Little Girl Performs "Nessun Dorma," One Of The Most Difficult Opera Songs Known Worldwide

Jan 13, 2022 by apost team

While most famous singers are adults — or at least teenagers — by the time they master their craft, there are certainly incredibly skilled children out there too. This story from 2013 is about one little girl's incredible vocal talents, as she took on a song that Luciano Pavarotti was well known for and has been deemed an incredibly difficult song to sing around the world.

Amira Willighagen is a prodigy despite her young age. Described as having the voice of a literal angel, this young girl really has talent where it counts the most when it comes to singing!

She has leveraged her talents in order to fund the construction of playgrounds for children in underprivileged areas. When asked by her parents what would make her the happiest, she said that giving back to children like herself so that they can play worry-free would make her trials and tribulations all worthwhile.

Amira hails from Holland, and back in 2013 she appeared on the singing competition series "Holland’s Got Talent." From the start of her journey on the show, she showed off her vocal talents when she sang arias from various operas. But for the finals of the show, she took it to another level when she performed "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot." 

Although the opera premiered in 1926 and the aria has been performed in that context for many years, it was popularized by Pavarotti in the 1990s after he sang it for the 1990 World Cup. It is one of the best-known tenor arias in all of opera. 

"Turandot" tells the narrative of a tragic romance of a tyrannical and wicked Chinese princess. Her cruelty knew no bounds; any young man who was smitten by her looks was made to answer three riddles. If any one of these questions was answered incorrectly, then the would-be groom was beheaded without trial immediately.

Eventually, there was a prince named Calaf who arrived in her kingdom. In a stunning role reversal, the wicked Chinese princess fell for him! The song "Nessun dorma" is actually a kind of pep talk that the prince Calaf gave to himself in order to buff up his confidence so that he could win Turandot’s hand in marriage. Unfortunately, not all goes as planned and the old adage “only fools fall in love” is illustrated expertly in the narrative.

It wouldn't be incorrect to be curious about how a girl so young and innocent could manage to capture the raw emotion and spirit of such a love story. Earlier in the competition, Amira wowed the judges with a separate Puccini piece that had already made her a viral sensation in Holland. Therefore, her slot in the final round was expected by all viewers.

For her final performance, Amira walked out on stage with a simple white dress and skirt. She was accented by a variety of golden accessories and bangles, including a necklace specifically selected to represent the emotional theme of the play. With a nearby choir in darkness set to accompany her as a backup group, the light shone down upon her and reflected off of her curled golden locks. 

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The importance of such a performance was clear on her face; she would not let this opportunity go to waste. After she took a little bit of time to compose herself, she closed her eyes and began to sing in a way completely unheard of by both the judges and the audience. Even veterans of earlier episodes were absolutely stunned by the amount of talent that she demonstrated that night. What's more, she sang in her own style, which meant that rather than being compared to Pavarotti or other legends, she made the song her own.

Not to the surprise of the crowd or those who understand what a true talent Amira is, the girl won the grand prize after the audience voted her into first place. The applause lasted for several minutes and seemed to go on and on. It was just as booming as Amira’s voice. Even the accompanying choir was left stunned and barely managed to keep up with her talented performance.

With her winnings, Amira started a nonprofit organization in which she invested half of the prize money to build parks. These parks were called “Amira Parks” and are meant to be built internationally in economically at-risk areas for children who might otherwise never have the hope for a local park in their neighborhood.

Amira’s grand finale performance has been viewed over 13 million times by fans all around the world. She plans on continuing to perform under the auspices of her parents for years to come. And considering what she achieved back when she was just nine years old, we're sure her future will only continue to shine incredibly bright. 

What do you think of Amira Willighagen's incredible performance of "Nessun dorma" at the age of just nine? Could you imagine singing like that at that age? Let us know, then pass this on to your friends so they can hear it too!