O mio babbino caro

I was listening to this song from Maria Callas so many times today. It's so powerful, it brings tears to my eyes. In her private life M. Callas was so in love with  Aristotle Onassis, but he married  Jacqueline Kennedy in stead of her. She is giving so much emotions in to the song it sound like she is crying at the end. Here is the lyric and translation  of the song:

O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi)

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!

 

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 want to go there
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

Backgraund of the aria:

Music: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Lyrics: Giovacchino Forzano 

The aria is from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, which my encyclopedia describes as brilliant humoristic.

Buoso Donati, who was the head of the aristocratic Donati family, has died. When the family finds out his will leaves everything to the monastery, Rinuccio's aunt Zita, now head of the family, denies him permission to marry Lauretta, the daughter of Gianni Schicchi, without a dowry. Rinuccio then asks the clever Gianni Schicchi to come up with a solution. However, the Donati family gets nasty with Gianni Schicchi because he is not an aristocrat and does not offer a dowry (he may not have it). Gianni Schicchi angrily takes Lauretta and starts to leave.

Lauretta pleads with her father to facilitate the marriage by examining the will and finding a way around it, singing if she cannot marry Rinuccio she will go to the Ponte Vecchio and throw herself into the river Arno. Gianni Schicchi then pretends to be Buoso on his death bed and dictates a new will to a notary. Although he dictates a will that benefits the Donati, he makes himself a major heir also, negating the need for Donati approval of the marriage. Rinuccio and Lauretta can now marry.

 

By the way, the words "ponte vecchio" mean "old bridge". The bridge the story refers to is of course the famous bridge in Florence (Firenze), Italy.