Hey Opera/Tenor/Classical type buffs.

[Iggo]

So I'm watching boob tube and some car commercial comes on and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) is sitting in the back seat and starts singing this beautiful and soaring tune and this kind of music doesn't usually ever hit me, but it hits me.

So I Shazam that sucker and it's called "Nessun dorma" sung by Franco Bonisolli. So I go to download it, but then I think, "You know, I don't listen to this kind of music, but I do listen to jazz standards, and even though a lot of different singers sing the same songs, there are definitive versions of these songs (New York New York by Sinatra; I Left My Heart In San Francisco by Tony Bennett, etc). So maybe there's a definitive version of this song."

So, people-in-the-know, is there a definitive version of this song?

[stopbush]

1. The Bonisolli version of Nessun dorma is one of the very best, great High B at the end.

There's no such thing as a definitive version of any opera aria, because most of the best-loved operas stay in the repertoire for decades which gives plenty of singers a shot at producing a really good version.

Other really good recorded versions of Nessun dorma are those by Luciano Pavarotti (Decca), Franco Corelli (EMI) and Jussi Bjoerling (RCA). Avoid Domingo - his top voice is simply too effortful.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. This is my fave--James McCracken.

Handsome fellow too!!!

Corelli and Bjorling are also good choices. Pavarotti got to where all he did was blast--no subtlety. He was a great tenor in the Seventies when he was young IMNSHMO.

This is from Puccini's last opera, Turandot, which he did not live to finish. Puccini died in 1924. He was the hitmaker of the opera world from 1890 to 1926.
And you pronounce it DOT, not dough on the end.

Lyrics. Prince Calaf is singing to the mysterious Princess Turandot:

None shall sleep! None shall sleep!
Even you, Oh Princess,
in your cold bedroom,
watching the stars
trembling for love and for hope!
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 will shine!
And my kiss will dissolve the silence
that makes you mine!
Vanish, oh night! Set stars!
Set stars! At dawn I will win!
I will win! I will win!

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Princess Turandot
Il principe ignoto (The unknown prince)
Nessun dorma (None shall sleep)
========
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
Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!