O Sole Mio: Favorite Neapolitan Songs

Eduardo di Capua (Composer), Paolo Tosti (Composer), Enrico Cannio (Composer), Salvatore Gambardella (Composer), Anonymous (Composer), Ernesto de Curtis (Composer), Gaetano Errico Pennino (Composer), Annibale Padovano (Composer), Ernesto Tagliaferri (Composer), Luigi Denza (Composer), Giancarlo Chiaramello (Conductor), Anton Guadagno (Conductor), National Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Theater Orchestra (Orchestra), Luciano Pavarotti (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Luciano Pavarotti
• Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra, Theater Orchestra
• Conductor: Giancarlo Chiaramello, Anton Guadagno
• Composer: Eduardo di Capua, Paolo Tosti, Enrico Cannio, Salvatore Gambardella, Anonymous, et al.
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: London/ Decca
• ASIN: B0000041OO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,373 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #30 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > M to P

Editorial Reviews

PAVAROTTI LUCIANO O SOLE MIO

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thoroughly Enjoyable, Tastefully Produced Delight, March 15, 2001

By 

Don Hoyt (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: O Sole Mio: Favorite Neapolitan Songs (Audio CD)

Even people who care nothing for opera will be won over by the graceful performances of popular Neapolitan songs on this disk. Many of the tunes, from the title O Sole Mio to Funiculi Funicula, are part of even non-Italian-descent American culture, and they are all sung with an easy grace and charm and gusto. It is easy to forget (!!) that Pavarotti is an international opera star when listening to this disk; he sounds so natural it's almost as if a good friend (who happens to have a magnificent voice) were entertaining you after a few glasses of chianti. By comparison, Mario Lanza's renditions of these songs sound artificial and mannered. The orchestrations are excellent, too. Pointed, lively, and well balanced with the soloist. This is an album recorded in Pavarotti's prime, in the 1970's, before he became one of "The Three Tenors."

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent voice, but not the best in Neapolitan song, September 8, 2007

By 

Sabad One - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: O Sole Mio: Favorite Neapolitan Songs (Audio CD)

The world will miss Luciano Pavarotti, truly one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. This is a nice collection of songs that will easily remind you why he was so popular.

But, Luciano was from Modena, not from Naples, and anyone who knows Italian dialects and accents will find something somewhat "fake-sounding" in these songs. This is not Pavarotti's fault, of course. Accents are extremely hard to mimic. If you are not Italian and you like Neapolitan songs, chances are you will love this compilation. But if you are looking for a true marvelous Neapolitan singer performing traditional Neapolitan songs, my advice to you is to go for Sergio Bruni. Bruni's voice is not as outstanding, but his songs are equally marvelous and ring so much more true.

If you want to hear the "true" Pavarotti, listen, for instance, to his 70s and 80s recordings of Puccini's arias, when he really was at his peak. Then you will see, in case you need reminding, why Luciano Pavarotti made this a better world, and we should all be thankful for what he has left us.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, January 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: O Sole Mio: Favorite Neapolitan Songs (Audio CD)

Absolutely incredible. Pavarotti is breathtaking!! As he performs these Italian classic favorites he draws the listener in.. allowing them to feel the emotion that he feels with each note.