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"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 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. ~ wikipedia
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"Recondita Armonia" is the first romanza in the opera Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini. It is sung by the painter Mario Cavaradossi when comparing his love, Tosca, to a portrait of Mary Magdalene that he is painting. ~ wikipedia
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"La donna è mobile" (Woman is fickle) is the Duke of Mantua's canzone from the beginning of Act III of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto (1851). ~ wikipedia
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"Una furtiva lagrima" (A furtive tear) is the romanza from Act II, scene 8 of the Italian opera L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino (tenor) when he finds that the love potion he bought to win the heart of his dream lady, Adina, works. Nemorino is in love with Adina, but she is not interested in a relationship with an innocent, rustic man. To win her heart, Nemorino buys a love potion with all the money he has in his pocket. That love potion is actually a cheap red wine sold by a traveling quack doctor, but when he sees Adina weeping, he knows that she has fallen in love with him, and he is sure that the "elixir" has worked. ~ wikipedia
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At a ball in his palace, the Duke of Mantua sings of a life of pleasure with as many women as possible, "Questa o quella" ("This woman or that"). ~ wikipedia
