Nessun dorma - wikipedia 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 : ( nesˈsun ˈdɔrma ) ; English : `` None shall sleep '' ) is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini 's opera Turandot 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. However, 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 '' has long been a staple of operatic recitals, Luciano Pavarotti popularized the piece beyond the opera world in the 1990s following his performance of it for the 1990 World Cup. Both Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo released singles of the aria that topped charts in the United Kingdom, and it appeared on the best selling classical album of all time, The Three Tenors in Concert. Since that time, many crossover artists have performed and recorded it. The aria has been sung often in movies and on television. Contents 1 Context and analysis 2 Recordings 3 Cultural references and adaptations 3.1 Luciano Pavarotti 3.2 Leicester City Football Club 3.3 Crossover and adapted versions 3.4 In other media 4 References 5 External links Context and analysis In the act before this aria, Calaf has correctly answered the three riddles put to all of Princess Turandot 's prospective suitors. Nonetheless, she recoils at the thought of marriage to him. Calaf offers her another chance by challenging her to guess his name by dawn. As he kneels before her, the `` Nessun dorma '' theme makes a first appearance, to his words, `` Il mio nome non sai ! '' ( My name you do not know ! ). She can execute him if she correctly guesses his name ; but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects shall sleep that night until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed. As the final act opens, it is now night. Calaf is alone in the moonlit palace gardens. In the distance, he hears Turandot 's heralds proclaiming her command. His aria begins with an echo of their cry and a reflection on Princess Turandot : Nessun dorma ! Nessun dorma ! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore, e di speranza ! None shall sleep ! None shall sleep ! Not even you, oh Princess, in your cold bedroom, watching 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 ; no one 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 ! Just before the climactic end of the aria, a chorus of women is heard singing in the distance : 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 ! Calaf, now certain of victory, sings : Dilegua, o notte ! Tramontate, stelle ! Tramontate, stelle ! All'alba vincerò ! Vincerò ! Vincerò ! Vanish, o night ! Fade, you stars ! Fade, you stars ! At dawn, I will win ! I will win ! I will win ! In performance, the final `` Vincerò ! '' features a sustained B, followed by the final note, an A sustained even longer -- although Puccini 's score did not explicitly specify that either note be sustained. In the original score, the B is written as a sixteenth note while the A is a whole note. Both are high notes in the tenor range. The only recording to follow Puccini 's score exactly was the very first, sung by Gina Cigna and Francesco Merli, conducted by Franco Ghione. In Alfano 's completion of act 3, the `` Nessun dorma '' theme makes a final triumphal appearance at the end of the opera. The theme also makes a concluding reappearance in Luciano Berio 's later completion ( this having been an expressed intention of Puccini 's ), but in a more subdued orchestration. Recordings `` Nessun dorma '', sung by some of the most famous interpreters of Calaf, appears on the following compilation recordings. ( For full - length recordings of the opera, see Turandot discography. ) The Very Best of Beniamino Gigli ( EMI Classics ) The Very Best of Jussi Björling ( EMI Classics ) Richard Tucker in Recital ( Columbia Masterworks / Myto ) The Very Best of Franco Corelli ( EMI Classics ) Pavarotti Forever ( Decca ) The Essential Plácido Domingo ( Deutsche Grammophon ) Cultural references and adaptations Luciano Pavarotti `` Nessun