{"id":24094,"date":"2023-01-24T12:15:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T11:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=178683"},"modified":"2023-01-24T16:35:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T15:35:11","slug":"10-of-the-most-famous-opera-songs","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/10-of-the-most-famous-opera-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"10 of the most famous opera songs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Hannah Nepilova\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 24 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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What makes a classic opera song \u2013 the kind that reaches beyond the boundaries of fashion and speaks to generation after generation? Is it melody? Orchestration? Text? Something else completely? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are ten songs, plucked from many, many possible contenders, that continue to soar in popularity centuries after they were first heard.<\/p>\n

Famous opera songs<\/h2>\n

Nessun Dorma<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Closely associated with Luciano Pavarotti<\/a><\/strong>, who sang it many times in the \u201890s after performing it at the 1990 FIFA World Cup<\/a><\/strong>, Nessun Dorma<\/a><\/strong> (\u2018Let no one sleep\u2019) is possibly classical music\u2019s greatest gift to contemporary pop culture.<\/p>\n

It actually comes from the final act of Puccini<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s opera Turandot<\/a><\/strong>, <\/i>where it is sung by the prince Calaf, who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but frosty Princess Turandot.<\/p>\n

But it is often performed as a standalone work, thanks to its lush orchestration, its bittersweet harmonies and, most of all, its melody, that \u2013 in its slow build to a towering climax \u2013 tugs with all its might at the heart-strings.<\/p>\n