Talk:Turret Opera

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Easteregg Video

I found a video on youtube showing the hole orchestra part of the easteregg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSD2aGVlUnU Mayme someone could link it also in the article? 77.5.70.200 00:59, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Last line of the Opera.

I'm pretty sure I distinctly hear "O cara, care a mi", which translates to "Oh dear, dear to me". Can whoever changed it to "cara mia" or someone that thinks that's what is sung explain why they think that, please? -HawkeyE 21:39, April 23, 2011 (UTC)

I'm the user who signed with IP 79.44.69.103 about "la mia bambina cara" yesterday. "Care a mi" is not Italian (and that would be "cara a me") - the "E" you hear is the way the singer (Ellen?) pronounces the R in "cara" (she does it the same way earlier in the song) and the "mi" sounds to me like it's the truncated "mia" (since the sung part is fading away when Chell is reaching the door out) Roby31 ITA 08:29, April 26, 2011 (UTC) Unless of course the lyrics are in both Italian and Spanish (the "Qué làstima" dilemma) a language I'm not qualified to speak about. Roby31 ITA 08:31, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

YouTube Video

What was the point of changing the YouTube video? They both have 1080p options for viewing it and are basically the same video, so what was the point of changing it? -HawkeyE 00:59, April 24, 2011 (UTC)

O cara mia, Addio!

The English translation reads "Farewell to my dear", though, shouldn't it read "My dear, Good bye!", to fit with the grammatical sequence? Just putting it out there. --Modoru 21:21, April 24, 2011 (UTC)

Que Lastima vs. Che la stimo

That was a significant change and should have first been talked about on the talk page. While I, too, initially though "que lastima" was spoken, and still think it kind of sounds like it and makes (some) contextual sense. However, its being Spanish when everything else is Italian makes no sense. Furthermore, "che la stimo" also fits pretty well, is Italian and makes, in my opinion, more contextual sense. I really don't want to recommend that the page be protected, but at least talk about such a significant change before asserting that is the case and changing it of your own accord. -HawkeyE 07:53, April 25, 2011 (UTC)

"Che la stimo" isn't correct. In italian word endings must have la concordanza, so you would never pair "la" with a word ending in "o"; it would be "stima". Listening to it again, though, I'm convinced it's not "Che la stima" (which doesn't really make a lot of sense grammatically - that would be "that's the estimate" or "that's the esteem"), but rather "che la schema" - "That's the plan", which fits narratively and for bonus points makes grammatical sense. I think a combination of autotuning and presuggestion (once you read "que lastima" you're inclined to hear that nonexistent 't' sound) explain the confusion. Close your eyes and listen to it thinking of the word "schema" and you'll hear that, too. Peterb1201 01:45, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

First off, sorry for assuming you didn't first use the talk-page. Very few have before making changes to the article. However, allowing some discussion before making changes probably wouldn't hurt.

Anyway, I don't know much Italian so I left the che la stimo/la stima distinction for others to fix. However, I did re-listen to the song after I saw your alteration, and I really don't hear "la schema" in the slightest; all I hear is "la stima". Also, why that was the plan makes sense given the context of the whole game (kind of sorta, GLaDOS only realizes she's Caroline at the end, from what I gathered), its placement in the song makes little sense. She says my darling beauty, baby girl, etc., then that was the plan and then farewell to my dear? What was the plan? It just seems random there, to me at least. -HawkeyE 03:10, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Well, I'm only speculating, but it seems to me that the plan was for Caroline to save Chell's life - by sending her far away from science. I do speak Italian, and I hear "schema", but I agree that reasonable people can disagree. I sent a pointer to the youtube link to some native speakers who are not particularly interested in videogames and asked them to weigh in on what they hear. Peterb1201 05:16, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Got my first reply from a native speaker: "The words are too computerized to be able to understand clearly what’s being said." That suggests to me that we want to be careful about asserting with too much confidence what the line is - if native speakers have trouble understanding it, then we are definitely in "You might hear what you want to hear" territory.

