"Quando me'n vo'", also known as "Musetta's Waltz", is a soprano

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

, a

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

in act two of

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

's 1896

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuse ...

''. It is sung by Musetta, in the presence of her bohemian friends, hoping to reclaim the attention of her occasional boyfriend Marcello. This scene takes place at the . Shortly after Mimì, Rodolfo, and their friends have taken seats for a drink, Marcello's former girlfriend, Musetta, shows up with her current patron, the elderly Alcindoro. They quarrel for a bit, then the episode begins as Musetta initiates her move on Marcello. She grabs the spotlight, musically speaking, for a short self-promoting aria (Quando me'n vo'). It is a song directed at the people in the café as much as at the audience in the theater.

Libretto

Quando me'n vo' Quando me'n vo' soletta per la via, la gente sosta e mira e la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me da capo a piè ... Ed assaporo allor la bramosia sottil, che da gli occhi traspira e dai palesi vezzi intender sa alle occulte beltà. Così l'effluvio del desìo tutta m'aggira, felice mi fa! E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi da me tanto rifuggi? So ben: Le angoscie tue non le vuoi dir, ma ti senti morir! When I walk When I walk all alone in the street, people stop and stare at me and look for my whole beauty from head to feet ... And then I taste the slight yearning which transpires from their eyes and which is able to perceive from manifest charms to most hidden beauties. So the scent of desire is all around me, it makes me happy! And you, while knowing, reminding and longing, you shrink from me? I know it very well: you don't want to express your anguish, but you feel as if you're dying!

Later uses

Popular renditions of the melody were produced during the 1950s, including an American Top 40 hit by

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

("You") and a version by Della Reese (" Don't You Know?"), which reached number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

References

External links

Piano vocal score
with Italian and English text, William and Gayle Cook Music Library,

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

* , performed by

Renata Tebaldi Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post- war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, San Carlo and, especially, the Metropolitan Opera. ...

* ,

Anna Netrebko Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born 18 September 1971) is an Austrian operatic soprano with an active international career and performed prominently at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vien ...

{{Authority control Arias by Giacomo Puccini Opera excerpts 1896 compositions Soprano arias