Un bel dì vedremo Un bel dì vedremo "" ("One fine day we'll see") is a soprano aria from the opera "Madama Butterfly" (1904) by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is sung by Cio-Cio San/Madama Butterfly (on stage with Suzuki), as she imagines the return of her absent love, Pinkerton. "Un bel dì vedremo" is the opera's most famous aria and one of the most popular pieces in the soprano repertoire. Three years after her marriage to U.S. naval officer named Pinkerton, Cio-Cio San ("Butterfly") awaits the return of her long-absent husband to Japan. Her maid, Suzuki,
Un bel dì vedremo does not believe that Pinkerton will come back, but Butterfly is optimistic. Trying to convince Suzuki of Pinkerton's loyalty, Butterfly sings of an imaginary scene in which a thread of smoke on the far horizon signals the arrival of a white ship into Nagasaki harbour, bringing her long-lost love back to her. The imagined scene culminates in a romantic reunion. The aria is noted for its lyrical beauty, and it is of particular dramatic importance as Butterfly's yearning expressed in the song is later met with tragedy. Butterfly's longed-for "beautiful day" is heralded at the end of Act 2 by