# A question from ignorance



## CarolVP (Sep 16, 2011)

I am trying to identify a very popular segment of opera/operetta. Being rather (read "very") ignorant of opera, I'm wondering if anyone can help me. It is apparently very difficult to sing, and is often attempted by aspiring opera singers. An audition of the 2011 'Australia's Got Talent' had a Perth woman singing it. The music swells as the piece develops, and I've often seen/heard it associated with Italy/Tuscany. It may even be in the movie "A Room with a View". Sorry to be so vague, but I'd really like to be able to name it. I don't have a recording, either.


----------



## AnaMendoza (Jul 29, 2011)

I think it might be _O Mio Babbino Caro_ by Puccini. Prototypically Italian. Listen to it, and let us know if that's it.


----------



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Can you describe the tempo, and maybe if it was more classical or romantic era sounding? Agreed that O Mio Babbino Caro is as Italianate as it gets, and I bet Ana's right that that is the correct aria.


----------



## CarolVP (Sep 16, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. This certainly evokes "A Room with a View", but I can't be certain it's the one. This is obsessing me at the moment because a snippet came on TV last night, simply at random. The one I am thinking of sounds very similar, with a slow tempo, but builds gradually, and ends in a bit of a crescendo - I think!!! Not being an expert, I'm all at sea.


----------



## CarolVP (Sep 16, 2011)

Sorry, I have to add that our Internet is in super-slow-mode at the moment, and is driving me to distraction. Thus, the Youtube link took about an hour to load.


----------



## Liss (May 13, 2011)

If it's not 'O Mio Babbino Caro' then it could be 'Chi il bel sogno di Doretta' from La Rondine - 



. Kiri Te Kanawa sung both of those arias on the soundtrack to 'A Room with a View'. But I think the first poster is right, its probably 'O Mio Babbino Caro', that's the more well known of the two. If not then you could post the audition from Australia's Got Talent and we could watch and let you know what it is 

Just a quick question, do you know if it was definitely a female aria? If it was a man's aria it could have been 'Nessun Dorma', that's a very recognizable piece of music and it definitely swells and has a large crescendo at the end. I've seen it on a few talent programs as well, so that might be it.


----------



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Is this the performance?





If so, the aria is Nessun Dorma, typically a tenor aria. Here's Luciano Pavarotti singing the same aria:


----------

