Raoul Romito

Cover of 1924 Columbia Record Catalog , courtesy of Pat Conte

Raoul Romito is one of my favorite Italian singers.  He was very popular in the early 20th century and his records show up frequently.  Romito had a rich tenor voice and was heavily influenced by Enrico Caruso.  He recorded a wide variety of material, from art and popular music with full orchestra accompaniment to folk songs with guitar, mandolin and violin accompaniment.  Romito began his recording career around 1915 and continued into the 1930's.  All of his recordings were on the Columbia label.

Here is a great recording of Romito paying tribute to the Italian anarchist Sante Geronimo Caserio, who fatally stabbed the President of France in 1894, to avenge the death of two of his comrades who were executed by the French Government.  I really like the laid back guitar and violin accompaniment, along with the beautiful choir.  Romito just soars over it all.  The melody is one that shows up quite often on some of the early Italian records.

 


Special thanks to Leandro Campagni for posting this video.