"Napule è" ('Naples is') is an Italian song composed and performed by Pino Daniele. It is considered the signature song of Daniele.[2][3]
Background
The song was composed by Daniele in 1973, when he was 18 years old.[1][4] Daniele initially considered to have it performed by Peppino di Capri.[2] Along with its B-side "'Na tazzulella 'e cafè" and "Cammina Cammina", the song was a last-minute addition to his debut album Terra mia.[2]
Recording and release
After listening to the song's audition, producers and label decided the song deserved a more rich, orchestral arrangement than the lo-fi arrangements of the other songs of the album, and the task was entrusted to Antonio Sinagra, a Naples Conservatory professor who was fresh from the arrangements for Roberto De Simone's musical La Gatta Cenerentola.[2] Sinagra also composed the oboes and mandolins intro.[2][4] Jazz musician Amedeo Tommasi played the piano, but asked to be credited as Amedeo Forte.[2] The single was eventually chosen as leading song of the album, and premiered in a show of the private radio Capitale Eurosound.[4] Daniele performed it in an episode of the RAI musical show Senza Rete.[2]
Reception
The song has been described as a 'jewel [...], one of the most striking, poetic and realistic portraits of Naples',[5] and as 'regenerating lymph for the new Neapolitan song, the manifesto of a generation's hopes and disillusions'.[4]
