Nessun Dorma

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Nessun Dorma

by Giacomo Puccini

This song is from the opera, Turandot, and is part of the final act. It’s one of the most famous tenor arias in all of opera.

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d’amore, e di speranza!	None shall sleep! None shall sleep! Not even you, oh Princess, in your cold bedroom, watching the stars that tremble with love, and with hope!
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me; il nome mio nessun saprà! No, No! Sulla tua bocca, lo dirò quando la luce splenderà!	But my secret is hidden within me; no one will know my name! No, no! On your mouth, I will say it when the light shines!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!	And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!

Just before the climactic end of the aria, a chorus of women is heard singing in the distance:

Il nome suo nessun saprà, E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!

No one will know his name, and we will have to, alas, die, die!

Calaf, now certain of victory, sings:

Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All’alba, vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!

Vanish, o night! Fade, you stars! Fade, you stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

I particularly like this song and story due to its relatability. Who among us did not win over the Princess of Our Affections by solving riddles? Calaf was optimistic in the face of impossible odds. What’s the story of this song though and why do I care? (via wiki)

“Nessun dorma” (Italian: [nesˌsun ˈdɔrma]; English: “Let no one sleep“) is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini‘s opera Turandot (text by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni) and one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, il principe ignoto (the unknown prince), who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but cold Princess Turandot. Any man who wishes to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles; if he fails, he will be beheaded. In the aria, Calaf expresses his triumphant assurance that he will win the princess.

Although “Nessun dorma” had long been a staple of operatic recitals, Luciano Pavarotti popularised the piece beyond the opera world in the 1990s following his performance of it for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which captivated a global audience. Both Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo released singles of the aria, with Pavarotti’s reaching number 2 in the UK, and it appeared on the best-selling classical album of all time, The Three Tenors in Concert. The Three Tenors, which includes José Carreras, performed the aria at three subsequent FIFA World Cup Finals, in 1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama. Since 1990, many crossover artists have performed and recorded it. The aria has been sung often in films and on television.

Context and analysis

In the act before this aria, Calaf has correctly answered the three riddles put to all of Princess Turandot’s prospective suitors. Nonetheless, she recoils at the thought of marriage to him. Calaf offers her another chance by challenging her to guess his name by dawn. As he kneels before her, the “Nessun dorma” theme makes a first appearance, to his words, “Il mio nome non sai!” (My name you do not know!). She can execute him if she correctly guesses his name; but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects shall sleep that night until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed.

In typical performance style, the final “Vincerò!” features a sustained B₄, followed by the final note, an A₄ sustained even longer—although Puccini’s score did not explicitly specify that either note be sustained. In the original score, the B is written as a sixteenth note while the A is written as a whole note. Both are high notes in the tenor range.

In Alfano’s completion of act 3, the “Nessun dorma” theme makes a final triumphal appearance at the end of the opera. The theme also makes a concluding reappearance in Luciano Berio‘s later completion (this having been an expressed intention of Puccini), but in a more subdued orchestration.

I will allow you to keep private the riddles your significant other forced you to solve, to save your own life and those of the rest of your community, as I will also keep those private in my own case. But I will share the three riddles of the opera:

First riddle – ‘Straniero, ascolta!’ – “What is born each night and dies each dawn?” The answer is “Hope.”

Second riddle – ‘Guizza al pari di fiamma’ – “What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire?” The answer is “Blood”.

Third riddle – ‘Gelo che ti da foco’ – “What is like ice, but burns like fire?” The answer is “Turandot!”

If I’m being honest, I would have been soundly defeated by the first riddle.

Probably the most famous (currently, and possible ever) performance of the song was done by Pavarotti.