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Nessun dorma
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Nessun dorma (English: None shall sleep tonight) is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot, and is 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. However, any man who wishes to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles.
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Encyclopedia
Nessun dorma (English: None shall sleep tonight) is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot, and is 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. However, any man who wishes to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles. If he fails, he will be beheaded.
Details
In the act before this aria, Calaf has correctly answered the three riddles put to all of Princess Turandot's prospective suitors. Nevertheless, 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!") If she does so, she can execute him; but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects are to sleep that night until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed.
As the final act opens, it is now night. Calaf is alone in the moonlit palace gardens. In the distance, he hears Turandot's heralds proclaiming her command. His aria begins with an echo of their cry and a reflection on Princess Turandot:
- "Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore, e di speranza!"
- "Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me; il nome mio nessun saprà! No, No! Sulla tua bocca lo dirò quando la luce splenderà!"
- "Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!"
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!"
Calaf, now certain of victory, sings:
- "Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"
In performance, 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 eighth note while the A is a quarter note. The only recording to follow Puccini's score exactly was the very first made with Gina Cigna and Francesco Merli conducted by Franco Ghione. 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 Berio's later completion (this having been an expressed intention of Puccini's), but in a more subdued orchestration.
Selected recordings
This is a selection of tenor aria recordings that includes Nessun dorma sung by some of its most famous interpreters. For full-length recordings of the opera from which it comes, see Turandot: Selected recordings
Cultural resonance outside opera
Nessun dorma achieved pop status after Luciano Pavarotti's recording of it was used as the theme song of BBC television's coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. It subsequently reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart, the highest placing ever by a classical recording.
Although Calaf was too heavy a role for Pavarotti to sustain on stage, this did not prevent him from making Nessun dorma his signature aria and, in turn, a sporting anthem in its own right, especially for soccer. Pavarotti sang Nessun dorma at his final performance, the finale of the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, although it was later revealed that he had lip-synched the performance. His Decca recording of the aria was played at his funeral during the flypast by the Italian Air Force.
Nessun dorma has been used in many films, often appearing at a central moment in the film—sometimes with the aria's moment of musical resolution aligned with the film's narrative climax, giving symbolic meaning to the aria's rich emotional impact. Films in which the aria plays a significant role in the soundtrack include The Killing Fields, Mar adentro, The Sum of All Fears, The Mirror Has Two Faces, and Bend it like Beckham. "Nessun Dorma" is also the title of a short film by Ken Russell included in the 1987 film Aria. (Aria consists of ten segments by a variety of directors; each one features the director's visual accompaniment to arias and scenes from operas. The films have minimal or no dialogue, with most of the spoken content coming from the words of the aria itself.)
Aretha Franklin notably performed Nessun dorma as a last-minute replacement for Pavarotti on the Grammy Awards of 1998 telecast. A recording of this performance was later included on her album Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen. For other recorded renditions of Nessun dorma by notable vocalists from outside the opera world, see One Chance by Paul Potts, The Voice by Russell Watson, The Winner's Journey by Damien Leith, My Secret Passion by Michael Bolton, and Eden by Sarah Brightman.
Adaptations of the aria to other musical genres include a heavy metal version by Manowar in their album Warriors of the World, and Vincero, an opera/disco fusion by Fredrik Kempe. Vincero is also used for the popular line dance Trust me!
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