Sarah Brightman -- O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicci)
O mio babbino caro, mi piace e bello, bello; vo'andare in Porta Rossa a comperar l'anello! Si, si, 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, pieta, pieta! Babbo, pieta, pieta!
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Music: Giacomo Puccini Lyrics: Giovacchino Forzano
From: Timeless (1997).
Source of the lyrics: thanks to Carlos Edmar de Almeida Souza (cedmar@bndes.gov.br), who also send me an English translation, meant to have an idea what the song is all about:
Oh dear daddy Oh dear daddy I love him, he is so handsome I want to go to Porta Rossa to buy the ring Yes, yes, I mean it And if my love were in vain I would go to Ponte Vecchio and throw myself in the Arno I fret and suffer torments Oh God, I would rather die Daddy, have pity, have pity
The song is also sung by Charlotte Church on her second album Charlotte Church (1999). The booklet of that CD gives the lyrics as shown above, except for some of the interpuction. Originally I had "comparar" in the fourth line, as that is what Sarah seems to sing, while Charlotte's CD-booklet gives "comperar", and that is also what Charlotte sings, but the sound of it. Brian Johnston (skicbco@hotmail.com) pointed out that "a comparar l'anello" means "to compare the ring", whereas "a comperar l'anello" means "to buy the ring". In view of what the song is about, as given by the translation, I changed the above lyrics in favour of "comperar".
By the way: the CD-booklet of Sarah's Timeless only mentions "Puccini", whereas the booklet of Charlotte's CD gives Puccini a first name and gives also a name for the lyricist; I have given this more complete info above.
Note: The soprano B.J. Ward sings this aria on her CD Queen of the Night and the CD booklet says about "O mio babbino caro": In this aria, Lauretta begs her 'Babbo' (her Daddy) to please let her marry her boyfriend. If not, she says, 'I'll go to the Ponte Vecchio and throw myself in the river.' What's a father to do? -- thanks to Mike King (mking@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu) for this info.
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