Madama Butterfly his nest." Suzuki begins quietly to weep. 17. "Un bel dì vedremo" ("One fine day we shall see"). In this, the opera's most famous aria (and one of the most popular works in the soprano repertoire), Butterfly says that, "one fine day", they will see a puff of smoke on the far horizon. Then a ship will appear and enter the harbor. She will not go down to meet him but will wait on the hill for him to come. After a long time, she will see in the far distance a man beginning the walk out of the city
Aria di sorbetto known as "sherbet arias" because of what they signified to the audience. The "aria di sorbetto" was usually given to a secondary character, and was inserted into a scene which had little bearing on the plot of the opera, except tangentially. The character would normally be one who had had no other solo opportunities in the piece. Because the aria was so unimportant, its composition would often be handed off to an inferior composer, one who received no credit for his efforts. Today, most performances keep the "aria di sorbetto" intact, rather than cutting it, and audiences are expected to