Famous Italian Music

There are some Italian songs and artists over the years that have achieved world wide recognition.  Here is a little history of some of these classics!

Nel blu dipinto di blue (Volare) - Domenico Mudugno	On January 31 1958, during the 8th Sanremo Music Festival, an obscure actor from a tiny village in Puglia walked onto the stage, and holding his arms wide open, sang in front of an enthusiastic audience "Volare, oh, oh.... Cantare, oh, oh, oh, oh!".  His name was Domenico Modugno, but from that moment he was known as "Mr Volare" and that song quickly became a global success.  The real name of the song is actually Nel blu dipinto di blu ("In the blue, painted in blue"). The international success of Volare, which sold more than 25 million copies, was a unique phenomenon and no Italian singer after Modugno has ever enjoyed such success.  In the United States, the song was number one on the charts for 13 weeks and became an everlasting symbol of Italian popular culture.
Opera - Enrico Caruso	Enrico Caruso was born in Naples in 1873.  In 1891, a professional baritone heard him singing on a rotunda at the pier and insisted on taking him to his own voice teacher for lessons.  Caruso made his professional debut in Naples in 1895 and two years later auditioned for Puccini himself for a performance of La bohème.  On that occasion the composer is reported to have said to him, "Who sent you to me? God himself?"  His interpretation of Rodolfo in Puccini's masterpiece marked the beginning of a great international career.  In 1898 he made his debut at the Met, in New York, where he sang for the next 18 seasons, appearing on 607 occasions in 37 different operas.  At the height of his career, Caruso fell badly ill with bronchial pneumonia, which later developed into chronic pleurisy.  He was only 48 when he died in his native Naples on the 2nd of August 1921.
La Canzone napoletana	Naples has always played a part in the history of western European music.  The region is most famous for songs written in Neopolitan during the 1800s including songs such as O sole mio, Torna a Surriento and Funiculi funicula.  Around about 1830, canzone napoletana was a formalised institution, centred around the Festival of Piedigrotta, an annual song writing competition.