napoli in musica – a sonic journey into neapolitan tradition
Concert programme
Part 1 – The Origins
- Canto delle lavandaie del Vomero
- Fenesta vascia
- Michelemmà
- Te voglio bene assaje
A musical genre with very ancient roots, whose renewal continues to this day, classical Neapolitan song is a phenomenon that stretches from the early 19th century to the 1920s, when the so-called golden age came to an end, and continued into the period after the Second World War.
We know relatively little about the origins of Neapolitan song. Much of the knowledge that has come down to us is due to the valuable work of the “Cottrau” family, who, through an important effort of collecting, transcribing and publishing, helped transform a predominantly oral musical tradition into a documented, widely circulated and commercially distributed heritage, laying the foundations for its extraordinary international success.
It is therefore a story made up of legends, populated by the washerwomen of “Vomero”, “li guarracini”, “li turchi” landing at the harbour, “Michelemmà”, “Cicerenella”; by popular villanelle that found their way into royal courts; by tarantellas that evolved from exorcistic rituals into eunuch dances for clueless tourists; and by tammurriate, ignored for centuries until they became a post-punk trend…
Part 2 – The Classical Period
- Funiculì Funiculà
- Era De Maggio
- ‘E Spingule Frangese
- ‘O Sole mio
- ‘O Surdato 'nnammurato
- Guapparia
The golden age of Neapolitan song is generally considered to have begun, as mentioned above, in 1880, when, to promote the funicular railway that carried passengers up Mount Vesuvius, “Giuseppe «Peppino» Turco” and “Luigi Denza” presented the song “Funiculì funiculà” at the Piedigrotta Festival.
Neapolitan song often becomes poetry, as in the case of “Salvatore Di Giacomo”, one of the greatest Italian poets of the 20th century, best known precisely for his songs. “Benito Mussolini”, in a rare moment of clarity, wanted to appoint him senator for life, but his henchmen blocked the proposal, shouting: «”Mergellina” must not enter Parliament». The song “Era de maggio” alone would suffice: more than a century later, “Lucio Dalla” described it as «better than any Beatles song». And then there is “Sergio Bruni”, perhaps the last great guardian of classical Neapolitan song, but also one of its most refined innovators. A voice capable of turning every song into poetry, and a songwriter who, together with “Salvatore Palomba”, gave Naples masterpieces such as “Carmela”, proving that this great tradition was not merely a legacy to be preserved, but a story still waiting to be written. There are, however, far too many authors, poets, composers and performers whose stories deserve to be told. We will therefore simply recall that it was in Naples that song took on a form destined to conquer the world. And that, over the centuries, the whole world has sung and reinterpreted what we now know as the great classics of the Neapolitan tradition. From Frank Sinatra to Pope Wojtyła, from Elvis Presley to Lady Gaga, and even Pearl Jam: artists and public figures from every era, background and musical genre have engaged with this extraordinary heritage. The list is virtually endless, demonstrating how Neapolitan song has crossed every geographical, linguistic and cultural boundary to become a universal language.
Part 3 – The Transition to the Modern Era, from Carosone to the Present Day
- Guaglione
- Tu vuò fà l'americano
- Anema e core
- Carmela
- Napul'è
- Cu’mme
- Vasame
Wars leave little room for songs, but “cantaNapoli” (the famous exclamation with which every performance by “Renato Carosone” began) survived the wars too, even if it emerged battered. The reasons were more industrial than artistic. Naples, until then the capital of song, began to lose its central role when record companies, radio and television started looking to Rome and Milan as production centres. And yet, once again, post-war Italian music found its starting point here, with the Neapolitan-American “Renato Carosone”, who opened the door to musical cross-pollination and brought together melody and rhythm, irony and poetry, Vesuvius and Brooklyn, nights in Posillipo and in Tunisia. “Renato Carosone” paved the way for musical cross-pollination; “Peppino Di Capri” took up the baton, followed by “Pino Daniele” and the extraordinary era of “Neapolitan Power”, with “James Senese” and many other leading figures. This journey continued with the “Almamegretta”, “i 99 Posse” and, more recently, “Liberato”, the “Nu Genea”, “La Niña” and many other artists who continue to blend languages, genres and cultures, reinventing Neapolitan music without ever losing its identity.
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