Un’estate di tanto tempo fa playlist

A SUMMER LONG AGO

Fox-trots, one steps, slow fox-trots and exotic rhythms performed by famous orchestras in the years between the two wars, make up a collection that anticipates the explosion of the 1960s seaside song. Invariably, the theme is again love, by the seashore, on the blue sea, in the seaside towns (Sorrento) and on the beach, according to the conventions of the time which demanded grace, discretion, and elegance: expressions of a middle-class sensibility, the class to which the song spoke. The dance floor and the growing seaside culture, so effectively represented by the Neapolitan theater of the 1920s and 1930s, provide the backdrop to the postcard romanticism that shines from within these songs. For the most part, the singers are trained, tenors and sopranos that made much of Italy dream before the microphone changed the dominant register in the performances and public tastes. The only exception is the piece by Natalino Otto, an ante-litteram crooner, in a song from the soundtrack of Summertime (1955) - set in Venice, with Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi - while Daniele Serra's verve bears witness to the popularity of the humorous song.