SONGS OF SANREMO AT CASA ITALIANA
This year’s Columbus Day program, directed by AMHS Board Member Maestro Cav. Bruno Fusco, is featuring “Le Più Famose Canzoni di Sanremo. 1951-2014.” The fundraiser for Holy Rosary Church will take place on Saturday evening at 7 p.m., October 18, 2014, at 7 p.m at Casa Italiana.
The evening includes a dinner provided by Il Canale of Georgetown and features a program of some of the famous Sanremo songs such as “Grazie dei fiori” and “Chiamami ancora amore.” The program will be hosted by Rosalia Acampora and the performers will include Holy Rosary Choir Director Maria Marigliano, Marco Fiorante, Pasquale DePandi and his band, and Vincenzo Cantiello (from the popular Italian TV show “Ti lascio una canzone.”) During the evening, Maestro Fusco will announce the winners of the awards for the Premio Internazionale delle Arti, the Premio Internazionale dell’Artigianato and the Premio Internazionale della Cultura. For those who are not familiar with the “Songs of Sanremo,” the city of Sanremo is world-famous for its annual Sanremo Music Festival.
The city itself is located on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria, near Monaco and near Ventimiglia, close to the French border, and has a population of around 57,000. Sanremo was founded in Roman times and was once part of the kingdom of Sardinia. Nowadays it is a popular tourist destination on the Italian Riviera also known for the Milan-Sanremo cycling classic, and it has also been called the city where the card game of the five-card stud variant telesina originated. Sanremo also hosts an annual poker tournament as part of the European Poker Tour.
Sanremo is known as the City of Flowers (la Città dei Fiori) with an international flower market being another important part of the economy. Famous people who stayed in Sanremo include Czar Nicholar II of Russia; Empress Elisabeth of Austria; Italian writer Italo Calvino; Sicilian playwright Luigi Pirandello, who became artistic director of its Casinò; Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who died in Sanremo in 1926; Mohammed Ali Shah Qajar, the Shah of Persia, who also died in Sanremo in 1925;
Alex Liddi, who was born in Sanremo and became the first Italian-born U.S. Major League Baseball player, in 2011 with the Seattle Mariners; and Alfred Nobel, who owned a villa in Sanremo and died there in 1896. Sanremo continues to maintain its ties with Nobel long after his death. Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death, large quantities of flowers are sent to Stockholm to adorn the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony. So this is the city that produced the world-famous Sanremo Music Festival (“Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo”).
The festival began in 1951 and was broadcast on the radio with only two participants. From 1951 to 1976, it took place in the Sanremo Casinò, but then from 1977 on, it was almost always held in the Teatro Ariston. In the early years, each song was sung twice, by two different artists; and during this era, it was custom that one version of the song was performed by an Italian singer while the other version was performed by an international singer.
The American singers who performed in these early years included Connie Francis, Pat Boone, Dionne Warwick, Louis Armstrong, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder and Jose Feliciano. The festival launched the careers of many famous Italian singers such as Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti and Gigliola Cinquetti. If you have seen the movie “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” you may remember that the Matt Damon character was invited to travel to the Sanremo Music Festival to enjoy some jazz. With this fascinating history, the program on “Le Più Famose Canzoni di Sanremo” is sure to be a treat!! Tickets are now on sale, $45 for adults and $30 for children under 14. Please get your tickets early!! Tickets will not be sold at the door. For further information, please call (301) 654-5218.