instead, rather than resuming the Hernani project, which they could perfectly well have done.
It wasn't a question of having Romani's moral support; he simply couldn't write an opera alone.