dorma '' achieved pop status after Luciano Pavarotti 's 1972 recording of it was used as the theme song of BBC television 's coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. It subsequently reached # 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Although Pavarotti rarely sang the role of Calaf on stage, `` Nessun dorma '' became his signature aria and a sporting anthem in its own right, especially for football. Pavarotti notably sang the aria during the first Three Tenors concert on the eve of the 1990 World Cup final. For an encore, he performed the aria again, taking turns with José Carreras and Plácido Domingo. The album of the concert achieved triple platinum record status in the United States alone and went on to outsell all other classical recordings worldwide. The number became a regular feature of subsequent Three Tenors concerts. Pavarotti gave a rendition of `` Nessun dorma '' at his final performance, the finale of the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, although it was later revealed that he had lip - synched the specially pre-recorded performance ( at the time of his Winter Olympics appearance, Pavarotti was physically incapable of performing as he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, to which he succumbed the following year ). His Decca recording of the aria was played at his funeral during the flypast by the Italian Air Force. In 2013, the track was certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Leicester City football Club On 7 May 2016 Andrea Bocelli sang `` Nessun dorma '' in the King Power Stadium, home of Leicester City Football Club, before Leicester City 's final home match of the 2015 -- 16 Premier League season against Everton F.C.. Leicester 's manager Claudio Ranieri stood beside Bocelli for the performance. After the game, Leicester were presented with the Premier League trophy for the first time in their history. Crossover and adapted versions `` Nessun dorma '' ( often in adapted versions of the score ) has been performed by many pop and crossover singers and instrumentalists. In what the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences called `` the greatest last - second substitution act in Grammy history '', Aretha Franklin sang a `` soul - infused '' version of the aria in place of Luciano Pavarotti when throat problems caused him to withdraw from the 40th Annual Grammy Awards show. Anohni, lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons, recorded the aria with the Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra, as part of an advertising campaign for the Italian coffee company Lavazza in 2009. Jeff Beck 's 2010 album, Emotion & Commotion, includes an instrumental version of this aria where the guitar takes the place of the human voice to an orchestral accompaniment. In 2007, Chris Botti recorded a trumpet version of `` Nessun dorma '' for his album Italia. The 1989 song `` A Love So Beautiful '', co-written by Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, borrows the aria 's melody. The 2002 album Warriors of the World by the band Manowar features a version of the aria. In other media `` Nessun dorma '' has been used in many films, often appearing at a central moment in the film -- sometimes with the aria 's moment of musical resolution aligned with the film 's narrative climax, giving symbolic meaning to the aria 's rich emotional impact. Films in which the aria plays a significant role in the soundtrack include The Killing Fields, New York Stories, Mar adentro, The Sum of All Fears, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Bend It Like Beckham, No Reservations, and Mission : Impossible -- Rogue Nation ( with the scene set within a performance of Turandot itself ). It was sung by Pavarotti himself as part of his fictional role in the film Yes, Giorgio. `` Nessun dorma '' is also the title of a short film by Ken Russell included in the 1987 film Aria. References Jump up ^ Puccini, Giacomo ; Adami, G. ; Simoni, R. ( 