Nessun dorma

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"Nessun dorma" is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. The aria, whose title translates from Italian as "Let no one sleep", follows the proclamation by the Princess Turandot that no one shall sleep: they shall all spend the night attempting to find out the name of the unknown prince, Calaf, who has set the challenge. Calaf sings, indicating his certainty that their effort will be in vain.

The aria achieved pop status after Luciano Pavarotti's rendition of it was used as the BBC's theme for the 1990 Football World Cup held in Italy. It has been that tenor's signature song outside Italy since the 70s, as his rendition of it garnered him world-wide fame.

Contents

[edit] Lyrics

Verses (from the original libretto)[1]
Il principe ignoto
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!
Solo quando la luce splenderà,
Sulla tua bocca lo dirò fremente!...
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
Che ti fa mia!...
Voci di donne
Il nome suo nessun saprà...
E noi dovremo, ahimè, morir!...
Il principe ignoto
Dilegua, o notte!... Tramontate, stelle!...
All'alba vincerò!...
Score text[2]
Il principe ignoto
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.
Voci di donne
Il nome suo nessun saprà...
E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!
Il principe ignoto
Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!

Translated from the score.

The Prince Let no one sleep!... Let no one sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know... No!...No!... On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...

The Chorus of women No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.

The Prince Vanish, o night! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

[edit] Appearances in popular culture

  • Manowar used Nessun Dorma as a song in their album, 'Warriors Of The World'.
  • Nessun Dorma was used in the movie "Bend It Like Beckham". It was featured near the end of the movie when Jess was preparing to kick the goal kick in the championship game.
  • Nessun Dorma was also used in the movie "Sum of all fears", performed by Bruce Sledge.
  • The other movie in which Nessun Dorma was used was "The Killing Fields", in the scene where Sydney watches TV news with the images of President Nixon and war in Cambodia.
  • Nessun Dorma also appeared in the beginning of The Island
  • Featured in "The Witches of Eastwick" in the scene in which Jack Nicholson cavorts with his girl friends in the swimming pool.
  • Featured in "The Sea Inside" (Spanish: Mar Adentro)

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Published by G. Ricordi & C., [1926]. First edition. Printing number 119773
  2. ^ The line-breaks used for the score text have the only goal to allow a synoptic comparison with the original libretto version. Only the libretto version has verses.

[edit] External links

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