Great italian singers of the 30's and 40's

[Vince Bellini]

In my quest to find recordings of Italian popular singers of the 30's and
40's, I came across the following list on an Italian web site. Anybody know
where I might dig up recordings of these folks?

Alberto Rabagliati, Vittorio Belleli, Luciana Dolliver, il Trio Lescano,
Carlo Buti, Milly, Vittorio de Sica, Odoardo Spadaro, Nuccia Natali, Aldo
Masseglia, Natalino Otto, Ernesto Bonino, Otello Boccaccini, Maria Jottini,
Norma Bruni, Lina Termini, Isa Bellini, Dea Garbaccio, Silvana Fioresi,
Gilberto Mazzi, Alfredo Clerici, Michele Montanari, Aldo Doną, Oscar
Carboni, Luciano Tajoli.

And yes, there is an r.m.o connection: Tagliavini, Di Stefano, Schipa and
Bechi (and maybe others) also recorded a fair amount of popular stuff.
Crossers over decades ago..

Thanks for any tips!

[Mike Richter]

These were hardly 'crossovers'. Many of Tosti's songs were written for
de Lucia, for example. The distinctions we draw today among opera,
operetta and popular music did not really apply before the microphone.
When singers in other forms had to be heard without amplification, they
had to know how to sing; thus, it's no surprise that the Ponzillo
Sisters are better known now as Carmela and Rosa Ponselle and that
all-star casts sang operetta, zarzuela and popular songs.

As for tips: avoid Tagliavini's popular songs like the plague; latch
onto all the Schipa and di Stefano you can find (even late di Stefano is
delightful in this material). Apparently, I am one of few who cares for
Bechi's way with this material, though many share my enthusiasm for
Gobbi's (unfortunately, he did not record much of it).

Mike

Vince Bellini wrote:

> And yes, there is an r.m.o connection: Tagliavini, Di Stefano, Schipa and
> Bechi (and maybe others) also recorded a fair amount of popular stuff.
> Crossers over decades ago..

mric...@cpl.net
http://mrichter.simplenet.com
CD-R http://resource.simplenet.com

[Richard Kummins]

The only one on your list I know, besides the operatic artists, is Carlo
Buti - this guy was as popular in Italy as Frank Sinatra was here, and with
good reason - he put his whole soul in to every song, and had great command
of his voice. He had almost a cantorial technique. I still look out for his
recordings.

I have the following LP's of Italian songs:
Capitol T10347
Columbia 14913F (10 inch)
Columbia CL6229 (10 inch)
Peters PLD4231 (on tape)
Phonotype AZQ40043 (on tape)

Neapolitan songs - Phonotype AZQ40025 (on tape)

Nostalgico show - Fiesta FLPS 1883 (on tape)

Let me know if you need details on any of these. I can provide tape copies,
trade only.

Regards,

Richard