"O mio Babbino Caro"
My dear father
This famously beautiful aria, sung in concert by some of the world's most famous sopranos, including Maria Callas, Monserrat Caballé and Renee Fleming, has a cheeky undertone in the Opera, with Lauretta knowing exactly what to say to get her father to do want she wants: to make sure that she gets to marry her sweetheart, Runuccio.
Oh my dear father,
I like him, he’s handsome, so 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
To throw myself in the Arno!
I am pining and I’m tormented,
Oh God! I would want to die!
Father, have mercy, have mercy!
Father, have mercy, have mercy!
A one-act comic opera by Giacomo Puccini, Gianni Schicchi is set in 13th century Florence. The plot is set in motion by the death of the wealthy Buoso Donati whose young nephew Rinuccio is in love with Schicchi’s daughter, Lauretta, even though the Donatis look down on the Schicchi family. When it is revealed Buoso has left his fortune to a monastery, Rinuccio’s relatives are horrified, and take against a union with Lauretta even more strongly. They will be both poor and allied with socially unacceptable in-laws!
Although they resent Schicchi as an upstart, when he arrives with Lauretta they beg him for help. Initially disinclined to assist the Donatis, Schicchi is persuaded by Lauretta’s cajoling (and dramatic threats of suicide) if she cannot marry Rinuccio. He disposes of the body, disguises himself as the “dying” Buoso Donati and calls for the notary to record his final will. He leaves the bulk of his estate to his “devoted friend Gianni Schicchi”. Caught up in a fraud punishable by losing one’s right hand and banishment from Florence, the Donatis can do nothing to thwart Schicchi’s cunning plan to gain a fortune and dowry for his daughter. He appeals to the audience for forgiveness, as his subterfuge has united the two lovers: what better use could there be of Buoso’s fortune?