Vito Pallavicini playlist

Vito Pallavicini

There is a lot of talk about the fact that Azzurro is one of those songs in which the Italians identify themselves the most, and its composer, Paolo Conte, is always praised. But people almost never remember who wrote the lyrics to that song, namely Vito Pallavicini (1924- 2007), who was one of the greatest songwriters in the history of Italian song.

He began writing at the age of 25, garnering immediate success with Amorevole, which was then promptly replicated with Ghiaccio bollente and Le mille bolle blu, one of his many participations in the Sanremo Festival. Pallavicini was passionately devoted to re-working the great foreign hits in Italian, even tackling the Beatles, whose From Me To You became Cambia tattica for Ricky Gianco, and songs by Françoise Hardy, Petula Clark, and Richard Anthony.

In addition to the popularity of the singers with whom he worked, there was his dry style, with unpredictable flashes, such as "le mille bolle blu che danzano su grappoli di nuvole” or “il treno dei desideri nei miei pensieri all’incontrario va."

His successful and lasting partnership with Pino Donaggio was full of hits, as well as the one for brothers Paolo and Giorgio Conte.

He worked very hard to introduce and make them known in the recording world. For the first, besides Azzurro, he wrote the intense Insieme a te non ci sto più (among their many collaborations) and for the second, in the long series of four-handed compositions, Non sono Maddalena stands out, revealing to the general public the voice of Rosanna Fratello. His last major hit was at the Sanremo Festival in 1987, when Al Bano and Romina Power placed third with Nostalgia canaglia, twenty years after the first collaboration with the Apulian singer who in 1967 had topped the charts with Nel sole, thanks also to perfect lyrics and a perfect fit with the exuberant singing style of Cellino San Marco.