One of the joys of my travels is the fact that I can easy find local music, that I would not find elsewhere. Unfortunately CD shops are slowly disappearing but occasionally good luck serves me still so in Italy I stumbled upon 3Cd compilation of Claudio Villa - it was sold on news agent kiosk together with other packages on offer (movies,magazines, shampoos and tampons) which shows how people perceive music these days - back to Claudio Villa,he was one of the brightest and most important names in italian music of 1950s and 1960s, true representative of schooled Bel Canto singing. I opened this package and listened in amazement, what a voice! - it must be one of the prettiest man's voices ever - Villa was tenor with a beautiful sound who obviously loved singing and it shows in his music, one romantic ballad after another (peppered with occasional Neapolitan or classical piece), I can't believe that italians are offering this stunning compilation for nothing on a news agent kiosk! First two CDs are covering 1950s and 1960s when Claudio Villa was king of San Remo festival, Cd nr.3 covers 1970s when he was still powerful voiced but slightly nostalgic older veteran who sang and recorded pre-WW2 repertoire like "Chitarra Romana" and "Funiculì Funiculá" - in my opinion Claudio Villa is GOD.
Another local singer I really listen carefully these days is Ornella Vanoni. Together with Mina and Milva,Vanoni is remembered as one of the biggest female stars of 1960s, however her style is quite different from other ladies as she does not belt but gently croons and sounds a bit detached. I have discovered her very first LP album from 1961. that absolutely fascinates me because it shows her in completely different light - more like actress she was at the beginning of the career - music is theatrical and arrangements done by great Ennio Morricone so everything sounds like some mad cinema music with lots of special effects in the background and Vanoni herself is actually passionate and very involved here. This first album of her must be my favorite Vanoni album.
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