Thank Goodness.
It has been a long road for anons.
Picture the scene: our hero, Calaf, is one of three suitors for the delightfully picky Princess Turandot. As a weird sort of challenge, Calaf says that if Turandot can correctly guess his name, she may execute him (?!) but if she can’t, then she must marry him (?!?!?!!)
In a whimsically sociopathic move, the Princess decides that ‘None shall sleep’ (the literal translation of ‘Nessun dorma’) in the entire kingdom until Calaf’s name is discovered. If none of her subjects are able to come up with the correct name, all of them (ALL OF THEM) will be executed. Which is obviously fine and not cause for concern.
The aria begins with Turandot’s proclamation that ‘None shall sleep’, and that’s where the tenor, Calaf, picks it up.
Lyrics:
“But my secret is hidden within me;
no one will know my name!
No, no! On your mouth
I will say it when the light shines!”
Then he becomes a proper show-off:
“And my kiss will dissolve
the silence that makes you mine!”
And if you were worrying that this boastfulness was in any way undermining the emotional seriousness, check out what the female chorus of Turandot’s subjects then sing:
“No one will know his name,
and we will have to, alas, die, die!”
https://www.classicfm.com/composers/puccini/guides/why-nessun-dorma-is-best/