Ornella Vanoni

The third in line of now-legendary italian singers of 1960s is Ornella Vanoni.

Vanoni is the oldest of them - and she started in theatre, performing Brecht and recording unusual repertoire of songs about crime,mafia and such (they call her "underworld singer" back than) which is still my favorite period of her career. These very early recordings are highly theatrical, almost cinematic little dramas where she was backed by none other than future cinema maestro Ennio Morricone, singing strange songs about prisons, police siren echoing around the streets, seedy side of life with prostitutes and pimps, brutality and reality that other singers usually skip. Her young voice was strong, full and throaty, booming from a stage like a waterfall.

Some time in 1960s Vanoni changed her music approach - her voice changed into a gentle croon, material focused on love ballads like "Senza fine" and off she went onto pop festivals, competing with Mina and Milva but there was always something intellectual about her. Even if the singles were sometimes poppy and bouncy, albums were serious affairs - she called one "Ai Miei Amici Cantautori" (My friends songwriters) and covered Jacques Brel, Gino Paoli, Charles Aznavour and Gilbert Bécaud. I particularly love the way she sings covers, because Vanoni has such incredibly beautiful, liquid voice that often brings this material into a new sphere - her cover of "Bridge over troubled water" or "Killing me softly" are perfect example of the way she spreads her own magic dust onto well-known repertoire, often sounding much more interesting than english speaking artists. 

Than there is Brazil. Vanoni always had affinity for music from Brazil and in fact one of her biggest 1960s hits was "Tristezza" that pointed at the well she would explore often. There was a huge hit "L'Appuntamento" that also had Brazilian origin (decades later used in a movie "Ocean's twelve") and finally a whole album "La voglia, la pazzia, l'incoscienza e l'allegria" where she collaborated with top composers from Brazil. Her tender croon is also well known in late-night jazz ballads and Vanoni had lot of autumnal, reflective songs in her repertoire.

Today there are still a lot of original Ornella Vanoni albums re-issued on CDs and they are easy to find in music shops. She has a very distinctive & recognizable voice that is best described as a soft whispery croon as she rarely goes for kill and usually stays calm and collected in her tenderness. One of the singers on my ships told me she could listen to Ornella Vanoni all day long and I understand her perfectly because its very soothing voice with a nice,intelligent poetic lyrics and pretty melodic music. Like with so many other artists, I am not completely swept away with her work from 1980s onwards because I dislike plastic synthesizer- arrangements and re-recordings of old songs in new production. For me, the best Ornella is 1960s and 1970s one when real people played instead of machines. Check any of her beautiful albums from 1970s and that is the best possible introduction to this artist.