Toi qui sus le néant

"Tu che le vanità" (French: "Toi qui sus le néant", lit. 'You who knew the emptiness') is an aria for soprano from the first scene of the final act of Verdi's 1867 opera Don Carlo. It was composed to a French text and later translated into Italian, the language in which it is most well known and most often performed. It is sometimes performed in recitals and featured in anthologies for dramatic sopranos. Sopranos also use it as an audition piece, as it displays the singer's high and low registers, forte and pianissimo volumes, legato bel canto singing technique, and several dramatic emotions such as reverence, longing, and resignation.