101 Humanities Opera Notes
Puccini, Nessun Dorma from Turandot (MGttO)
Composed in 1926, Puccinis last opera is based on an ancient fairy tale of a Chinese
Princess who kills those who fall in love with her if they cannot answer three riddles. Even after
the handsome Calaf guesses correctly the right answers, Turandot resists, begging her father not
to give her to the stranger like a slave. When her father tells he cannot go back on his oath, she
then appeals to the young Calaf himself, who then says if she can guess his real name before
dawn, he will give up his own life. Nessun Dorrna (No one is sleeping) is the magnificent
tenor aria he sings just before dawn when, if she fails to learn his secret, the Princess will be his:
CALAF: No one will be sleepingno one will be sleeping . .
And you, too, dear Princess
In your private chamber
You must be looking at the stars
Quivering, trembling above, with hope and love.
But I'll keep my secret safe inside,
Letting no one know my real name . . .
Yet to your lips alone I'll tell it
When daylight appears
And my kiss undoes the silence
That has made you my own . . . .
Although there are tragic moments along the way, the opera ends with Princess Turandot
leading the victorious Calaf to the Emperors throne and discovering only then that his real name
is Love.
Delibes, Lakme (MGttO)
This opera from 1885 is set in India, and is the tragedy of a young, Indian priestess love
for a British officer who her Hindu father forbids her to marry. The ethereally beautiful
soprano/mezzo-soprano duet which is the operas best-known piece of music is sung, by Lakme
and the slave-girl Mallinka as they contemplate following the shimmering stream to the pool
with lush overhanging greenery and flowers where there are snowy-winged swans and blue
lotus blossoms.
LAKME: Come, Mallika, where the scent of white jasmine
Mingles with the scent of the crimson rose
Let us drift smoothly along
Where the lazy current take us. . .
MALLIKA: Oh mistress!
This is the hour I love
When I glimpse, for a moment,
Into your secret heart . . .
LAKME: Let us glide then listlessly
Through the shimmering water,
Until we arrive near the snow-white swans
Where the blue lotus flowers lie . . .
Puccini, Quando men vo from La Boheme (MGttO)
The plot of Puccinis very popular 1896 opera concerns four talented but very poor
Bohemian artist/students (a writer, a painter, a musician, and a philosopher) who live together in
an attic/studio apartment in Paris of the 19 th century. There are two love stories: Rudolfo, the
poet/writer, meets and falls in love with the delicate and ailing Mimi who dies at the end; and
Marcello, the painter, loves the fickle and opportunistic Musetta. Here, in Act II, Musetta sings
flirtatiously among the tables at the bustling open-air cafe, coyly playing Marcello against the
rich old gentleman, Alcindoro, who has brought her there to dine:
MUSETTA: When walking I'm by myself along the street,
Everyone looks at me
And regards my beauty . . .
Then I enjoy
The longing in their eyes
The look that tells me
They sense even my charms hidden from view ...
And the desire I see
Overcomes meand fills me with joy!
ALCINDORO: Your vulgar song infuriates me!
MUSETTA (To Marcel): And you who are avoiding me
I know you suffer, yet won't admit your pain!
Though you won't say itI know you're dying
MIMI: The poor girl!
I see now shes madly in love with Marcel
Madly, madly in love...
Bizet, Au Fond du Temple Saint from The Pearl Fishes (MGttO)
Set in ancient Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka), Delibes 1863 opera is the tragic story of a
love triangle. Here the two friends, both pearl-fishermen, sing, a tenor/baritone duet concerning
their love for the same girl:
ZURGA: On a breeze-cooled evening
When the crowd had gathered to pray ...
NADIR: From inside the holy temple,
Decked with flowers, a woman came
The crowd looked at her, astonished,
And silently breathes, Its her, the goddess,
Arising from the dark,
stretching out her arms toward us
ZURGA: She's raised her veil!
Oh visionoh sweet dream!
Puccini, Chi it Bel Sogno di Doretta from La Rondine (1917)
Written in 1917, La Rondine (The Swallow) was Puccini's attempt to compose a work in
the carefree style of Viennese operetta. Here, while Magda and Rambaldo are entertaining their
friends, , one of their guests being a poet by the name of Prunier in their lavish home in Paris.
Prunier tells the story of one Doretta, who dreams that the king looked upon her one day. When
Prunier is unable to finish the story, however, Magda takes up the tale in her aria, Chi il bel
sogno di Doretta (Dorettas Dream):
MAGDA: Who can guess Doretta's dream?
How did her mystery end?
Heaven save me! One day she was kissed on the lips
By a studentand her passion was unveiled!
The madness of Love!
The wild exuberance!
For who can remember the subtle caress
Of so passionate a kiss?
0 my dream! My life!
What cares one for riches
When happiness finds us at last?
Puccini, E lucevan le stelle: Cavaradossi, the lover of the fiery Tosca, has been sentenced to die
at the hands of a firing squad. He is led to the platform and is told that he has one hour before
his execution. He tries to write a letter to Tosca, but soon loses himself in memories of her and
begins to sing: When the stars were brightly shining, and faint perfumes the air pervaded. This
is a tenor aria of great beauty.
Mild und Leise: The ill-fated lovers, Tristan and Isolde, much like Romeo and Juliet have
not found happiness in life. As Tristan is dying from mortal wounds, Isolde comes to him and
they look upon each other for the last time in this life. Tristan dies in her arms, and she sings the
Liebestod, or love-death aria just before she, too, dies and falls upon his corpse. They could not
be together in life, but in death they are finally united.