Kiri te Kanawa - “O Mio Babbino Caro”

The copy ain’t great, but I was feeling like a little opera tonight, and this is one Dame Kiri’s signature songs, featured in A Room with a View.

The lyrics and a translation are here. The song itself comes from Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the third of three one-acts that form Il Trittico (The Triptych). Gianni Schicchi is a character mentioned in Dante’s Inferno. This song is essentially the only serious moment of a mostly comic opera, as Lauretta begs her father Gianni Schicci to let her marry the man she truly loves. (I’ve yet to see the opera live, actually, but I’ve heard this song many times!)