O mio babbino caro

O mio babbino caro (Oh my dear papa) is an aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between Schicchi and his prospective in-laws have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio, the boy she loves. It provides a contrasting interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and single-hearted love in the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing and feuding in medieval Florence of Puccini's only comedy, and it provides the only set-piece in the through-composed conversational musical give-and-take.

Among the more famous sopranos who have performed this aria are Florence Easton (premiere 14 December 1918), Frances Alda, Maria Callas, Victoria de los Ángeles, Montserrat Caballé, Joan Hammond, Anna Netrebko, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Angela Gheorghiu, Kathleen Battle, Renée Fleming, Renata Tebaldi and Carmen Monarcha.

Libretto

Italian	Translation in English
O mio babbino caro Mi piace, è bello, bello Vo' andare in Porta Rossa a comperar l'anello! Sì, sì, ci voglio andare! e se l'amassi indarno, andrei sul Ponte Vecchio, ma per buttarmi in Arno! Mi struggo e mi tormento! O Dio, vorrei morir! Babbo, pietà, pietà! Babbo, pietà, pietà!	Oh my dear papa I like him, he is handsome, 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 the Ponte Vecchio and throw myself in the Arno! I am being consumed and I am tormented! Oh God, I'd want to die! Papa, have pity, have pity! Papa, have pity, have pity!

Cultural resonance outside opera

It has also become in demand with popular music sopranos such as Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church, Sissel Kyrkjebø, and Hayley Westenra. Violinist Joshua Bell also has produced a recording of it on his album Romance of the Violin. The rock group East Village Opera Company covered the aria and transformed it into an R&B-styled arrangement. Carlo Aonzo (mandolin) and Beppe Gambetta (guitar) also produced a recording of the song on their 2001 album Traversata.

In 2001, the song appeared on a commercial for Rockstar Games video game "Grand Theft Auto: 3", and on the video games sound track.

James Ivory's adaptation of E. M. Forster's novel "A Room with a View"(1985) uses the aria as the title theme.

The aria was lip-synched to comic success by Rowan Atkinson in the film Mr. Bean's Holiday, as the title character and the young lad he was traveling with became street performers to raise money to get to Cannes.

Katie Harman of Oregon won the Miss America title in 2001 singing the aria which also won for her the talent preliminary title earlier in the competition.

The 1930s English singer Gracie Fields also recorded an English version of the song which proved to be a rarity. The song has the following lyrics, which were a rather different translation from the one above:

Oh My Beloved Father,
I love him, I love him!
I’ll go to Porta Rossa,
To buy our wedding ring.
Oh yes, I really love him.
And if you still say no,
I’ll go to Ponte Vecchio,
And throw myself below.
My love for which I suffer,
At last, I want to die.
Father I pray, I pray.
Father I pray, I pray.