Composed:
1920-1924
Composer:
Giacomo Puccini
Interesting Facts about "Nessun Dorma":
- Two of the highest notes in the tenor range are sung in this fantastic aria - B4 followed by A4. To put that into perspective, middle C is C3.
- After Luciano Pavarotti performed "Nessun Dorma" at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Itally (his recording of the aria was also used as the BBC's theme song for its television coverage), his recording reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart - an event that has never happened for a classical music song.
- In the actual score of "Nessun Dorma" Puccini did not sustain the high B4 note at the end of the piece - tenors have assumed they were just supposed to.
History of "Nessun Dorma" and the opera, Turandot:
Puccini began working on the opera
Turandot in 1920. The next year, he started composing the music. Two years later, in 1924, Puccini had all but finished the opera's final duet. Puccini disliked the text of the duet and postponed composing it until he was able to correct the text. When he finally chose the words for it, two days later he was was diagnosed with throat cancer. Having decided to travel to Belgium for treatment and surgery the last week of November 1924, Puccini died as a result of the surgery on November 29. Therefore, the opera itself was never finished by Puccini.
"Nessun Dorma" Translation:
Learn the Italian lyrics and English translation of "Nessun Dorma".Great Singers of "Nessun Dorma":