In the meantime, I've written to Valve asking them if there are 'official' lyrics. That might be the easiest way to cut the Gordian knot. Peterb1201 11:57, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

I'm a native speaker, too - see my elaboration underneath and my concerns about the writer's knowledge of the language. Roby31 ITA 12:18, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

I'm pretty certain it's "que lastima." It fits with the grieving, wistful tone of the song better than the other options, and operas have been known to mix Spanish, French, and other Romance languages into the standard Italian, so it wouldn't be totally out of the question to switch to a different tongue there, especially for a phrase as poetic as "que lastima." --74.240.99.217 21:28, April 27, 2011 (UTC)

"La mia bambina cara" is not sung at all.

The line "La mia bambina cara" (before "Perché non passi lontana?") is wrong. It sounds more like "Ah mia bimba cara" or "O mia bimba cara" which hold the same meaning. 79.44.69.103 12:21, April 25, 2011 (UTC)

This sure sounds like "mia bambina" to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPyGvqNn4Y&t=47 -HawkeyE 17:29, April 25, 2011 (UTC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPyGvqNn4Y&t=61 I believe this is the part they were talking about, another poster further down the page brings up that it could be "La mia vita, cara" and I agree with them 70.51.166.30 13:22, May 19, 2011 (UTC)

Different translation

A person named ElectroWaffles posted a more correct translation (as it sounds to me anyway) in the youtube comments:

Cara bel, cara mia bella. Mia bambina, a tra che la stima che la stima.

(My dear, beautiful darling, my child that i admire.)

A cara mia, addio! Mia bambina cara, perche non passi lontana si lontana da scienza?

(To my dear, farewell! My dear girl, why not walk far away from science?)

Cara cara mia bambina. A mia bel. A mia cara. A mia cara. A mia bambina. A cara, cari a mi!

(My dear, dear girl. To my lovely. To my dear. To my dear. To my child, My dear, dear to me!)

Frankly, the Chell reference in the current displayed version seems false as it doesn't sound anything like it. Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBCE539v2JM --SilentShadowLT

It's an interesting take on it. To be honest, I can hear both "a tra" and "o ciel/chell" when I presume it's one or the other. "A tra" sounds like another possibility, but I don't speak Italian and I'm not personally sure how well it fits. I'd also like to say here that I'm pretty sure it isn't "que lástima, as the accent is not placed their in the song. It really does sound like la and stima are split as two different words. I also agree with the Ah->A change, as I think "ah" isn't as common in Italian as it is in English, especially in written lyrics. The "to" also makes sense as this song is dedicated to her. Actually, I agree with everything in that translation, I'm just less sure about the "a tra"/"o ciel" part. We could really use someone fluent in Italian to say that they are here on the talk page and help us out. -HawkeyE 23:03, April 25, 2011 (UTC)

"Ciel" is indeed pronounced "Chell" in Italian (really, more like "chee-ell", but if you're saying it fast an English speaker would hear it as "chell"). It does double duty here as a joke, because "Ah, ciel!" is a very operatic phrase, and one you wouldn't be surprised to hear in an aria. Peterb1201 01:48, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

I don't think anyone was saying it doesn't sound like ciel/Chell or that it doesn't fit with the rest of the lyrics, but rather that it also sounds like she could be saying "a tra" which may or may not make contextual sense with the rest of the lyrics (I'm no expert on Italian, so I'll defer such a judgment to someone that is.) -HawkeyE 03:15, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

"Tra" is not pronounced that way (like Ackbar's "trap!") unless you're a southern Italian stereotype, I'm sorry. My "different" translation which could make sense would be "Oh ciel che la stima, che la stima" - meaning "oh heavens that admire her"; it would make sense both in grammar and meaning (like the singer is talking about how heavens gifted Chell of her stubbornness) and solve in a way the Spanish/Italian duality ("Qué làstima" sounds exactly like "Che la stima" as far as I know, and has this total different meaning of "what a shame/ what a pity". This would however require a decent knowledge of Italian by whoever wrote the song: I can't be sure about how much efforts were made to have grammatical and lexical correctness.

