Various An Evening In Italy - Dining, Dancing And Romancing The Italian Way (CD)

Ever think about how much fun it would be to visit Italy but not really in the mood to leave the comfort of your living room? ‘An Evening in Italy – Dining, Dancing And Romancing The Italian Way' offers the perfect compromise, an atmospheric soundtrack for all three of those tremendously satisfying activities whether you’re sitting pretty in a lovely Venetian café or luxuriating in your own easy chair. 

Naturally, some of the country’s favorite sons are prominently featured -Domenico Modugno with his 1958 classic Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volaré), Renato Carosone, Natalino Otto, Fred Buscaglione, and Rocco Granata, whose Marina was an international hit in 1959. 

Plenty of American stars shine bright on this anthology too: operatically trained tenor Mario Lanza delivers a climactic Ave Maria following the effervescent Lou Monte (translating Merle Travis’ Sixteen Tons into Neapolitan as well as relating the romping tale of Pizza Boy U.S.A.), the eternally suave Dean Martin, Connie Francis, Louis Prima, Elvis Presley (It’s Now Or Never was an updated O Sole Mio), Paul Anka, and Dion, whose Italian-language rendition of Donna The Prima Donna brings him right back to his old ‘hood in the Bronx. 

A few performers you might not expect to encounter on such an ethnically themed collection are here too - Nat ‘King’ Cole, Rosemary Clooney with her festive Mambo Italiano, doo-wopping Norman Fox & The Rob Roys (their jumping Pizza Pie must have enlivened a few New York eateries in 1959), and thundering R&B pianist Camille Howard, who transformed one of Italy’s most beloved themes into her showstopping O Solo Mio Boogie. 

Order up a plate of pasta and a bottle of wine and dig this Italian serenade!