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The Timeless & Terrifying Majesty of "Nessun Dorma" • James Campion Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

In a riveting scene from the second season premiere of the popular Netflix series, Squid Game the use of music dear to my heart not only drives the drama but underscores its deeper meaning. And it is not just the music, but the origin and density of that music which matters. It is, arguably (and I shall argue) one of the most beautifully written melodies distinctly arranged for maximum effect that in the voice of a master tenor is a thing of brutal beauty. And to use it to score the type of randomly horrifying violence that unfolds in that scene is truly genius storytelling.
     Squid Game is a cleverly devised metaphor for the evils of capitalism and the human desire for greed and fear of failure created by South Korean director/producer, Hwang Dong-hyuk. Without giving away the plot (it’s a must see – thanks to our daughter, who begged us for over a year to see it), a man who represents “the games” to the greater public has entrapped two men in a room to play Russian Roulette. Coerced to play the children’s game (which is the cornerstone “evil” for the series) Rock-Paper-Scissors at gun point, the gagged and bound men must endure facing inevitable death with each click of the gun from their assailant until someone loses (dies.)
     Throughout this incredibly tense milieu, in the distance, a famous aria echoes – at times it takes over the soundtrack to the action, but mostly it is merely a foreboding siren. “Nessun dorma” rides a dynamic arc, beginning with a romantically tender tone that eventually builds to a soaring crescendo into one of the most arresting of codas. It is, as stated above, beautiful, adorned with a majestic orchestration that evokes joy not terror. For many, it may be an ironic choice for what amounts to torture porn – this gorgeous and beloved opera classic – the centerpiece of composer Giacomo Puccini’s finest work, Turandot – or at least it’s my favorite, although the more well-known La bohèmecomes in a close second. Yet, the piece’s place in the opera, and who sings it, presents a sinister symbolism that is quite apt for the moment portrayed with disturbing realism by the Squid Game actors.
     The story of Tarandot, the libretto written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, takes place in China, and concerns a suitor for the Princess Tarandot, who must answer several daunting questions to earn her hand or die. Much like the participants in Squid Game, who willfully gamble their lives playing simple children’s amusements for money, the suitor puts his life on the line for his prize. Eventually, the suitor answers all the questions put to him, yet the prickly princess refuses to marry him, and so he proposes another “game,” wherein she must guess his name (Calif) before dawn or she has no other choice but to become his wife, and, of course, with it, he will gain the riches of the kingdom.
     Throughout, the night, the princess demands from her court a sleepless night of finding out the suitor’s name or they too will face death. (lots of death in opera, you learn this early on with the artform). Meanwhile, Calif is chiding them and her with his aria, “Nessun dorma,” which in English means “Let no one sleep,” which in the 1926 opera represents an impossible almost doomed task (doom is also prevalent in opera), a fixed game.
     The singer emotes…
 
Nobody shall sleep!
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, oh Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
 
     In a very real way Puccini’s accompaniment reveals Calif’s wicked glee in torturing the princess – not unlike what the two men endure at the hands of the madman with the gun.
 
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No... No!
On your mouth, I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!

It is important to note that since the early 1990s “Nessun dorma” has been the most famous of arias, thanks in no small part to Luciano Pavarotti, one of the most famous tenors of the form. It is Pavarotti’s version of the piece that is playing in the scene, as it is most internationally known, specifically from his rendition that acted as the opener to the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup, which, of course, took place in Italy that year. With millions of people all over the world tuning in to watch and listen to the games on TV and radio, Pavarotti did more for not only the piece’s notoriety but putting opera on the map.

The performance is a masterful one, as Pavarotti presents the intense melody as an actor in a play, or the character in the opera: his voicing, a tour de force, his facial expressions – quivering lips and watery eyes –  and his slight but effective body movements, as he descends with the notes down into the pathos of the lyric and then lifts his incredible pipes to explode above the orchestra. In a balancing act that is simultaneously powerful and vulnerable, he rides the stirring violins and measured cellos that take the melody from him and then pass it back in a magical coupling. Then like a high-wire act, Pavarotti hits that exquisitely held note to meet the might of the musicians, who keep him aloft, making it an artistic triumph. 
     Those who know the piece also know that the BBC performance is truncated and the tenor in the opera must reach that crescendo twice during the opera, which crushes me each time I hear it, which I did, live, thanks to the woman in my life at the time, who adored opera and turned me onto Puccini’s brilliance and took me to see him with a half-million people in Central Park in June of 1993. It was a life-affirming experience. A talent of that magnitude enveloping music of such virtuosity is difficult to top.
      The ubiquitous emotional power of “Nessun dorma” makes that scene in Squid Game 2 burrow into you –the anguish, fear, horror of the moment and that astonishing voice cutting through the thick of the tension. As the song has been used countless times in film and to embellish scenes of every kind, it continues to mesmerize us, take us to places we can only imagine, as if our dreams and nightmares become tangible.
     Great music can do that. 
     Thank goodness.
     And, ahem, badness.
 
Vanish, o night!
At dawn, I will win! 
© James Campion 2.13.25

The Missed Opportunity of Beatles '64
James Campion reviews Martin Scorsese take on the Beatles First American Tour of the USA - 1.16.25
     
Follow at https://www.facebook.com/jamesbartolommeocampion/ X (@FearNoArt) and Instagram (@jamescampion).
 
James Campion is the the author of “Deep Tank Jersey”, “Fear No Art”, “Trailing Jesus”, "Midnight For Cinderella" and “Y”. +, “Shout It Out Loud – The Story of KISS’s Destroyer and the Making of an American Icon” + “Accidently Like a Martyr – The Tortured Art of Warren Zevon” and “Take a Sad Song…The Emotional Currency of “Hey Jude" and coming in *April 2025, “Revolution – Prince, the Band, the Era.”

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