Greatest Hits [Enhanced][Extra tracks][Import] Review

Nobody ever outpointed Carlo Buti in these Italian pop standards. The best of the songs on this CD---Firenze Sogna, Chitarra Romana, Reginella Campagnola, Violino Tzigano, La Romanina---are heard here in performances not likely to be surpassed. And the other, more ephemeral selections are here ennobled by Buti's performances.

Today's listeners might have some difficulty with the rigid beat and dated orchestral accompaniments on these selections---but they will have no difficulty whatsoever with the sound of Buti's voice, which remains unique nearly half a century after his death. Probably the best selectionof all is "Primo Amore", with words and music by Buti and sung to his own guitar accompaniment. Here, for once, we get to hear his voice without the semi-distracting 1930s dance-music orchestral background heard on the other selections. If "Primo Amore" is the only song you listen to on this CD, you've still bought yourself a bargain. Once heard, Buti's "Primo Amore" cannot be forgotten.

Essentially a light lyric tenor with a sweet, smallish, very beautiful sound, an incredible half-voice, and a more-than-adequate technique, Buti was a master of "fioritura": A vocal technique calling for the singer to embellish the vocal line. "Vocal embroidery" is a good descriptor for this technique---but you have to hear Buti for yourself to see how seamlessly and naturally he makes this traditional technique work in pop material.
You will hear no vocal embroidery, though, in the last selection on the CD: "Luna Malinconia", none other than Richard Rogers's "Blue Moon", here sung in the most immaculate Italian you'll ever hear from a pop star. This is a "Blue Moon" that one hopes Rogers himself heard.

There are no Neapolitan pop classics on this CD. Buti tended to prefer standard songs of the day, often bypassing the Neapolitan songs so successfully purveyed by the great Italian tenors Caruso and Gigli. Buti never had that kind of voice, never had that training, never commanded the huge sound those great artists had. He was wise enough to sing to his strengths, leaving the more heroic material to his opera-oriented colleagues. The wisdom of his decision is evident on this CD.

From the mid-1930s until midway into the 1950s Carlo Buti was the leading pop singer in Italy, with an immense following in the Italian-speaking communities in the United States as well. For today's listeners, those with patience and some understanding of the evolution of pop styles, this CD will provide great pleasure.

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