Another part of the lyrics I'm not really agreeing with is the "Mia bambina cara, perché non passi lontana, sì lontana da Scïenza?" (when pronounced that way -as a linguistic hiatus- it requires the "ï"). "Mia bambina" doesn't sound like that (it is iterated elsewhere in the song and you can hear the proper pronunciation with a different amount of syllables) and even what I first thought was "mia bimba" (it bears the same meaning with a stronger note of endearing) can't really be it based on how it's sung. I have a theory that the lyrics recite "Ah mia vita cara, perché non passi lontana [...]", with the very same meaning - when you love someone so much thet you call him your life (Italian = vita); or even in a more "egoistic" point of view on the singer's part (and please follow my thinking process on this one) the lyrics could be "La mia vita, cara, perché non passi lontana [...]" which would mean "Oh dear, why don't you go spend MY life far away, so far away from Science?": Chell has caused so much trouble in the life of GLaDOS that the IA now "only wants her gone" - GLaDOS herself says it in the final credits (also stating "when I delete you maybe I'll stop feeling so bad"; she'll delete Chell from her memory and stop mourning her beloved friend/enemy's loss). This is pure speculation on my part of course but I tried to explain it the best I can. I'm Italian, I went to a language high school and that's the best I got until now. What sets me back the most is the fact I don't know how much who wrote the lyrics knows Italian. Roby31 ITA 09:23, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

The "Soprano Turret"

Just an FYI, according to the official guidebook for Portal 2, the "fat" turret is called the "Soprano Turret". This turret also makes one or two other appearances earlier in the game (like here). -- Commdor (Talk) 01:45, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for that; I'll see if I can squeeze that somewhere into the main article, and, if not, then in the trivia. It actually gives even more credence to the "it ain't over 'til the fat turret/lady sings" (not that many were disputing it), as that phrase was originally attributed to female sopranos. As for her being seen earlier as an easter egg, that is already noted in the trivia. EDIT: I'll try to add it to the section on the 'fat' turret. Can you provide the page number of that for the reference? -HawkeyE 03:14, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Apologies for the late response. The page in the guide where the Soprano Turret is explained is 297. -- Commdor (Talk) 00:14, May 2, 2011 (UTC)

I believe the "Soprano Turret" actually can be seen acceding one of the elevators at the end of a test chamber, just as the player enters the elevator chamber. I'm not entirely sure which test chamber this is, though obviously it occurs after GLaDOS has been awakened. If someone has some time, this might be something interesting to look into.

The Easter Egg occurance of them

I was sure I heard the 'fat' turret singing in the Rattmann den. Maybe not using words like the endgame, but just singing... I hear it in the video provided and I didn't think the regular turrets were making it. Could someone elaborate? ~Ṃᶒɠą§ɔîéɳčę _{{ talk }} 05:22, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Yet another note.

Someone posted

• Also note that "chell" (heavens) is a pun on Chell's name.

...Isn't that supposed to say:

• Also note that Chell's name is a pun on the word "ciel" (sky, in this case, the heavens, hence "Oh, heavens").

No?

—Whoops, forgot to sign. --Modoru 03:49, April 27, 2011 (UTC)

...And yet another thing, I'd like to note that the Soprano Turret, next to the 4 turret group you find in a Rattman Den, is not singing at any time. What sounds like the "voice" in that music is purely the work of the third turret [from right to left]. —Modoru 04:28, April 27, 2011 (UTC)

Soprano Turret

I'd just like to let you guys know the thicker turret was dubbed the "Soprano Turret" [Source: Portal 2 Official Guide].

Zoronii 04:04, April 28, 2011 (UTC)

Fat Turret Egg

Not sure if this is an egg or not but earlier today I was about to go up the lift but when I was heading down the stairs I saw an elevator going up with the fat turret inside it. I only saw it for a few seconds. I think it was in chapter 2 or 3. If anybody else sees this please tell me. I haven't got an account yet so leave it on this page.

Fat Turret Egg

I was playing in chapter 3 on the level that introduces hard-light bridges when I noticed the Fat Turret. I saw it just as I was headed downstairs to the lift. I saw an elevator go up just before mine appeared with the Fat Turret. I'm not kidding, have a look for yourself. Just thought it was a bit out of the blue.

