12 of the most famous opera songs

You might not think you know opera. But you do! Here are 12 of the most recognizable and beloved opera songs, ones that have been heard in myriad settings. Which is your favorite?

‘Nessun Dorma’ (from Giacomo Puccini’s ‘Turandot’)

Translated to “Let No One Sleep,” this piece is sung by a prince who wishes to wed the imperious Princess Turandot. One of opera’s best-known tenor arias, it gained worldwide popularity when Luciano Pavarotti’s 1972 recording was used as the theme to the 1991 World Cup. It also was famously sung by (distinctly nontenor) Aretha Franklin at the 1998 Grammys in a last-minute substitution after Pavarotti took ill. You also might have heard it in such movies as The Sum of All Fears and Bend It Like Beckham.

Here is Franklin’s version:

‘Habanera’ (from Georges Bizet’s ‘Carmen’)

The aria accompanies the entrance of the title character, with lyrics translating to “Love is a rebellious bird that none can tame” — establishing the plot early on. Bizet borrowed the melody from Spanish musician Sebastian Iridier, but he lent it the haunting rhythm that helps lodge it in the brain. It’s been heard everywhere, including in The Bad News Bears, in Up, in a version by the Muppets, in a Doritos commercial and even on Gilligan’s Island.

The Doritos ad, first aired during the 2008 Super Bowl.

On a memorable episode of the classic TV show Gilligan’s Island, the lyrics were changed to help tell the story of Hamlet.

‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ (from Puccini’s ‘Gianni Schicchi’)

This plea (“Oh, my dear Papa”) from Lauretta, the daughter of the title character, is a paean to love that carries through the entire opera and provides a respite from the back-stabbing and duplicity of the plot that’s borrowed from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Its soaring melody appears in the Italian-centric movies A Room With a View and Luca.

‘Largo al Factotum’ (from Giaochino Rossini’s ‘The Barber of Seville’)

Better known as “Figaro’s Aria,” it’s one of the most difficult tenor arias to sing, with its rapid tempo and tongue-twisting lyrics. The repeated “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” was a staple of classic cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Tom & Jerry. It also opens the Robin Williams comedy Mrs. Doubtfire.

Here’s a compilation of every time the tune was used in a Looney Tunes cartoon:

The frenetic pace suited Mrs. Doubtfire’s plot:

‘Libiamo Ne’Lieti Calici’ (from Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’)

This lilting waltz known as “The Drinking Song” was famously featured in the alcoholic fever dream The Lost Weekend, and, yes, in beer commercials. With lyrics such as “Let’s drink, let’s drink from the joyous chalices,” it celebrates the fermented libation with gusto.

‘Ride of the Valkyries’ (from Richard Wagner’s ‘Die Walkure’)

Wagner was at his most bombastic in this Third Act opener, most notably heard accompanying the ominous helicopter raid in Apocalypse Now. But that’s not all, folks: It’s perhaps just as famous as the basis for Elmer Fudd’s “Kill the Wabbit,” which introduced many a cartoon-watching kid to the world of opera.

Here’s Fudd’s interpretation.

‘Toreador Song’ (from ‘Carmen’)

Bizet’s jewel is the opera gift that keeps giving. Best known for its refrain advising “Toreador, be on guard,” this piece provides the entrance in the Second Act of the bullfighter Escamillo. The music is so recognizable that it has been revisited with substitute lyrics in multiple ways (Oscar Hammerstein’s “Stan’ Up an’ Fight” in Carmen Jones, Bart’s creative rewrite on The Simpsons, bass Samuel Ramey’s “L is for Low” on Sesame Street).

Here’s Ramey’s version on Sesame Street.

‘Galop Infernal’ (from Jacques Offenbach’s ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’)

This riotous tune, which you know better as “Can-Can,” appears at the end of the opera, when the gods are living it up. It gained fame as the accompaniment to the high-kicking dancers at Paris’ Moulin Rouge and other fin de siécle cabarets. It’s been used in movies such as, yes, Moulin Rouge! and is one of the earworms on Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride.

‘Voi Che Sapete’ (from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ‘The Marriage of Figaro’)

This aria (“You Know What Love Is”), an expression of the lustful adolescent Cherubino’s love for an older woman, is most often sung by an adult soprano. In the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet entrances Darcy with her version. Lust indeed!

Catherine Bott provided the singing voice for Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) in Pride and Prejudice:

‘La Donna e Mobile’ (from Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’)

“The woman is fickle,” sings the Duke of Mantua, himself an unabashed Lothario, in this rollicking waltz. The tune is so catchy that folks on the street were whistling it after the opera’s Venice premiere in 1851. It’s been used in commercials galore, and during the lockdowns in 2020, a video of tenor Maurizio Marchini singing it from his Florence balcony went viral.

Here is Marchini’s balcony rendition.

‘Vesti la Giubba’ (from Ruggero Leoncavallo’s ‘I Pagliacci’)

The sad clown’s anguished lament that closes Act 1 has been appropriated for movies (A Night at the Opera, The Untouchables), television (Seinfeld) and commercials. (Do you have a sudden urge for Rice Krispies cereal? You might, if you are of a certain age!)

Dig into this paean to cereal:

‘Summertime’ (from George Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’)

And now for something completely different. Gershwin’s bluesy aria evokes the languid, longing days of the titular season, aided by DuBose Heyward’s expressive lyrics. It became a much-recorded jazz standard, notably by Billie Holliday in 1936 and Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald in 1959.