Tell was indeed something for everybody (who could be against it, other than totalitarian regimes, such as Hitler’s) 3 – and something for all seasons. 2 Whether taking such hints or not, audiences have usually experienced the work as a celebratory play or a festive event, a “Festspiel” jubilating at the victory of a popular sort of idealism that restores the sovereignty of the people with unfailing aplomb. No wonder at least one critical intellectual, Swiss as it happens, but no doubt speaking for many others, fantasized about a “Schiller without Wilhelm Tell.” 1 Schiller himself had hoped that Tell would appeal to the “heart and senses” and be “effective on stage,” in other words, that it would be a folk play appealing to everybody (“Volksstück,” “für das ganze Publikum”).

4 Gonthier-Louis Fink, “Schillers Wilhelm Tell, ein antijakobinisches republikanisches Schauspiel,” (.)ġ Wilhelm Tell (1804) – unique in Schiller’s oeuvre in that it is subtitled “Schauspiel”– has always been taken to be the most easily accessible of his plays, appealing primarily, if not exclusively, to children and the Swiss, to opera lovers appreciating the son et lumière as well as to connoisseurs of familiar quotations, and, just possibly, to aficionados of kitsch, be they naive or sophisticated.

3 Iring Fetscher, “Philister, Terrorist oder Reaktionär?: Schillers Tell und seine linken Kritiker,” (.).

1 Walter Muschg, “Schiller ohne Wilhelm Tell,” in Muschg, Studien zur tragischen Literaturgeschichte (.).

Today you’ll hear the soaring solo on talent shows, in films, and even sung by pop stars such as Jennifer Hudson and Queen frontman, Adam Lambert.

The libretto to ‘Nessun Dorma’ tells of how Calaf is sure in his plans to marry the princess as he has challenged her to find out his name by morning if she cannot learn his name by the time the sun rises, she has to marry him.ĭespite having origins in the opera house, the aria found its place in popular culture after legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti performed it as the anthem for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Puccini’s acclaimed tenor aria, from his opera Turandot, is performed by the protagonist, Calaf, who falls in love with Princess Turandot at first sight.īefore the aria, Calaf has successfully answered all three of her riddles – her peculiar prerequisite for suitors wishing to marry her – but she is still rebuking his advances. Adam Lambert performs stunning version of Nessun Dorma with Queen

Wilhelm Tell by Friedrich Schiller