Giacomo Puccini - O Mio Babbino Caro (1918)

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini - yes, he really did have that many middle names! - (born 22 Dec 1858 in Lucca, Italy, died 29 Nov 1924 in Brussels, Belgium) wrote such famous operas as La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, which are among the most frequently performed around the world, and his heart-wrenching arias 'O mio babbino caro', 'Che gelida manina' (from La Bohème) and 'Nessun Dorma' (from Turandot) have remained popular even in today's world, which may be because they were originally conceived as a single evening's entertainment.
O mio babbino caro ('Oh My Beloved Father') is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio. It provides a contrasting interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and single-hearted love in the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing and feuding in medieval Florence of Puccini's only comedy, and it provides the only set-piece in the through-composed opera.
The aria was first performed at the premiere of Gianni Schicci on 14 December 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York by the popular Victorian English soprano Florence Easton. It has been sung subsequently by many sopranos and talent show wannabes.

Giacomo Puccini - O Mio Babbino Caro (1918)



Words:

O mio babbino caro,
mi piace, è bello, bello.
Vo'andare in Porta Rossa
a comperar l'anello!

Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!
e se l'amassi indarno,
andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,
ma per buttarmi in Arno!

Mi struggo e mi tormento!
O Dio, vorrei morir!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!

Literal translation:

Oh my dear papa,
I love him, he is handsome, handsome.
I want to go to Porta Rossa
To buy the ring!

Yes, yes, I want to go there!
And if my love were in vain,
I would go to the Ponte Vecchio
And throw myself in the Arno!

I am anguished and tormented!
Oh God, I'd like to die!
Papa, have pity, have pity!
Papa, have pity, have pity!

Words of the English version (singable):

Oh my beloved father,
I love him, I love him!
I’ll go to Porta Rossa,
To buy our wedding ring.

Oh yes, I really love him.
And if you still say no,
I’ll go to Ponte Vecchio,
And throw myself below.

My love for which I suffer,
At last, I want to die.
Father I pray, I pray.
Father I pray, I pray