Chell's parents

I seen another translation where there was daughter few times, also dearest one. What I think is, GLaDOS might be Chell's mother (I mean when she still was Caroline). I heard Caroline had relationship with Cave Johnson, so Cave may be Chell's Daddy. Also we seen her potato. If they (daughters) had some parent related to Aperture Laboratories, why only one have access to "special ingredient from Daddy's work". I say the Daddy is CEO, thats why. Also quite good reason to censor her surname from Lab Rat comix. If she was Newton or Smith or whoever else, nobody would care and accept. If there was Johnson, everybody would notice. Hiding her surname also suggest that there is possibility we may see her again and then there might be some revealing news about her story. I might also prove this theory or prove its wrong. --TakeruDavis 22:57, May 2, 2011 (UTC)

• There are a few minor issues with this theory. Chell's in her mid to 20's in Portal, taking place in the "Twenty-Teens". Cave Johnson died in 86, somewhere around 65 - 80 years old (depending on how old he was when he founded Aperture Science Innovators in '43), so it's unlikely he would have had an infant daughter at the time. Also, it is confirmed (more or less) that Chell was the daughter of an employee. It's not likely to be Johnson though.
• Besides that, there's the matter of Chell's ethnicity. She's based on a woman with Brazilian and Japanese heritage, and it definitely shows - Chell has a very toned complexion despite being locked in a subterranean chamber for years (as of Portal 2). If GLaDOS wasn't just being a b*tch and Chell IS adopted, Caroline would have been an old woman during the '98/200X "Bring Your Daughter To Work Day" thing that Chell had an entry for (the one that explosively grew through the roof). It doesn't seem likely a woman of her age would be able to handle a small child by herself as a mother.
• As for the name. Yes, it could be a number of boring, unimportant names. But there ARE others besides Johnson that would throw a red flag - like maybe Rattman (unlikely) or Johanson (not the same). There may also be other characters who haven't been introduced yet that they don't want to spoil yet - if Chell's full name was known and they added a new character with the same name, it would be a pretty dead giveaway. Plus, the possibility of it being Johanson is the fact that the her potato showed some sort of abnormal growth/mutation, as if using a different technology than the others. And the Borealis was said to have something unique and unknown on board... -King Starscream 20:57, May 5, 2011 (UTC)

Well, ONE Aperture employee is one of Chell's parents, otherwise Chell wouldn't go to "Bring your Daughter to work day". -- I Pity The Fool. - Mr.T 01:47, November 17, 2011 (UTC)

Where is the file?

Does anyone know where in the vpk this song is? I want to extract it to get a clear listen. Most of the other songs like Want You Gone and Robots FTW are easy enough to find with GCFScape, but I can't seem to find this one.

This entire sequence is pre-rendered; the audio's included in the video file that's in the media directory (not inside the VPK). Bink video tools are required to play it, which you can snag here: http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm Sangheili1024 11:00, May 7, 2011 (UTC)

The companion cube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPyGvqNn4Y

look at 0:22

There is a companion cube going through a diversity vent. Could this be Chell's companion cube? Axel 4 4 3 2 14:42, May 12, 2011 (UTC)

Paraphrase of the Opera

Sorry about i am writing italian, but i don't know most tecnhical terms of italian literature, and i want to cotribute in this page. I hope anyone translate it.

La canzone esprime molto più di quello che ci pare dire a prima vista. Una parafrasi del testo tratta da https://tuttominuscolo.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/portal-2-turret-opera-cara-mia-unanalisi-inutile-per-capire-che-glados-e-umana/, l'autore dell'analisi ci fa intendere molte cose. Ad esempio:

1. Cara bell’ 2. Cara mia bella 3. Mia bambina 4. Oh, ciel! 5. Ché la stima 6. Ché la stima 7. Oh, cara mia 8. Addio! 9. La bambina cara 10. Perché non passi lontana? 11. Sì lontana da Scienza 12. Cara, cara mia bambina? 13. Ah, mia bell’ 14. Ah, mia cara 15. Ah, mia cara 16. Ah, mia bambina 17. Oh, cara, cara mi’

Nei versi da 1 a 3 "Oh Ciel," oltre a un modo di riferirsi come un "pun" a Chell, ha anche più di un significato allegorico:

-il fatto che GLaDOS è come un Dio che controlla tutto e tutti all'interno dei laboratori (il suo mondo), vita e destino, come fosse un dio che crea e distrugge secondo il suo volere onnipotente, che sta appunto, nel Cielo. - GLaDOS è attaccata al soffitto, e dal secondo capitolo, vuole bene e si dimostra affettuosa a Chell e la guida e aiuta come se Chell fosse un umano in cerca di una guida.

Il verso 4 può anche fare riferimento all'abilità di Chell di spostarsi tra i portali a mezz'aria, come fosse un uccello.

I versi da 3 a 6 chiama Chell come bambina perchè probabilmente la conosce fin quando era bambina, oppure è solo un vezzeggiativo o un termine affettuoso per rafforzare il rapporto tra lei e Chell, come un rapporto madre/figlia.

