Neapolitan Postcards The Canzone Napoletana as Transnational Subject Presented in conjunction with the exhibition “ Chist’è New York: The Mark Pezzano Collection of Neapolitan Sheet Music from New York.” The canzone napoletana (Neapolitan song) has been one of the first international popular musics of the modern era, traveling beyond the city of Naples and the borders of Italy. Its success was due largely to Italian emigrants who composed, performed, recorded, sold, and consumed the music in the forms of sheet music, piano rolls, 78 rpm recordings, and performances. Classic songs like “Core ‘ngrato” (1911), “Senza Mamma” (1925) and “A cartulina ‘e Napule” (1927) were composed and introduced in New York City, and a version of the Piedigrotta Neapolitan Song Festival was held in Harlem during the 1920s. During this period, the larger American public was enjoying the Neapolitan song at the same time Italian immigrants were victimized as racialized others. In Argentina, artists adapted Neapolitan melodies to the tango’s rhythms, as did Carlos Gardel with his 1931 hit song “Como se canta en Nápoles.” Over the course of the twentieth century, singers and musicians such as the Andrews Sisters, Charles Aznavour, Count Basie, Elvis Presley, Violeta Rivas, Caetano Veloso, Frank Zappa, and others would record and further disseminate the Neapolitan song internationally. This conference is a unique opportunity to address the relatively unexplored transnational aspects of the Neapolitan song. This conference is sponsored by the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, USA, and the International Centre for Music Studies, Newcastle University, UK, in collaboration with the Archivio Sonoro della Canzone Napoletana, RAI, Italy. CONFERENCE PROGRAM THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009, 6PM John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan (between 5^th and 6^th Avenues) Welcome and Reception ANTHONY JULIAN TAMBURRI John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY JAMES MUYSKENS Queens College, CUNY MAURIZIO ANTONINI Consulate General of Italy in New York JOSEPH SCIORRA John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY GOFFREDO PLASTINO The International Centre for Music Studies, University of Newcastle PAQUITO DEL BOSCO Archivio Sonoro della Canzone Napoletana (RAI) Film Screening Closing Time: Storia di un negozio (2006), 30 min. VERONICA DIAFERIA, director FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2009 CUNY Graduate Center, Elebash Recital Hall, 365 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan (between 34th and 35th Streets) 10-11:30AM THE COMPOSER AND SINGER IN CONTEXT Chair: GOFFREDO PLASTINO, University of Newcastle Francesco Pennino and the Italian-American Sceneggiata GIULIANA MUSCIO, University of Padua Enrico Caruso and the Emergency of Italian Identity SIMONA FRASCA, Federico II, University of Naples The Musical and Literary Neapolitan Chant: The Songs of Aurelio Fierro GIULIA GUARNIERI, Bronx Community College, CUNY 11:45AM -1PM RITA BERTI: A NEAPOLITAN SINGER IN NEW YORK Chair: Joseph Sciorra, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, CUNY Rita Berti has been performing in New York City since the early 1950s, sharing the stage with the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., Mario Merola, and Gianni Morandi. In this panel, Ms. Berti will discuss her long career and present a recital of Neapolitan music. She will be accompanied by Emilio Morelli. 1-2:30PM Lunch on your own 2:30-4PM TEMPORAL/SPATIAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE SONG Chair: EDWARD SMALDONE, Queens College, CUNY Mediated Renderings and Diasporic Musings: “Core ‘ngrato,” a WOP Song JOSEPH SCIORRA, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, CUNY “Maria Mari”/“Oh, Marie”: Acculturation from Neapolitan Song to Italian-American Jazz SAMUEL PATTI, Independent Scholar “Tammurriata Nera”: Collective Memory, Recuperation, and Contamination in a Neapolitan Song JENNIFER CAPUTO, University of Alabama 4:15-5:45PM CULTURAL POLITICS AND THE ECONOMICS OF CULTURE Chair: JAYSON KERR DOBNEY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tears and Triumphs: Five Topical Songs in Neapolitan from the United States, 1923-1941 MARK PEZZANO, Independent Scholar The Neapolitan Mandolin and Italian Music Publishing Houses in New York City during the Early Twentieth Century JOHN LA BARBERA, Bergen Community College Alternative Musics and Alternative Economies in Naples JASON PINE, Purchase College, SUNY SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2009 CUNY Graduate Center, Elebash Recital Hall, 365 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan (between 34th and 35th Streets) 9:30-9:50AM Napoli International (delivered in Italian) PAQUITO DEL BOSCO, Archivio Sonoro della Canzone Napoletana 10-10:30AM Neapolitan Heart (2002), 30 min. excerpt PAOLO SANTONI, director 10:45AM-12PM PERFORMING/SCREENING IDENTITIES Chair: ANTHONY JULIAN TAMBURRI, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, CUNY Italian Immigrant Identity in American Sceneggiata Performances ALAINA WISSNER, Brandeis University You Can Go Home Again: Santa Lucia Luntana, the Film GIORGIO BERTELLINI, University of Michigan 12-1:30PM Lunch on your own 1:30-2:30PM NEAPOLITAN JUKEBOX Chair: GOFFREDO PLASTINO, Newcastle University Paquito Del Bosco presents selections from the Archivio Storico della Canzone Napoletana of Neapolitan songs performed by recording artists from around the world. 2:45-3:45PM HYBRIDIC FORMATIONS IN SOUND Chair: JOSEPH SCIORRA, John D. Calandra Italian American Insititute, CUNY From Canzone Napoletana to Tango Criollo ANA CARA, Oberlin College Returning to Sorrento: Diasporic Hybridity in Italian-American Popular Music JIM DE FAZIO, Arizona State University in Tempe 4-5:15PM KEYNOTE Tutta n’ata storia: Authenticity and Otherness in the Neapolitan Song Canon GOFFREDO PLASTINO, University of Newcastle All presentations are free and open to the public. SEATING IS LIMITED.