“No Man Shall Sleep” — on Election Day?

Only Trump could get away with having a tenor sing “Nessun Dorma” at the RNC while other Republicans and clueless followers completely missed the irony.

To have a tenor sing “Nessun Dorma” after his acceptance speech AND before fireworks sprayed “TRUMP” in the sky above the White House? Wow. That’s clearly moving into ironic overkill territory.

By no means, however, is this observation intended to insult Christopher Macchio, the talented tenor from Long Island, N.Y. Quite the contrary. Mr Macchio’s musical star is rising fast. Only days earlier he performed at the White House, during the funeral service for Trump’s brother Robert. Trump was so impressed he invited him to close the convention with the selections “Ave Maria,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah;” and, of course, the show-stopping “Nessun Dorma.” (Read more about him in Rita Ciolli’s article at www.newsday.com.)

Mr Macchio gave a stirring rendition of the aria that often turns into vocal kryptonite for other tenors. Good for him. What’s really surprising, though, is that Trump even wanted him to sing this particular aria at the convention — and has frequently ordered it played at his campaign rallies. Why?

“Nessun Dorma” is Italian for “No man shall sleep.” Is that what our country really needs now?

Our democracy is withering because too many Americans are already asleep. People need to wake up and stay awake — not sleep or be afraid to sleep! Furthermore, many citizens nowadays who are up at night are fearing the wrong boogieman. It’s not the immigrants or the protesters or the rioters. It’s Trump. They don’t realize how damaging his fascism has become to America.

In this case, they didn’t realize why Trump’s chosen aria was so ironic because they didn’t understand what the lyrics really meant. Very few GOP sycophants, diehard Trumpers, or political commentators knew what the singer was singing about. Or why it was so inappropriate.

But that’s the way Trump likes it: no questions, no curiosity, no discussion. Just let the singer sing. Then watch the fireworks and cheer.
It’s yuge! It’s yuge! Never in the history of the world has there been such a spectacular display during the Republican National Convention! What an incredible tribute to our country! God Bless America!

Uh-huh.

Sure, it was a spectacle all right. With Christopher Macchio’s vocals, it sounded great, too. Those sweeping high notes at the end of Puccini’s aria never fail to uplift and excite listeners — which was exactly what Trump had intended all along. But isn’t anyone wondering what the Italian lyrics in this aria really meant?

Doesn’t anyone — Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Whig — want to know what Mr. Macchio was singing about and why?

Let me fill you in about it, dear readers, with this crash course in appreciating Puccini’s opera Turandot.

Italian composer Giacomo Puccini — the genius who gave us operas like Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, and Tosca, based Turandot on a Chinese fairy tale. Spoiler Alert: Despite the grisly activities, there really is a happy ending. You just have to ignore all the bloody heads and unfortunates who got tortured to death.(But I’m still not telling you the Calaf’s name.)
While the plot might seem fantastically over the top, it’s actually a mythical love story made operatic through Puccini’s uncanny musical sensibility and glorious melodies.

In old Peking long ago, there lived a beautiful Princess named Turandot who refused to marry. She claimed her decision was made to honor another Princess: her sweet and pure ancestress Lou-Lin who had been mercilessly violated years before when the Empire was conquered. In other words, Lou-Lin was raped, and that made Turandot distrust ALL men. Not a good thing for any Chinese dynasty.

To appease her father the Emperor, Turandot announces she will wed the man who can answer 3 riddles she poses. If he tries and fails, however, he will be beheaded. So there are a lot of heads on pikes around her palace (and also onstage in many operatic productions of Turandot.)

Then the brave Calaf, bedazzled by her beauty, solves all 3 riddles and wins her hand in marriage.

Hurray! But Turandot still doesn’t want to marry him(or anyone for that matter). The Calaf tells her if she can guess his name before morning, she doesn’t have to marry him… and he will agree to his own execution. (Oh, the musical drama of it all!)

So what does Turandot do? She and her guards spend the night interrogating and torturing as many people as possible in frantic efforts to find out the Calaf’s name before dawn.

And that’s the real reason nobody can get any sleep during the last act. Turandot is keeping everyone awake! In her desperate quest to discover the Calaf’s name, she’s keeping her entire kingdom wide awake with abject brutality and fear. She’s ordering her subjects to be physically harmed — even killed! — because they won’t tell her the Calaf’s name. But they really DON’T KNOW his name. Nobody knows — except the Calaf himself. (Talk about an ironic fascist overraction.)

Here’s yet another striking irony. In opera, really terrible things can be made to sound so beautiful that audiences forget how bad things really are. The rapturous melodies delight listeners and hold their attention. But when you know the real meaning of the words, you KNOW how bad things really are.

So, here’s an English translation of what’s being sung at the beginning of Act 3. I’m using the translation of the libretto from the acclaimed London recording that featured Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe, and Peter Pears. Forget the breathtaking music for a minute. Pay attention to the meaning of the lyrics.

The heralds announce, “By order of Turandot: ‘Tonight shall no man sleep in Peking!’”

The people cry out, “No man shall sleep! No man shall sleep!”

The heralds warn, “Death is the penalty unless the name of the Unknown Prince be revealed before dawn!”

These phrases are repeatedly sung by the people and heralds. Then the Calaf begins his beautiful aria “Nessun Dorma” — which means “No man shall sleep.” But his words of love in the song are ever hopeful, too. He refuses to believe that the Princess Turandot will discover his real name and “win.” Only he knows “the secret,” only he knows the truth. No one else is going to be able to discover his name. In other words, he’s the ONLY ONE who can solve the problem and save the kingdom.That’s what he’s singing about.

Sound familiar?

Do we really want a President who identifies with a singing savior from a Chinese fairy tale?

Do we really want to re-elect a President who keeps playing this aria at his self-serving political events? He wants his followers to keep hearing a song about some fictional Chinese who can’t sleep because a dysfunctional Princess will torture them to death if they don’t tell her the Calaf’s real name — a name no one knows but the Calaf. Really?

I mean, would Americans actually vote for this guy on November 3rd? Well, maybe. Maybe you would too if you thought Trump would protect you from a cruel Chinese Princess who wouldn’t take no for an answer(China Virus! Genius!). Hmm. Maybe it’s not that ironic, after all…

Then again, the ever-increasing possibility that Trump will actually get re-elected is starting to keep me from falling asleep, too.