E lucevan le stelle

"E lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars were shining") is a romantic aria from the third act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca from 1900, composed to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

It is sung in act 3 by Mario Cavaradossi (tenor), a painter in love with the singer Tosca, while he waits for his execution on the roof of Castel Sant'Angelo.

The incipit of the melody (heard in outline earlier in the act, as the sky lightens and the gaoler prepares for the execution) is repeated on the lines "O dolci baci, o languide carezze" ("Oh, sweet kisses and languorous caresses"), and also restated in forte in the closing bars of the opera, as Tosca jumps from the ramparts.

When the stars were brightly shining ... And faint perfumes the air pervaded, Creaked the gate of the garden ... And footstep its precincts invaded ... 'Twas hers, the fragrant creature.

In 1920, the stage performer Al Jolson, together with Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose, wrote a popular song, "Avalon", about the town of the same name on Santa Catalina island.

The following year, G. Ricordi, the publisher of Puccini's operas, sued all parties associated with the song, arguing that the melody was lifted from "E lucevan le stelle".