Unique Italian Music

A couple of times I have come across documentaries in my Italophilic state that have introduced me to the Zampogna, (for those not familiar with it, it is similar to the bagpipes and is a southern Italian phenomenon). It stirs something in my Celtic blood, I grew up attending Scottish society dances through my Father and Uncles passion for the bagpipes and to this day am moved deeply hearing a solid Scotland the Brave being played at a deafening pitch. Italy holds a Zampogna festival in Scapoli each year.

Since starting my Italian lessons and attempting to glean a bit more lingo from reading local Italian news, I came across Giuseppe Mango due to his untimely death in December last year. I am now completely besotted with his beautiful 70s and 80s ballads, sung in a lot of cases, slowly enough for me to attempt to hear the words and translate. I am treating it as educational but it transports me to Italy every time. My husband calls it canned spaghetti.

 

Then there’s the Italian music that is played to tourists. I mean the Dean martin songs, the Moonstruck songs. The ones that we have all heard of and that might move us to tip generously in a Trattoria across the piazza from Il Duomo.

 

And lastly, Il Volo (the flight) is a contemporary group taking the Italian hit charts by storm, this clip has had nearly 36 million views, they are young and they are… operatic, comprising 2 tenors and a baritone, only in Italy.