That was beautiful, Paolo. Thanks for that. I still don't understand how you got the video to show up that you did for me above of Franco corelli. when i tried myself to cut and paste it just the writing showed up. How do you get the actual video itself over to a post??!!! And for anyone out there shaking their heads, I am NOT a (dumb) bunny!!!LOLOLOL

NESSUN DORMA

"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 bedroom, 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!"
("But my secret is hidden within me; none will know my name! No, no! On your mouth I will say it when the light shines!")

"Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!"
("And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!")

CHORUS
"Il nome suo nessun saprà... E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!"
("No one will know his name... and we will have to, alas, die, die!")

"Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"
("Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At daybreak I shall win! I shall win! I shall win!")

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Italiani : esperti nell'arte dell' arrangiarsi

Gorgeous and absolutely perfect composition of Puccini. And here is the story of Turandot, in a nutshell: Turandot was a beautiful princess in ancient China. She was traumatized as a little girl in hearing the story of an ancestor of hers who was in love with a man who then cruelly abandoned her. In her despair she killed herself. Turandot vowed, in her outrage and hatred for men that she would never marry but as she was a princess, she had a royal duty to do so. So, instead, she told her father, the King that any man who wanted to marry her would have to answer 3 riddles she posed to him and if by dawn he could, then she would marry him but if he could not, then he would be killed. Well, Turandot was extremely beautiful, her beauty was legendary; hundreds of men throughout her kingdom and many other far-flung kingdoms therefore came forward to try to win her over the years. Each had tried to solve the 3 riddles and all had failed, since she made sure that the riddles were next to impossible to solve. One day a Prince named Calaf came from a far-off kingdom. When he arrived and saw Turandot he was stunned at her beauty and fell instantly in love with her. So the time came for him to answer the 3 riddles and to the shock of everyone and to Turandot's horror, he solved all three. When Calaf saw how distraught Turandot became he felt pity so he told her that if she could guess his name, he would release her from having to marry him. Nessun Dorma (no one sleeps - see Mike's excellent translation above) is sung by Calaf. He believes no one will guess his name and he will win her. (Turandot issued a decree that no one in the kingdom could sleep, everyone had to stay up in order to think of every name they could and give her a list in the morning so she could try every name in the hopes it would be his and to make sure everyone stayed awake Turandot told the people that if she doesn't guess his name right, heads would roll.
COMING TOMORROW: the rest of the fairy tale.....

Dawn comes and Calaf goes before Turandot. She tries in vain to come up with his name. There is also a subplot involving Calaf's slave girl named Liu who is secretly in love with him, and his father who traveled with Calaf. Turandot orders Liu to be tortured until she divulges the prince's name. But, out of love, rather than reveal it, she endures the torture and finally suddenly takes a knife from one of the guards and stabs herself to death.
Finally, as Calaf understands Turandot's torment and despair in knowing she must marry him since she could not guess his name, out of love for her he releases her from her obligation. Upon seeing this selfless gesture of true love, Turandot's heart melts and she declares, "I know his name; his name is Love" and happily and willingly becomes his bride.

Luciano Pavarotti was working as an elementary school teacher in his hometown of Modena when the local
amateur chorus he sang with took first place at a music competition in Wales,
convincing him he might have a future in opera.

Before this Pavarotti's first voice teacher told Pavarotti he could not sing and had no future as
a singer. When Pavortti's mother heard this she got Pavarotti another voice teacher.