era de maggio playlist

The month of may

A ‘seasonal’ playlist that exalts the month most eulogized by poets. The month of flowers boasts a very high quality repertoire, especially among classic Neapolitan songs, starting with the motif that lends the collection its title: a composition by Salvatore Di Giacomo set to music by Pasquale Mario Costa in 1885 and recorded by hundreds of interpreters. Here are the very first, tenors (Lomanto) and crooners (Murolo) who set an undeniable expressive standard for later variations performed by Mina, Pavarotti, Battiato and many others. The same applies to ‘Na sera ‘e maggio, belonging to the second golden season of the Neapolitan song, written by the Pisano-Cioffi duo. Here you can compare the original by Vittorio Parisi, who premiered the song during the Piedigrotta of 1938, with two versions recorded by the two major tenors of the time, Gigli and Schipa. While the nineteenth-century motif contains a topos destined to become a classic of the seaside song (love blossoms in the most carefree season and returns the following year right on time), the other is instead a song of desperation because a love born in May does not return.