Guardando la Luna playlist

Looking at the moon

The moon has always exerted a special charm upon humans. In both literature and music, works dedicated to the moon abound, a true embarrassment of riches. For this collection, we therefore decided to provide a range of selections, beginning with opera singers: first, a historical recording by tenor Enrico Caruso from 1913, a rendition of a work by the great Neapolitan poet Vincenzo De Crescenzo entitled ‘Guardanno ‘a luna’, followed by ‘Notte lunare’ by Beniamino Gigli. The playlist then visits the world of operetta, with the classic ‘Fox della luna’ by Virgilio Ranzato, from Il Paese dei Campanelli, here presented in a recording from 1927: this piece offers us the chance to hear one of the most mysterious and fascinating voices of the 1920s, that of soprano Ines Talamo. Also of interest is ‘Mondlied’ (‘Moon song’), with a refrain sung in German and an arrangement that by contrast betrays a clear American imprint; this version dates from 1932, just before Germany fell into the grip of the Nazi regime. And on the theme of hits from the U.S., the version of ‘Blue Moon’ (‘Luna malinconica’) by the Trio Dover is truly unique. This vocal trio was one of many which formed part of the crowded Italian recording scene of the 1930s. And what if the moon isn’t there? This first playlist dedicated to our satellite indeed closes in the darkness of night, illuminated only by the notes of ‘Notte senza luna’, a song that met with success through the rendition by Carlo Buti and Mario Latilla, but which is here presented by the Alberto Semprini orchestra and the voice of the Venetian tenor Rico Bardi, whose real name was Enrico Lombardi..