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 ! Jump up ^ `` Official Charts ( UK ) -- Luciano Pavarotti ''. Jump up ^ `` Official Charts ( UK ) -- Placido Domingo ''. ^ Jump up to : Classical Music Magazine, volume 17, p. 39 ( 1994 ). `` 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... '' Jump up ^ Puccini scores ( musical and contextual analysis of `` Nessun dorma '' ), National Review, July 23, 1990 ( accessed 8 October 2007 ) ^ Jump up to : `` Nessun Dorma put football back on map '', The Telegraph, September 7, 2007 ( accessed 24 September 2015 ) Jump up ^ `` American certifications -- `` Three Tenors, The '' ``. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2015 - 07 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Pavarotti, Revered Even When Lip - Synching '', The New York Times, April 7, 2008 ( accessed 7 April 2008 ) Jump up ^ BBC News coverage of Pavarotti 's final performance ( accessed 8 October 2007 ) ; BBC News coverage of Pavarotti 's funeral ( accessed 8 October 2007 ) Jump up ^ `` Italian single certifications '' ( in Italian ). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Jump up ^ Macdonald, Kyle ( 9 May 2016 ). `` Emotional Leicester City manager hushes fans so they can hear Andrea Bocelli sing Nessun Dorma ''. Classic FM, Retrieved 10 May 2016. Jump up ^ The Recording Academy ( Grammy.com ). 40th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Retrieved 5 November 2014. Jump up ^ Huizenga, Tom ( 28 January 2010 ). `` Grammy 's Most Memorable Performances ''. National Public Radio. Retrieved 5 November 2014. Jump up ^ Carroll, Jim ( 10 September 2010 ). `` On the record ''. The Irish Times. Retrieved via HighBeam Research 5 November 2014 ( subscription required ). Jump up ^ The Guardian ( 22 October 2009 ). `` Antony Hegarty : Will sing for coffee ''. Retrieved 5 November 2014. Jump up ^ Perusse, Bernard, `` Beck in a reflective mood '', Ottawa Citizen, 17 April 2020 Jump up ^ `` Italia overview ''. AllMusic. Jump up ^ `` Chris Botti ''. JazzMonthly.com. Archived from the original on 2011 - 01 - 05. Jump up ^ Daly. Mike ( 2 March 1989 ). `` Two of the Best -- In One Week ''. The Age. Retrieved 29 August 2012. Jump up ^ Dalley, Jan ( 6 November 2015 ). `` The Life of a Song : ' Nessun Dorma ' ''. Financial Times. Retrieved 10 May 2016. ^ Jump up to : Blank, Christopher ( 13 October 2007 ). `` High Note '', Commercial Appeal Jump up ^ Stephen Holden, `` Eloquent Movies With Eloquent Soundtracks '', The New York Times, January 30, 1994 Jump up ^ LoBrutto, Vincent ( 2008 ). Martin Scorsese : A Biography, p. 293. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0 - 275 - 98705 - 1 Jump up ^ Nelson Pressley, ' The Sea Inside ' : A Quest for Death, The Washington Post, December 17, 2004 ; Page C05 Jump up ^ Gloria Goodale, Sum signals change since 9 / 11, The Christian Science Monitor, May 31, 2002 Jump up ^ Jay Carr, Barbra Streisand looks into her ' Mirror ' and discovers she 's still a funny girl, The Boston Globe, November 10, 1996. Retrieved via subscription 14 June 2008. Jump up ^ Hicks, Scott ; Eckhart, Aaron ; Breslin, Abigail ; Clarkson, Patricia ( 2007 - 07 - 27 ), No Reservations, retrieved 2017 - 01 - 01 Jump up ^ MacNab, Geoffrey. `` Mission Impossible -- Rogue Nation, movie review : Tom Cruise, 50, is still like a puppy in this relentless action soap opera ''. The Independent. Retrieved 5 September 2015. Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet ( 24 September 1982 ). `` Pavarotti in ' Giorgio ' ''. The New York Times Jump up ^ Richard Corliss, Opera for The Inoperative, Time, May 2, 1988. External links Mark D. Lew ( 1997 ). `` Commentary on Symbolism, Poetry, and ' Nessun Dorma ' ''. `` Nessun dorma '' on YouTube, sung by Jussi Björling, 1944 Who sang the `` Nessun dorma '' climax the best ? on YouTube Carlo Gozzi 's Turandot ( 1762 ) Operas Turandot ( 1917, Busoni ) Turandot Suite Turandot ( 1926, Puccini ) Turandot discography `` Signore, ascolta ! '' `` Non piangere, Liù '' `` In questa reggia '' `` Nessun dorma '' `` Tu che di gel sei cinta '' Turandot at the Forbidden City Play Turandot ( 1953, Brecht ) Giacomo Puccini Operas Le Villi ( 1884 ) Edgar ( 1889 ) Manon Lescaut ( 1893 ) La bohème ( 1896 ) discography Tosca ( 1900 ) discography Madama Butterfly ( 1904 ) discography La fanciulla del West ( 1910 ) La rondine ( 1917 ) Il trittico ( 1918 ) Il tabarro Suor Angelica Gianni Schicchi discography Turandot ( 1924 ) discography Arias `` Torna ai felici dì '' `` Donna non vidi mai '' `` Quando m'en vo ' '' `` E lucevan le stelle '' `` Recondita armonia '' `` Vissi d'arte '' `` Ch'ella mi creda '' `` O mio babbino caro '' `` In questa reggia '' `` Nessun dorma '' `` Non piangere, Liù '' `` Tu che di gel sei cinta '' `` Signore, ascolta ! '' Other works Messa di Gloria ( 1880 ) Film adaptations La Bohème ( 1926 film ) La Bohème ( 1965 film ) La Bohème ( 1988 film ) La Bohème ( 2008 film ) Tosca ( 2001 film ) Family Jacopo Puccini ( great - great - grandfather ) Domenico Puccini ( grandfather ) Related articles Festival Puccini Giulio Ricordi Puccini Spur List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini Category : Giacomo Puccini Music of FIFA World Cup Official albums `` Gloryland ( 1994 ) '' `` Allez ! Ola ! Ole ! ( 1998 ) '' `` The Official Album ( 2002 ) '' `` Voices ( 2006 ) '' `` Listen Up ! ( 2010 ) '' `` One Love, One Rhythm ( 2014 ) '' Official anthems `` La Cour des Grands ( Do You Mind If I Play ) ( 1998 ) '' `` Anthem ( 2002 ) '' `` Celebrate the Day ( 2006 ) '' `` Sign of a Victory ( 2010 ) '' `` Dar um Jeito ( We Will Find a Way ) ( 2014 ) '' Official songs `` El Rock del Mundial ( 1962 ) '' `` World Cup Willie ( 1966 ) '' `` Fútbol México 70 ( 1970 ) '' `` Fußball Ist Unser Leben ( 1974 ) '' `` La Marcha del Mundial ( 1978 ) '' `` El Mundial ( 1982 ) '' `` El Mundo Unido Por Un Balón ( 1986 ) '' `` Un'estate italiana ( To Be Number One ) ( 1990 ) '' `` Gloryland ( 1994 ) '' `` The Cup of Life ( La Copa de la Vida ) ( 1998 ) '' `` Boom ( 2002 ) '' `` The Time of Our Lives ( 2006 ) '' `` Waka Waka ( This Time for Africa ) ( 2010 ) '' `` We Are One ( Ole Ola ) ( 2014 ) '' `` Live It Up ( 2018 ) '' Other official songs `` Hot Hot Hot ( 1986 ) '' `` World in Motion ( 1990 ) '' `` Put ' Em Under Pressure ( 1990 ) '' `` We Are the Champions ( 1994 ) '' `` Together Now ( 1998 ) '' `` Let 's Get Together Now ( 2002 ) '' `` We 're on the Ball '' `` Oh Africa '' `` Vida '' `` Olé '' `` La La La ( Brazil 2014 ) ( 2014 ) '' Other songs / Non-official songs `` Back Home '' `` Argentine Melody ( Cancion de Argentina ) '' `` Nessun dorma '' `` Shibobo '' `` Top of the World ( Olé, Olé, Olé ) '' `` Vindaloo '' `` Carnaval de Paris '' `` Tema da Vitória '' `` 3 Lions ' 98 '' `` A Little Less Conversation ( JXL version ) '' `` Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Jurgen Klinsmann ? '' `` We Are the Champions ( Ding a Dang Dong ) '' `` Allez Ola Olé '' `` Everywhere You Go '' `` Wavin ' Flag ( Coca - Cola Celebration Mix ) ( 2010 ) '' `` Shout for England `` Adrenalina ( Univision version ) Opera portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nessun_dorma&oldid=854206346 '' Categories : 1926 compositions Arias by Giacomo Puccini Opera excerpts Compositions in G major Compositions in D major FIFA World Cup songs Tenor Arias Arias in Italian Hidden categories : Articles containing Italian - language text CS1 Italian - language sources ( it ) Pages containing links to subscription - only content All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Français 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Italiano עברית Kurdî Lietuvių Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Suomi Svenska Татарча / tatarça ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 24 more Edit links This page was last edited on 9 August 2018, at 17 : 32 ( UTC ). 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Question: what are the words of nessun dorma in english
Answer: None shall sleep