Not Quite Italian: Ponte Vecchio and Puccini

The first time I saw the 1985 movie "Room with a View" I fell madly in love with its title song: O Mio Babbino Caro, from the Giacomo Puccini (1918) opera Gianni Schicchi.

I eventually sought out a little music shop in Firenze which specializes in opera music and there I purchased a DVD of three staged Puccini operas.

O Mio Babbino Caro is a love song in which a young Florentine girl pleads with her father to buy her "the ring," which would signify he gave his blessing to her engagement.

O Mio Babbino Caro
(translated to English)

Oh my dear father,

I like him, he is very 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 am pining and I am tormented,

Oh God! I would want to die!

Father, have pity

In Italy, I have had several encounters with this aria.

July 2009 dairy entry:

"Ohh I feel like I'm in the movie "Room with a View!" I'm all packed and I'm enjoying 30 minutes with nothing to do in Room 1 at Hotel Cestelli. It's 9 am and I'm standing at the open window, enjoying the little courtyard below. Someone nearby is listening to opera music! Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. I thought I heard O Mio Babbino Mio Caro earlier. Only here in Italy..."

I had an incredible, never to be repeated, personal experience with the song in the Fall of 2008.

It was a Saturday night and the evening was pleasant and clear. Leo and I had just walked to Ponte Vecchio to enjoy the fresh air. I never tire of visiting the bridge nor capturing pictures of this lovely old place. Each picture is unique, depending on the season, time of day and lighting.

During the autumn months, the jewelry shops on Ponte Vecchio are shuttered up at night, with their solid wooden doors and the tourists disappear off the bridge.

The time was just after 9 pm, which is considered early for an Italian Florentine evening out.

Leo and I were leaning against the wall of the bridge, almost alone, looking out downstream onto the Arno River. It was after dark, but the night was pleasantly well lighted and the water sparkled with reflections.

I noticed a handsome foreign couple, just to our right. It is a romantic setting for those in love.

Suddenly, I heard a sort of gasping for air and sensed some movement. Just as I turned to see what was happening, I saw a woman step back from the wall and face her male companion. And then, she began to sing.

She sang with her heart. There was no doubt, she was an experienced opera singer.

I tightly clasped Leo's hand and we watched, spell-bound. All movement around us ceased, as other strollers stopped and quietly observed the scene.

She sang in Italian, a capella. The couple only had eyes for each other. This was a private moment but her voice was full and strong. Tears flowed from my eyes as I watched and listened.

When she finished, she turned to me and in clear Italian apologized to me! I answered in Italian and said, "Oh no!! Please, it was lovely and this is my most favorite song." She told me it was their wedding anniversary and then they slipped away.

The moment I had access to a computer I searched the Internet and I found her.

Leo and I had had the pleasure of hearing the South Korean opera star, Sumi Jo, serenade her husband that night.

This You-Tube video shows her singing O Mio Babbino Caro in concert.