Carlo Donida Labati (30 October 1920, in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
– 22 April 1998, in Porto Valtravaglia) was an Italian
composer and
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
.
Carlo Donida Labati was born in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
on 30 October 1920. He graduated in piano and
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
from the
Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory
The Milan Conservatory (''Conservatorio di Milano'') is a college of music in Milan, Italy.
History
The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year ...
in Milan.
[Enzo Giannelli. "Donida, Carlo". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990.] Carlo Donida began his musical career as a pianist of the musical group "
The Dandies". He was then hired as an
arranger by
Casa Ricordi
Casa Ricordi is a publisher of primarily classical music and opera. Its classical repertoire represents one of the important sources in the world through its publishing of the work of the major 19th-century Italian composers such as Gioachino Ro ...
, which at that time had just created a
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...
section. Entered into the "songbooks," he decided to put on paper ''pentagramma'', his first songs, with the assistance of Gian Carlo Testoni wherein the songs "Tell Me I Love You" and "Under the Almond Tree" debuted on the radio and received a warm reception from the public. Then came the binomial Donida - Pinchi that gave rise to such hits as "Vecchio Scarpone" ("Old Boot") and "Canzone da due soldi" ("Song of Two Money"), which had international success.
The long association with Giulio Rapetti Mogol, which eventually created 126 songs, began in 1960 with the song "Crumbs of Kisses" or "Briciole di baci" starring Mina and "Devil" Diavolo sung by
Jimmy Fontana
Jimmy Fontana (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013) was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are " Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricchi e Poveri, and " Il Mondo".
Biography
Born ...
.
"Uno dei tanti" or "One of the Many", sung by
Tony Dallara
Antonio Lardera (born 30 June 1936), better known by his stage name Tony Dallara, is an Italian former singer, actor and television personality.
Biography
Dallara was born in Campobasso in southern Italy, but grew up in Milan. After working as ba ...
and Joe Paths, was brought to international success by
Tom Jones &
Shirley Bassey under the title "
I (Who Have Nothing)
"I (Who Have Nothing)" (sometimes billed as "I Who Have Nothing") is an English language cover of the Italian song "''Uno dei Tanti''" (English: "One of Many"), with music by Carlo Donida and lyrics by Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti. The initial version ...
." Jones also sang "Gli occhi miei" as "
Help Yourself
Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* '' ...
." His songs had great success abroad. Many famous
artists
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...
are indebted to Maestro Donida. Many well known singers such as Tom Jones,
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later ...
,
Shirley Bassey,
Chet Baker, and
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...
have interpreted many of his songs.
Donida participated in twelve editions of the
Sanremo Festival
The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...
. His debut in 1951 coincided with the first edition of the Festival with the song "Under the Almond" interpreted by
Duo Fasano
Duo Fasano were an Italian pop musical and vocal duo, mainly active in the 1950s.
Career
The duo consisted of the twin sisters Secondina "Dina" Fasano (21 September 1924 - 24 November 1996) and Terzina "Delfina" Fasano (21 September 1924 - 15 D ...
. In 1953, he participated with "Old Boot Vecchio Scarpone" starring Gino Latilla. A vocal quintet with Giorgio Consolini, won third in the standings and became an important hymn in the Alps. In 1954, he participated with "Canzone da due soldi" starring Katyna Ranieri and Achilles Togliani that ranks second.
One of his largest successes came in 1961 with "Al di là" on a text by Mogol, played by Betty Curtis and Luciano Tajoli's song that rose to fame in 26 countries around the world.
His career in Sanremo continued with "Abbracciami forte" (Strong hug) (1965 Udo Jurgens - Ornella Vanoni), "Gli occhi miei" (My eyes) (1968 Wilma Burgess - Dino), "La spada nel cuore" (The sword in the heart) (1970 Patty Pravo - Little Tony) and "La folle corsa" (The crowds race) (1971 Little Tony - Formula 3).
During his career, Carlo Donida composed musics and scores for documentaries, commercials, and movies. Donida established itself as a composer of songs on texts in Milanese dialect as “Mi no, ghe vegni no”, “Cing ghei de pu, ma ross” and “Quand el coeur el s’innamora” that participated and won several editions of the Song Festival Milanese.
Luigi Tenco
Luigi Tenco (21 March 1938 – 27 January 1967) was an Italian singer-songwriter.
Biography
Tenco was born in Cassine (province of Alessandria) in 1938, the son of Teresa Zoccola and Giuseppe Tenco. He never knew his father, who died in uncle ...
played the songs of Donida: "Serenella", "Quasi sera" (Almost evening), "Sempre la stessa storia" (Always the same story) and "Più mi innamoro di te" (The more I fall in love with you).
References
External links
Discography at Discogs.comPremiodonida.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donida, Carlo
Italian male composers
Italian male pianists
1920 births
1998 deaths
20th-century pianists
20th-century Italian composers
20th-century Italian male musicians