All'alba Vincero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

I love that song. I'm not at all well versed in opera or even Turandot itself, but there's just something about the passion with which Nessum Dorma must be sung. It's a proclamation ... a definitive decree that The Prince won't have just the hand of Turandot, but her love as well. The last line (the one repeated three times), if it's sung the way Paul Potts does it, never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

Beautiful.

I had a feeling I'd heard this song on the drum corps field, as well, and sure enough I had. The link below is Nessun Dorma played by the 1991 Phantom Regiment. It's not exactly the best move from stage to turf (certainly not as effective as the Regiment was in their transposition of Ave Maria last summer), but the shear power of the melody is still there.

http://www.regiment.org/sounds.cfm

So there's a bit of culture on this wonderful Friday morning. Cheers.

Italian
"Nessun dorma, nessun dorma ...
Tu pure, o Principessa,
Nella tua fredda stanza,
Guardi le stelle
Che tremano d'amore
E di speranza.

Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
Il nome mio nessun saprà, no, no,
Sulla tua bocca lo dirò
Quando la luce splenderà,
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
Che ti fa mia.

Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!"

English
"No one sleeps, no one sleeps...
Even you, o Princess,
In your cold room,
Watch the stars,
That tremble with love
And with hope.

But my secret is hidden within me;
My name no one shall know, no, no,
On your mouth I will speak it
When the light shines,
And my kiss will dissolve the silence
That makes you mine.

Vanish, o night!
Set, stars!
At daybreak, I shall conquer!"