Search - Nicola Di Bari :: Serie Platino

An international hit maker

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 12/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nicola Di Bari's smoky, gravelly voice was a familiar sound in the '60s and '70s, and his music has weathered well; marvelously melodic, these songs are classics, and performed with excellent musicianship throughout. My favorite track is the exquisite song by the Argentinian folk/pop singer/songwriter Piero, "Pedro Nadie", and it is surprising, but Nicola's rendition of it may actually be better than Piero's, something that as an ardent Piero fan I almost hate to admit. Five of the songs were written by Di Bari, and most translated into Spanish, as Nicola had a huge following in Latin America and was equally comfortable singing in either language. "Io e te Maria" and "Picolla Donna" are sung in Italian, and "Il cuore e' uno zingaro" ("El corazon es un gitano"), "Il giorni del Arcobaleno" ("Los dias del Arco Iris"), "Como le Viole" ("Como Violetas") and Chitarra suona piu piano" ("Guitarra suena mas bajo") are sung first in Spanish and then repeated in the last tracks in their original versions.Di Bari had his first big hit in 1964, and won First Prize in the illustrious San Remo Festival twice, with "Cuore e un zingaro" in '71, and "Il giorni del Arcobaleno" in '72, and continued to have much success into the '80s. A unique singer /songwriter, his music endures, and is always a pleasure to listen to. In this excellent compilation the sound is quite good considering the age of the recordings, and the total time 70'22."