O mio babbino caro

"O mio babbino caro" ("Oh my dear Papa”) is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano.

It provides an interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and love in contrast with the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing, and feuding in medieval Florence.

The aria was first performed at the premiere of Gianni Schicchi on 14 December 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York by the popular Edwardian English soprano Florence Easton.

Dame Joan Hammond won a Gold Record in 1969 for 1 million sold copies of this aria.

The five-bar orchestral prelude, in E-flat major and 34 time, consists of octave tremolos by the strings; in the opera, these five bars are Gianni Schicchi's words (Niente!)

Many recital arrangements start with a presentation of the melodic theme; the remaining accompaniment uses strings and a harp playing broken chords.