Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #42/50: Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini from the Opera, Turandot

Nessun Dorma is an Italian phrase that roughly translates as none shall sleep. “Nessun Dorma” is also the title of one of the opera world’s most popular arias. This aria was composed by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini and is found in the third and final act of his opera entitled Turandot.  While it is important to discuss the nature of Puccini’s opera in order to appreciate the music you will hear when you listen to the aria that he composed, this will end up being a case in which the aria is more noteworthy than the opera from which it comes. Like many of the compositions featured in this series, I am quite confident that you have heard “Nessun Dorma” performed before, even if you have never heard of Puccini’s opera. “Nessun Dorma” is one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever created. But we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves. First, let’s take a moment to discuss the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. Once we do, it will help place the aria in its proper context and will allow you to fully appreciate the great emotional depth being conveyed by those who sing it. 

Turandot was the final opera that Puccini ever composed. He died from throat cancer prior to finishing the final act. Consequently, the opera was actually finished by another composer named Franco Alfano and tweaked some more by famed conductor Arturo Toscanini. Turandot is an opera that had as its inspiration an epic poem written over 500 years earlier called Haft Peykar by the poet Nizami Ganjavi.  Haft Peykar was written around the same time as the Tales of the Arabian Knights came to be. The epic poem contained seven stories or portraits that all revolve around an emperor named Bahram who ruled what is now known as Iran. In this poem, Emperor Bahram married seven wives. For each wife he built a palace with a golden dome on top. Each day of the week he visited with a particular wife. While with her, the Emperor demanded that he be entertained with physical pleasures as well as intellectual ones. For the intellectual pleasures, Emperor Bahram asked that each wife prepare for him an amazing story filled with riddles and surprises. It is these seven stories told by seven brides that make up the epic poem called Haft Peykar. Of these seven stories, one was called Turandot’s Riddles.  

Turandot’s Riddles tell the story of a princess who has many suitors. In order to discover which suitor is her soulmate, the princess devises a challenge consisting of three riddles. In order to win her hand in marriage, a potential suitor had to correctly answer all three riddles. Failure to do so meant that the suitor would be killed. Needless to say, eventually one enterprising young suitor manages to solve the three riddles. Happiness and love follow in turn. While there was much more involved in the tale of Turandot’s Riddles, the events outlined in this brief summary were enough to inspire Giacomo Puccini to construct his own, original opera which he simply called Turandot. Using artistic license, Puccini changed the setting and placed the story in China. As well, he gave his opera a backstory that used the sexual assault of the grandmother of the princess as being the cause of her bitterness toward men. This bitterness manifested itself in riddles that were seemingly impossible to solve. Thus, Puccini created one of opera’s most bloodthirsty characters in the form of Turandot, the ice hearted princess. In addition to creating a character who delights in the murder of legions of men, Puccini counterbalances that by creating a second female character who embodies all of the attributes generally considered desirable in a soulmate, such as loving devotion, patience, empathy, intelligence and beauty. This secondary character is named Liu. Throughout the first two acts of the opera, she stands loyally beside Calaf, the young suitor who only has eyes for the princess. She loves him, even though he doesn’t consider her as anything more than an assistant or a friend. Together they solve the three riddles as presented by the princess. However, because she is so embittered toward all men, the princess refuses to marry Calaf despite the fact that he had surpassed her challenge. In response to her refusal to honour the terms of the challenge, Calaf offers the princess a challenge of his own. By dawn of the following morning, the princess must be able to call him by his real name. If she solves the riddle, he agrees to let her execute him. If she fails to solve his riddle, they must be wed. The princess agrees to Calaf’s terms. Calaf departs. The Princess then issues a proclamation that starts out as “Nessun Dorma” or “None shall sleep”.  In this proclamation, the princess commands that every loyal subject of the empire must dedicate their remaining hours until daybreak searching for the identity of the young suitor who solved her riddles. If anyone manages to find his name, they will be rewarded. If no one discovers his name then everyone in the empire will be sentenced to immediate death. A frantic search is conducted. The search lasts all through the night. At one point, Calaf notices that Liu has been summoned to appear before the princess. People had spotted Calaf and Liu together earlier and assumed that this meant that Liu knew Calaf by name. The princess gives Liu the choice of saving her life (by naming Calaf) or sacrificing her life (by not revealing his name) which would, hopefully, end up saving his life. Since Liu loved Calaf, she refused to divulge his name, even if it meant that he would end up marrying the princess. After crying out that Calaf’s name was, in fact, Love, Liu stabs herself with a soldier’s knife and dies at the feet of the princess. As this scene unfolds, Calaf, who was watching from a hiding spot, emerges and sings the aria known as “Nessun Dorma”. It is a song filled with heartache and the promise of newfound love. The opera ends as the sun rises. Calaf reappears before the princess and demands that she speak his name or else become his bride. She replies that his name is Love. Calaf steps forward and forcefully kisses her. At first, the princess bristles at his boldness. But soon, the ice in her heart melts and she returns his kiss. Thus, the pair live happily ever after and the opera ends. Over time, critics have regarded Puccini’s opera with mixed emotions. For the most part, the opera has been criticized for the amount of gore and violence that marked the first two-thirds of the performance. Critics also point to the unbelievability of the princess’ hatred for men melting away with a single kiss from Calaf. But the one thing that every critic could agree upon was the utter magnificence of the aria entitled Nessun Dorma. 

However, the reason that you know this aria…..and I know that you do…is probably not because of Giacomo Puccini’s opera. Instead, I am willing to bet all of my daughter’s university scholarship money that the reason you know of this aria is because you have heard it sung by the world’s greatest living tenor, Luiciano Pavarotti, or else, by him when he was performing as a member of The Three Tenors, along with Placido Domingo and José Carreras. Pavarotti took a star turn just prior to the start of the 1990 FIFA World Cup (of soccer). Italy was one of the favoured teams at the time, so Pavarotti was given the chance to perform on behalf of his country before a global audience in the millions. While there are many excellent performances by skilled tenors over the years, it was Luciano Pavarotti who raised the aria into the public consciousness. As proof, Pavarotti, as a member of The Three Tenors, was asked to perform this aria at the next three subsequent FIFA World Cups. The album released by The Three Tenors that contains “Nessun Dorma” is the highest selling classical music album of all time. So, please, please, please, take a few moments and click on the link below and behold the most adored aria ever written, as performed by the greatest living tenors of our lifetimes. Regardless of your preferred musical genre, “Nessun Dorma” is a composition that is simply as good as it gets. Enjoy.

The link to the video for the aria “Nessun Dorma” as sung solo by Luciano Pavarotti at the FIFA World Cup in 1990 can be found here. ***The lyrics version can be found here.

The link to the video for the aria “Nessun Dorma” as sung by The Three Tenors can be found here.

BONUS: If your first time listening to “Nessun Dorma” didn’t come from the lips of Luciano Pavarotti or The Three Tenors, perhaps it was during a showstopping performance by Paul Potts on the television show Britain’s Got Talent? The link to the video of Welsh telephone salesman Paul Potts absolutely killing it on live TV can be found here.

The link to the official website for Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Paul Potts, as well as Giacomo Puccini can be found here, here, here, here and here.

***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2023 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com