O mio babbino caro

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O mio babbino caro ("Oh my dear papa") is an aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini. 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 Maria Callas, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Montserrat Caballé, Anna Netrebko, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Angela Gheorghiu.

[edit] Libretto

Italian	Translation in English
O mio babbino caro Mi piace è bello, bello Vo'andare in Porta Rossa a comperar l'anello! Sì, sì, 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, pietà, pietà! Babbo, pietà, pietà!	O my dear papa He pleases me, and is handsome, handsome I want to go to Porta Rossa to buy the ring! Yes, yes, I want to go there! And if my love were in vain, I would go to the Ponte Vecchio and throw myself in the Arno! I am aching, I am tortured! Oh God, I'd like to die! Father, have pity, have pity! Father, have pity, have pity!

[edit] Cultural resonance outside opera

It has also become popular with non-operatic sopranos such as Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church and Hayley Westernra. Violinist Joshua Bell also has produced a recording of it on his album Romance of the Violin. The rock group East Village Opera Company covered the aria and transformed it into an R&B-styled arrangement. Carlo Aonzo (mandolin) and Beppe Gambetta (guitar) also produced a recording of the song on their 2001 album "Traversata".

The aria was lip-synched to comic success by Rowan Atkinson in the film Mr. Bean's Holiday, as the title character and the young lad he was traveling with became street performers to raise money to get to the Cannes Film Festival.

The 1930s English singer Gracie Fields also recorded an English version of the song which proves to be a rarity. The song has the following lyrics, which prove to be a rather different translation from the one above:

Oh My Beloved Father,
I love him, I love him!
I’ll go to Porta Rossa,
To buy our wedding ring.
Oh yes, I really love him.
And if you still say no,
I’ll go to Ponte Vecchio,
And throw myself below.
My love for which I suffer,
At last, I want to die.
Father I pray, I pray.
Father I pray, I pray.