Nessun dorma

For the film, see Nessun Dorma (film).
"Vincerò" and "Vincero" redirect here. For the album by Amaury Vassili, see Vincerò (Amaury Vassili album). For other uses, see Vincerò (disambiguation).

"Nessun dorma" (Italian: [nesˌsun ˈdɔrma]; English: "Let no one sleep")[1] is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot (text by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni) and one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, il principe ignoto (the unknown prince), who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but cold Princess Turandot. Any man who wishes to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles; if he fails, he will be beheaded. In the aria, Calaf expresses his triumphant assurance that he will win the princess.

Although "Nessun dorma" had long been a staple of operatic recitals, Luciano Pavarotti popularised the piece beyond the opera world in the 1990s following his performance of it for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which captivated a global audience.[2] Both Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo released singles of the aria, with Pavarotti's reaching number 2 in the UK,[3][4] and it appeared on the best-selling classical album of all time, The Three Tenors in Concert.[5] The Three Tenors, which includes José Carreras, performed the aria at three subsequent FIFA World Cup Finals, in 1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama.[2] Since 1990, many crossover artists have performed and recorded it. The aria has been sung often in films and on television.

  1. ^ Puccini, Giacomo; Giuseppe Adami; Renato Simoni (1978). "Act III, Scene I". Turandot. Opera Vocal Score Series (in English and Italian). Milano, Italy: Ricordi. p. 291. OCLC 84595094. None shall sleep tonight!
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference FIFA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Official Charts (UK) – Luciano Pavarotti". Official Charts.
  4. ^ "Official Charts (UK) – Placido Domingo". Official Charts.
  5. ^ Classical Music Magazine, vol. 17, p. 39 (1994).[full citation needed] "And then there's the Three Tenors phenomenon: The London recording from the 1990 concert became the biggest-selling classical album of all time, having now topped 10-million units throughout the world..."