Italian recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician and actor
Lucio Dalla
|
---|
Dalla in 2008
|
Born
| (
1943-03-04
)
4 March 1943
|
---|
Died
| 1 March 2012
(2012-03-01)
(aged 68)
|
---|
Resting place
| Bologna, Italy
|
---|
Occupations
|
- Singer-songwriter
- musician
|
---|
Years active
| 1966?2012
|
---|
Notable work
|
- "Caruso"
- "Attenti al lupo"
- "Balla balla ballerino"
- "Il parco della luna"
- "Lunedi"
- "L'ultima luna"
|
---|
Style
| |
---|
Website
| luciodalla
.it
|
---|
|
|
Lucio Dalla
OMRI
(
Italian pronunciation:
[?luːt?o
?dalla]
; 4 March 1943 ? 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played
clarinet
and keyboards.
Dalla was the composer of "
Caruso
" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor
Enrico Caruso
, and "L'anno che verra" (1979).
[1]
Beginnings
Dalla was born in
Bologna
, Italy. He began to play the
clarinet
at an early age, in a
jazz
band in
Bologna
, and became a member of a local jazz band called Rheno Dixieland Band, together with future film director
Pupi Avati
. Avati said that he decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by Dalla's talent. He also acknowledged that his film,
Ma quando arrivano le ragazze?
(2005), was inspired by his friendship with Dalla.
[2]
In the 1960s the band participated in the first Jazz Festival at
Antibes
, France. The Rheno Dixieland Band won the first prize in the
traditional
jazz band category and was noticed by a
Roman
band called Second Roman New Orleans Jazz Band, with whom Dalla recorded his first record in 1961 and had the first contacts with
RCA records
, his future music publisher.
[
citation needed
]
Singer-songwriter
Gino Paoli
hearing Dalla's vocal qualities, suggested that he attempt a soloist career as a soul singer. However, Dalla's debut at the
Cantagiro
music festival in 1965 was not successful probably due to both his physical appearance as well as his music, which was considered too experimental for the time. His first single, a rendition in Italian of the American traditional standard "
Careless Love
" was a failure, as it was his first album,
1999
, that was released the following year. His next album,
Terra di Gaibola
(from the name of a
suburb
of Bologna), was released in 1970 and contained some early Dalla classics. His first hit was "
4/3/1943
", which achieved some success due to the
Sanremo Festival
. The original title of the song was supposed to be "Gesu bambino", however in those years there was still stiff censorial control over the content of songs, and the title was changed to Dalla's birth date.
[3]
With Roberto Roversi
Dalla's recording debut as a soloist took place in 1964, with the release of the 45
rpm
-single "Lei (non e per me)" (B-side: "Ma questa sera"). In the 1970s, Dalla started a collaboration with the Bolognese poet
Roberto Roversi
. Roversi wrote the lyrics to Dalla's next three albums
Il giorno aveva cinque teste
(
The Day Had Five Heads
) (1973),
Anidride solforosa
(
Sulphur dioxide
) (1975) and
Automobili
(
Automobiles
) (1976).
Although these albums did not sell in large numbers, they were noted by critics for the unusual mix of Roversi's lyrics with Dalla's improvisations, along with the latter's sometimes experimental twists and composition abilities. The duo had already broken up by the time the concept album
Automobili
was released. Roversi, who had been against the album's release, chose the pseudonym "Norisso" when it was time to register the songs. The album, however, included one of Dalla's most popular songs, "Nuvolari", named after the famous 1930s Italian racer.
[4]
Solo career
Affected by the end of the collaboration, Dalla decided to write the lyrics of his next albums himself. The first album of this new phase was
Com'e profondo il mare
(1977), in which Dalla was accompanied by members of future pop band Stadio.
In 1979, his popularity was confirmed by the success of the
Banana Republic
album and the first of two self-titled albums,
Lucio Dalla
, followed by
Dalla
in 1980.
The song "
Caruso
", released in 1986, has been covered by numerous international artists such as
Luciano Pavarotti
and
Julio Iglesias
. The version sung by Pavarotti sold over 9 million copies, and another version was a track on
Andrea Bocelli
's first international album,
Romanza
, which sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
[5]
Maynard Ferguson
also covered the song on his album "Brass Attitude", after having previously paid tribute to Caruso with his rendition of "
Vesti la giubba
" (titled as "Pagliacci") on the album
Primal Scream
.
[6]
The 1990 hit single "Attenti al lupo" gave Dalla wider success in Europe. He was invited to duet on
Pavarotti and friends
, singing his hit "Caruso" with Pavarotti.
[7]
In 2010, Dalla came back to work with
Francesco De Gregori
during the "Work in Progress" tour and album. Dalla's main influences were to be found in
jazz
, but his songs ranged from
folk
("Attenti al lupo") and pop ("Lunedi"), from Italian singer-songwriters (the albums from
Com'e profondo il mare
to
Dalla
) to classical and opera ("Caruso").
