I was shocked to see so many reviewers attacking the opinions of the person from Milan. It is plain to see that he/she was not saying anything negative about these songs or southern Italians in general. What he/she said is correct, the language on these songs is not textbook-Italian, some of these songs are sung in the ancient dialects of the south - which is exactly why we relate to them so intensely and dearly. Some of the songs are instrumental and some of the songs contain many English lyrics. Many of the songs are not even sung by a native speaker of Italian. Another thing he/she is correct about is that the title of the CD is wrong, it should in fact be Viva L'Italia - but such a title is not representative of the music contained on this CD anyway. This music is primarily going to mean the most to the Italians who grew up in the countries outside of Italy, and the ones who hailed from the Southern regions.

A title in a southern dialect would have been more appropriate, something like: Te Pozzu Cantare or something else alla campagnola like that. Anyway, the CD has many lighthearted moments which are fun and bring a smile, but it also has romantic moments of reflection, which will cause you to look back to a time which has gone forever.


lazy mary   May 19, 2000
 24 out of 25 found this review helpful

i love this cd. it has many of the "classic" italian & sicilian tunes. the only problem is that they are not all in italian...too much english. it also has too many tunes without lyrics. other than than this is a terrific cd. i highly recommend it, especially if you are sicilian/italian. i'm looking for this genre of songs IN ITALIAN LYRICS.


Viva Italia! Festive Italian Classics   December 4, 1999
 24 out of 24 found this review helpful

This CD brings me back to the Brooklyn I knew in the 1950's. Frankie Fanelli's renditions of "Mala Femmena" and "Al Di La" are tremendous. Perry Como's "Anema E Core" is pure liquid velvet! Has anyone even come close to Lou Monte's "Lazy Mary"? Of course not, and Lou's renditions alone are more than worth the cost of the CD. Almost a full hour of joy!


Wow!   August 31, 1999
 16 out of 25 found this review helpful

Great stuff! Regarding that sciocco from Milano, of course the music wouldn't mean much to him. Those of us whose roots sprang from Campania, Calabria and Sicila and took root in the United States over the course of the past hundred twenty years of so appreciate the wonderful traditions of Southern Italy and the music our grandparents brought over and refined in this country. This album is a good representation of what our families listened to and shared with us who were born here of a proud Southern Italian heritage. I do not consider the Northern folks (Milano, Roma, etc.) to be true Italians and therefore not qualified to judge this album. Lingua di Tuscano be damned! Sign me as someone of Calabrese heritage who loves the album and highly recommends it.


Italian music fans   October 27, 2001
 15 out of 16 found this review helpful

We have listened to this CD over and over and love it every time.
We love all the songs. Nobody can sing Lazy Mary like Lou Monte. And all the other vocals are classic. The instrumentals are beautiful. Katie likes to dance to some of the songs. Play this anytime you want to feel like you are in Italy. We highly recommend it.