The music builds throughout the aria towards that final climax, with the lilting whimsical lines from Calaf soaring above the orchestral accompaniment. Both notes are very high for the tenor, which makes it even more of a show piece when they are elongated as heard in 99% of performances.Įxample 1 – The original notation of the two high notes in Nessun Dorma In the original score the B is written as a semiquaver and the A as a semibreve.
However, in Puccini’s original score this was not how the music was written (see Example 1). The defining point of Nessun Dorma is the final Vincerò! which features a sustained top B followed by a top A. Vincerò! Vincerò! / I will win! I will win! Il nome suo nessun saprà, / No one will know his name,Į noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir! / and we will have to, alas, die, die!Ĭalaf, now certain of success finishes the iconic aria:Īll’alba, vincerò! / At dawn, I will win!
Just before the end of the aria, a chorus of women are heard singing in the distance: Il silenzio che ti fa mia! / the silence that makes you mine! Io dirò quando la luce splenderà! / I will say it when the light shines!Įd il mio bacio scioglierà / And my kiss will dissolve No, No! Sulla tuo bocca, / No, no! On your mouth Il nome mio nessun saprà! / no one will know my name! Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me / But my secret is hidden within me Nella tua fredda stanza, / in your cold bedroomĬhe tremano d’amore, e di speranza / that tremble with love, and with hope! Tu pure, o Principessa, / Not even you, oh Princess Nessun dorma! Nessun Dorma! / None shall sleep! None shall sleep! The aria begins with an echo of what Calaf can hear in the distance: In the distance he can hear Turandot’s subjects proclaiming her commands. The emotionally cold princess decrees that nobody shall sleep that night until his name is discovered.Īs the final act begins, Calaf is alone in the palace gardens at nighttime. If she succeeds she can execute him, but if she does not then she must marry him. The budding batchelor then hands the princess a lifeline – she must guess his name before dawn. However, she does not want to marry Calaf. In the act previous to the one that Nessun Dorma is in, Calaf has correctly answered all three of the princess’s riddles. The aria Nessun Dorma (‘None Shall Sleep’) shows Calaf expressing his confidence that he will win the princess. Any man that wishes to marry the Princess must successfully answer her three riddles, but if he fails he will be beheaded. The aria is sung by the main male character, Calaf, who fall in love with Princess Turandot. Nessun Dorma is a tenor aria that features at the end of Giacomo’s Puccini’s 1926 opera Turandot.
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