Search - Tito Schipa :: Schipa In Neapolitan Song: Prima Voce

I would like to kiss you

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 12/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Admirers of the incomparable tenor Tito Schipa will not want to be without this CD. No less than 24 Neapolitan songs Schipa recorded between 1925 and 1938 are included. Transfers have been made from clean, faultless 78 originals, some of them very rare. Schipa's voice seems to emerge successfully from the special Nimbus transferring process. The result is 78 minutes of pure Mediterranean magic. True Neapolitans might challenge the word 'pure' in my last sentence. Schipa was not himself a Neapolitan. He came from Lecce in south Italy, and grew up speaking a different dialect. Nevertheless he seems to me to be the ideal presenter of these romantic little songs, most of which start in the minor and then change into the major key. A long-time favourite of mine is his recording of "I' te vurria vasa'", a song by Di Capua. The only other transfer of it, available on CD, derives from a sadly worn copy. Here, it comes up pristine and perfect. The title means 'I would like to kiss you'. The enclosed booklet includes photographs, full details of the recordings, a fine appreciation of the singer by Nigel Douglas, and a brief synopsis of each song."