Nessun dorma - (Completed after Puccini's death), from Act III of the Italian opera, Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. Libretto : Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni
Here is a magnificent Luciano Pavarotti's rendition, live in Paris:
Role : Calaf, the "Unknown Prince"
Voice Part : tenor
Fach : dramatic tenor/heldentenor
Setting : The gardens before the walls of Peking
Synopsis : A herald has just announced that no one will sleep in the Peking until the Calaf's name is known to the Princess under pain of death. Calaf, who knows that he has agreed to be killed if Turandot learns his name before the morning, is not worried. He is sure that he will be the only one to reveal his name to the Princess and this only after morning has come and the Princess has consented to be his wife.
Nesun Dorma English Translation:
No one sleeps! No one sleeps!
You too, O Princess!
in your chaste room
are watching the stars which
tremble with love and hope!
But my secret lies hidden within me,
no one shall discover my name!
Oh no, I will reveal it only on your lips,
when daylight shines forth
and my kiss shall break
the silence which makes you mine
(no one shall discover my name!
And we will have to die!)
Depart, oh night!
Fade away, you stars!
At dawn I shall win!
Giacomo Puccini Turandot Synopsis
