"Tu che di gel sei cinta" ("You who are girdled with ice") is a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

from act 3, scene 1, of

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...

's 1926 opera ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...

''. It is sung by Liù under torture, prior to her suicide. The words were written by Puccini himself while waiting for librettists

Giuseppe Adami Giuseppe Adami (4 February 187812 October 1946) was an Italian librettist, playwright and music critic, he was best known for his collaboration with Giacomo Puccini on the operas ''La rondine'' (1917), ''Il tabarro'' (1918) and ''Turandot'' (1926 ...

and

Renato Simoni Renato Simoni (Verona, 5 September 1875 – Milan, 5 July 1952) was an Italian journalist, playwright, writer and theatrical critic noted for his collaboration work with Giuseppe Adami for Giacomo Puccini's ''Turandot''. Simoni's career was entire ...

to deliver the next part of the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

. When the librettists read them, they decided that they could not do better than that.Colin Kendell, ''The Complete Puccini'', Amberley Publishing 2012 In their work on ''Turandot'', Ashbrook and Powers suggest that Puccini's failure to complete the opera much beyond this point resulted mainly from inadequate dramatic build-up for Turandot's last-minute change of heart combined with an overly successful treatment of the secondary character ( i.e. Liù).

Background

Princess Turandot is taken aback by Liù's strong resolve by not revealing the name of the Prince, and asked her: Turandot: ''Chi pose tanta forza nel tuo cuore?'' Liù: ''Principessa, l'amore!'' Turandot: ''L'amore?'' Who put so much strength into your heart?
Princess, Love!
Love? Turandot was furious with the answer, and ordered Ping to continue torturing Liù. Liù counters Turandot with this aria, and later seized a dagger from a soldier's belt and stabs herself. In the following moments, the blind Timur tries to wake Liù, saying it is dawn ("Liù, Liù, sorgi, sorgi"). When told she is dead, he cries out in anguish that her offended spirit will take revenge, and Liù's

cortège Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engli ...

moves off, with Timur vowing to accompany her into "the night which knows no dawn".

Libretto

Tu che di gel sei cinta da tanta fiamma vinta L'amerai anche tu! Prima di quest'aurora io chiudo stanca gli occhi perché egli vinca ancora... egli vinca ancora... per non, per non vederlo più! Prima di quest'aurora, di quest'aurora io chiudo stanca gli occhi per non vederlo più! You who are girdled with ice Once conquered by so much flame You will love him too! Before this dawn I will close my weary eyes So that he may still win He may still win... To not, to not see him any more! Before this dawn, this dawn I will close my weary eyes To not see him any more!

References

William Ashbrook William Ashbrook (January 28, 1922 – March 31, 2009) was an American musicologist, writer, journalist, and academic. He was perhaps best noted as a historian, researcher and popularizer of the works of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. ...

and

Harold Powers Harold Stone Powers (August 5, 1928 – March 15, 2007) was an American musicologist, ethnomusicologist, and music theorist. Career Born in New York City on August 5, 1928, he earned his B.Mus. in piano from Syracuse University in 1950 and an ...

(1991) ''Puccini's Turandot. The End of the Great Tradition''. Princeton University Press

External links

"Tu che di gel sei cinta"
Aria database site. Retrieved 25 July 2018 * , by

Renata Tebaldi Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, San Carlo and, especially, the Metropolitan Opera. O ...

in a studio recording with Mario del Monaco and

Alberto Erede Alberto Erede (8 November 190912 April 2001) was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with operatic work. Born in Genoa, Erede studied there before studying at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, then with Felix Weingartner at Basle, and ...

conducting, 1955 * ,

Leona Mitchell Leona Pearl Mitchell (born October 13, 1949, Enid, Oklahoma) is an American operatic Grammy Award-winning soprano who sang for 18 seasons as a leading spinto soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In her home state of Oklahoma, she rece ...

, live performance at The met in 1988. * ,

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

{{Authority control Arias by Giacomo Puccini Opera excerpts 1926 compositions Soprano arias