I versi da 9 a 12 pone una questione etico-morale sul fatto che GLaDOS ha usato la Scienza ( o lei stessa si impersona come Scienza) per testare ma per eliminare persone innocenti, e richiama Chell sulla sua pericolosità stessa e di starle lontana, perchè ha già provocato fin troppe volte morte e dolore e si pente di ciò. Allo stesso modo, nei versi 13-17 GLADOS è tormentata nel rinunciare ala compagnia di Chell e di restare sola per sempre, dato che non può costringere a farla restare, ma di ridarle la libertà, e mostra a Chell di aver cancellato i file di Caroline, forse simulandolo con il cambio di voce perchè non vuole rinunciare dal tutto alla parte umana del suo programma, per far capire a Chell che la sua scelta di liberarla sia frutto solo di logica e non di sentimenti umani per cui Chell potrebbe cambiare idea e restare con GLaDOS per non lasciarla sola , di non cambiare idea cancellando i file della memoria di Caroline. --87.5.51.149 16:08, May 15, 2011 (UTC)

Not conjecture?

Where is this referred to as "The Fat Lady Sings"? Is this just a random name? Smelltheashes 23:33, May 17, 2011 (UTC)

I forget if it's mentioned in the article or not, but it's a reference to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_ain%27t_over_till_the_fat_lady_sings

Sangheili1024 23:37, May 17, 2011 (UTC)

We know that. But seriously, 'The Fat Lady Sings'? I liked 'Turret Opera' much better, even though it was nondescript and obvious. ('O Cara Mia' was even better.) E gal 02:58, May 18, 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, "The Fat Lady Sings" seems to be a term in place sincerly because of its opera signifigence, i dont recall seeing it mentioned anywhere, and i think "Turret Opera" better suits it as a description. (Personally i prefer Cara Mia but that has the same issue)Drake3011 10:13, May 18, 2011 (UTC)

I thought it was referred as this in the game files?... Klow 20:01, May 22, 2011 (UTC)

Is it? I'm not sure. I'm not sure where to look, but if you want to confirm this, great. Smelltheashes 20:03, May 22, 2011 (UTC)

I actually can't. And I don't remember where I read this. So we may be wrong. :/ A redirect to a conjecture "Cara Mia" may be better after all. Klow 20:09, May 22, 2011 (UTC)

The filename for the song is ' sp_30_a4_finale5.bik'. Prerendered video file. E gal 13:02, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

Renaming to "Cara Mia"? Y'all agree?... Klow 21:00, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

That or 'Turret Opera'. :) E gal 21:08, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

On a side of note: The song in the Official Portal 2 Website is titled "Cara Mia Addio!", in Portal 2: Songs To Test By - Soundtrack: Volume 3. Source: http://www.thinkwithportals.com/music.php

142.151.145.91 05:07, November 16, 2011 (UTC)

The Space Music

I couldnt help but notice, in the main menu after completion (the wheatly in space egg), the music seems to bear strong resemblence to Cara Mia, but tweaked, can anyone else confirm this? or is it just me? --Drake3011 19:27, May 19, 2011 (UTC)

After listening to both "Space Phase" and "Cara Mia Addio!" closely, I can confirm that at roughly 0:18-0:30 of "Space Phase" (companion cube), it closely resembles to 0:07-0:14 (turret quartet) and 0:48-0:55 (soprano turret) of "Cara Mia Addio!". Cheers. 142.151.145.91 05:22, November 16, 2011 (UTC)

note 1

It looks like two people are arguing on the page at note 1 saying something like: "...however taking into consideration that the song is in Italian, this is probably just a coincidence.It's not a coincidence, "che ella stima" make no sense....". I don't exactly know which one is right so I can't fix it so I wish someone who notice this post can.222.127.223.73 14:26, June 4, 2011 (UTC)

The librettist

It says the librettist is unknown but immediately after says that Ellen McLain made up the lyrics herself, doesn't that make her the librettist? The Light6 15:04, October 7, 2011 (UTC)

Hello, I think that translating "ché la stima" in "that she esteems" is wrong. In fact "ché" in Italian is a contraction of "perché" which means "because". The correct translation in Italian of "that she esteems" is "che la stima" without accent.