[8]
Discography
Dalla's discography includes twenty-two studio albums for the Italian market, a
Qdisc
[
it
]
, nine live albums, various collections and several albums for the foreign market. Here is the list of Lucio Dalla albums:
- 1999
(1966)
- Terra di Gaibola
(1970)
- Storie di casa mia
(1970)
- Il giorno aveva cinque teste
(1973)
- Anidride solforosa
(1975)
- Automobili
(1976)
- 4 Marzo 1943
(1976)
- Com'e profondo il mare
(1977)
- Lucio Dalla
(1979)
- Quel fenomeno di Lucio Dalla
(1979)
- Banana Republic
(1979, with
Francesco De Gregori
and
Rosalino Cellamare
)
- Dalla
(1980)
- Lucio Dalla (Q Disc)
(1981)
- Torino, Milano e dintorni
(1981)
- Gli anni Settanta
(1981)
- 1983
(1983)
- L'album di Lucio Dalla
(1983)
- Viaggi organizzati
(1984)
- Bugie
(1985)
- The best of Lucio Dalla
(1985)
- DallameriCaruso
(1986)
- Dalla/Morandi
(1988)
- Cambio
(1990)
- Il motore del 2000
(1990)
- Il primo Lucio Dalla
(1990)
- Amen
(1992)
- Henna
(1993)
- Maria Farantouri
sings Lucio Dalla
(1995)
- Le origini
(1996)
- Canzoni
(1996)
- Ciao
(1999)
- Luna Matana
(2001)
- Live@RTSI ? 20 dicembre 1978
(2001)
- Dal vivo ? Bologna 2 settembre 1974
(2001)
- Caro amico ti scrivo... (Best of)
(2002)
- Tosca. Amore disperato
(2003)
- Lucio
(2003)
- 12000 Lune (Best of/Box Set)
(2003)
- Il contrario di me
(2007)
- Angoli nel cielo
(2010)
- Questo e amore
(2011)
Filmography
Dalla featured as an actor in seventeen films and was musical director for seventeen others. This is a list of DVDs of music concerts.
- Live@RTSI ? 20 dicembre 1978
(2001)
- Retrospettiva
(2003)
- In concerto
(2004)
- Banana Republic
(2006)
- Tu Non Basti Mai
(2009)
Personal life
Dalla was outed as gay after his funeral, at which his longterm associate (and, likely, domestic partner) Marco Alemanno, with whom he had shared a house, spoke; he had not publicly acknowledged this during his life, saying in a 1979 interview "Non mi sento omosessuale" ("I do not feel gay").
[9]
[10]
[11]
This outing sparked debate about Italian society's attitudes towards homosexuality.
[12]
Dalla was openly leftist and also a practicing Roman Catholic.
[13]
Honors
Death
On the morning of 1 March 2012, three days before his 69th birthday, Dalla died of a heart attack, shortly after having breakfast at the hotel where he was staying in
Montreux
,
Switzerland
, having performed in the city the night before. He was in the company of Marco Alemanno when he died.
[16]
[17]
An estimated 50,000 people attended his funeral in
Bologna
.
[18]
Dalla's 1986 song "
Caruso
", dedicated to Italian
tenor
Enrico Caruso
, entered the Italian Singles Chart after his creator's death, peaking at number two for two consecutive weeks.
[19]
The single was also certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.
[20]
References
- ^
Analysys of the text
- ^
La Stampa, "Pupi Avati "L'amicizia con Dalla l'ho girata in un film"
Archived
5 March 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Lucio Dalla, canzoni camaleontiche tra jazz, Caruso e Gesu Bambino"
. repubblica.it. March 2012
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
- ^
"Nuvolari"
. Italica.rai.it. Archived from
the original
on 8 December 2013
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
- ^
Crossover superstar Andrea Bocelli finds beauty in wide range of music
The Columbus Dispatch
, 27 November 2011.
- ^
Maynard Ferguson, "Primal Scream", CD (Columbia Records, 1976)
- ^
"Luciano Pavarotti & Lucio Dalla"
. Youtube. 18 December 2009.
Archived
from the original on 21 December 2021
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
- ^
Frances D'Emilio (1 March 2012).
"Lucio Dalla Dead: Italian Singer-Songwriter Dies At 68"
. Huffingtonpost.com
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
- ^
"Le polemiche su Lucio Dalla sono una vendetta dei gay"
. La Repubblica. 5 March 2012
. Retrieved
21 January
2014
.
- ^
"Dalla confesso: non-mi sento omosessuale"
. La Stampa. 6 March 2012
. Retrieved
21 January
2014
.
- ^
"Lucio Dalla gay, ma quale ipocrisia? Era solo una persona riservata", parola di Alfonso Signorini"
. 5 March 2012. Archived from
the original
on 1 February 2014
. Retrieved
21 January
2014
.
- ^
"Death of singer Lucio Dalla sparks Italy gay debate"
. Bbc.co.uk. 5 March 2012
. Retrieved
29 February
2016
.
- ^
Olivieri, Maria Teresa (28 February 2022).
"
"Religiosamente creativo". Bobo Craxi racconta Lucio Dalla"
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
29 July
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Website of the Quirinale decorated detail"
. Archived from
the original
on 5 January 2016
. Retrieved
29 February
2016
.
- ^
"Lucio Dalla, una laurea anche per lui"
.
Rockol.it
. Retrieved
29 December
2012
.
- ^
Enrico Gurioli (9 March 2012).
"Lucio Dalla's muted homosexuality"
.
Times of Malta
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
- ^
D'emilio, Frances (7 September 2012).
"Lucio Dalla Dead: Italian Singer-songwriter Dies at 68"
.
The Huffington Post
. Retrieved
7 September
2012
.
- ^
Manca, Paola Benedetta (4 March 2012).
"In 50,000 in Piazza: Lacrime e Applausi per Il Funerale di Dalla"
.
Donne sul Web
(in Italian). Rome
. Retrieved
7 September
2012
.
- ^
Steffen Hung.
"Lucio Dalla ? Caruso"
. italiancharts.com
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
- ^
"FIMI ? Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana ? Certificazioni"
. Fimi.it. Archived from
the original
on 6 October 2014
. Retrieved
4 August
2013
.
Awards for Lucio Dalla
|
---|
|
---|
1947?1960
| |
---|
1961?1980
| |
---|
1981?2000
| |
---|
2001?present
| |
---|
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|