O Mio Babbino Caro (Oh my dear papa) - Puccini (1918)

O mio babbino caro (Oh my dear papa) is an aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918), by Giacomo Puccini, to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between Schicchi and his prospective in-laws have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio, the boy she loves. 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 conversational musical give-and-take.

Among the more famous sopranos who have performed this aria are Florence Easton (premiere 14 December 1918), Frances Alda, Maria Callas, Victoria de los Ángeles, Montserrat Caballé, Joan Hammond, Anna Netrebko, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Dame Malvina Major, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Angela Gheorghiu, Kathleen Battle, Renée Fleming, Renata Tebaldi, Carmen Monarcha and Patricia Racette.

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Music

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• o mio babbino caro
• puccini
• paul hargreaves