O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi)

Giacomo Puccini · Level 3 (Late beginner) · Romantic · Piano

Lauretta’s aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918): “Oh my dear papa…”. The complete melody, transposed to G major (original in A♭), over a rocking 6/8 accompaniment. Inseparable from A Room with a View (James Ivory, 1985), and mimed by Mr Bean in a market in Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007).

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Sing the words in your head: each phrase breathes like a singer’s, with a slight swell on the long notes. Prepare the big octave leap (bars 3, 11, 24) with an already open hand; don’t strike it, let it float. Left hand: bass on the first beat, lighter chord after; one pedal per bass note.

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après l’édition de l’air pour chant et piano (G. Ricordi, New York, 1918) · Public Domain