The world of Neapolitan song is mourning the loss of one of the last living exponents of the tradition, who performed and recorded with many other iconic singers. Giulietta Sacco was born Giuliana Sacco in Maddaloni on 13 November 1944, the first born of eight children. She debuted at 12 years of age at a wedding and sang often in the suburbs of Caserta in piazza festivals and the Giglio festivals. During one of these open air performances she was discovered by a producer at a song contest for new voices and began her career with a contract at Phonotris records in 1965. She set out with the song Amalia Aruta and many of the songs of the legendary Gilda Mignonette (Griselda Andreatini, Naples, 1890-1953).
Giulietta Sacco
Sacco was known for the "profound and rural texture of her voice,” which brought back to modern audiences the pre-modern flavor of rural and maritime styles, as Federico Vacalebre wrote in Il Mattino. She was known as the last great queen of Neapolitan song, praised by Italian and international critics for her vocalization and often compared with the noted Portuguese fado singer Amalia Rodrigues, for the depth and melancholic bearing of her singing, rooted in Mediterranean traditions, tapping into the "vutata" tradition. Even after an illness which began in 1984, resulting in a loss of vision, she still performed for decades, bringing to life the classical Neapolitan repertoire from Di Giacomo, Russo, E.A. Mario to new composers' work. Her performance of the great Pino Daniele's Terra Mia was among her most haunting ones.
Sacco participated in the 1969 Festival di Napoli with Abbracciame, pairing with Mario Merola, and winning 9th place. In 1970 she returned pairing with Mario Trevi singing Sulitario. In the early 1970's she recorded a series of records of classical Neapolitan songs for the Hello Records label of Luciano Rondinella. In 1973 she was up for inclusion in the national San Remo festival but ultimately did not garner enough votes. In 1973 she did win the folk prize with her Chi m'ha fatto sta bella scarpetta by Sciotti and Visco on RAI tv's Concerto per Napoli and again in 1974 with Tarantella Sorrentina also by Sciotti and Visco. Sacco appeared many times on RAI tv, singing exclusively in Neapolitan. She also was featured twice on the tv and radio program Un Disco per l'Estate.
Sacco next went on to Zeus records and continued to record both the classical repertoire and new Neapolitan songs written for her by Gianni Aterrano, Eduardo Alfieri, Antonio Moxedano, Alberto Sciotti, Nino D'Angelo, Tony Iglio, Augusto Visco, Enzo Di Domenico and Alberto Selly.
Sacco reached her heights in the 1970's and 1980's and experienced a renewal in the 1990's in the later Festival di Napoli song events. In 1995 she recorded the tammurriata Sanacore with the upcoming Neapolitan band Almamegretta, for which she won the Premio Tenco. In 1996 she produced the album Preta 'e Mare with Nino D'Angelo, featuring Neapolitan classics and a duet with him which was written for her, 'A Riggina d''e Canzone [The Queen of Songs]. Nino D'Angelo dedicated his last great performance on New Year's Eve 2002 in the Piazza del Plebiscito to her. On stage with him were the great Angela Luce and Maria Nazionale, and Giulietta Sacco in turn paid homage to her own late source of inspiration—Gilda Mignonette. She sang the iconic 'A Cartulina 'e Napule [The Postcard of Naples]. In 2012 Sacco recorded for the last time, with one of her younger fans, the singer Genny Avolio. Together they recorded the ode to Naples, "Nun Voglio Fuje.”
After being hospitalized in the Moscati Hospital in Aversa on 2 April, she died on 11 April at the age of 78. Like her powerful and beloved predecessor, Gilda Mignonette, Sacco represented the best of Neapolitan song to the world, and united the great emmigrant and ex-pat communities with her albums. Indeed, her albums were widely collected in the United States and she performed abroad in places like New York and Australia. Always naturally rooted in tradition and close to her people, she brought her sincerity and passion to her singing, with the unique touch of the Neapolitan woman. She spanned and bridged the remote past to the present. Her immense stage presence will remain a tough act to follow.
Nce addenucchiammo e ve vasammo 'e mmane.
~ By Cav. Charles Sant'Elia
