Nessun dorma

Un article de Vev.

Nessun dorma (None Shall Sleep) is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot,<ref>The libretto and score are © BMG Ricordi S.p.A.</ref> and is one of the best known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, Il principe ignoto (The unknown prince). In the previous act, 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. If she does so, she can execute him, but if she does not, she will have to marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects is 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!"

(English translation: "None shall sleep! None shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room watch 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!"

(English translation: "But my secret is closed in me; none will know my name! No, no! On your mouth I will say it when the light shines!")

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!"

(English translation: "No one will know his name... and we must, alas, die, die!")

Calaf, now certain of victory, sings:

"Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"

(English translation: "Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At daybreak I shall win! I shall win! I shall win!")

In performance, the final "Vincerò!" normally ends with a sustained B4, one of the highest notes in the tenor range, although Puccini's score did not explicitly specify that the note be sustained. <ref>'Puccini scores' (musical and contextual analysis of 'Nessun Dorma'), National Review, July 23, 1990 (accessed 8 October 2007)</ref>

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Cultural resonance outside opera

Nessun dorma achieved pop status after Luciano Pavarotti's recording of it was used as the theme song of the BBC television 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. <ref>'Nessun Dorma put football back on map' The Telegraph, September 7, 2007 (accessed 8 October 2007)</ref>

It went on to become both Pavarotti's signature aria and a sporting anthem in its own right, especially for soccer. <ref>'Nessun Dorma put football back on map' The Telegraph, September 7, 2007 (accessed 8 October 2007)</ref> Pavarotti sang Nessun dorma at his final performance, the finale of the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. His Decca recording of the aria was played at his funeral during the flypast by the Italian Air Force. <ref>BBC News coverage of Pavarotti's final performance (accessed 8 October 2007); BBC News coverage of Pavarotti's funeral (accessed 8 October 2007) </ref>

Nessun Dorma has also 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 the aria's rich emotional impact symbolic meaning. This use in film has added to the cultural resonance of the aria outside of opera. Films in which the aria is used include: The Island, The Killing Fields, Mar adentro, The Sum of All Fears, No Reservations, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Chasing Liberty, Man on Fire, Bend it like Beckham, and the short film of the same name by Ken Russell included in the 1987 film, Aria.

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Selected Recordings

This is a selection of tenor aria recordings which include '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