''Love in Portofino'' is the sixth and last

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

of 1950s by French singer

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

. It was released in December 1959 through

Barclay Records Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue inc ...

. The album consists of mostly original songs by Dalida, while four of them are covers of foreign hits. All tracks are based on vocally highlighted

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

, some of them mixed with

Rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

Bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

. The album positively reviewed by

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

and Dalida was again praised for her "passionate performance", especially for "La chanson d'Orpheé. It reached top of album charts and was the best selling album released in France in 1959, alongside '' Le disque d'or de Dalida''.

Background

For the first time Dalida presented more songs originally written for her, than covers of foreign hits. All of them were top 20 hits. Covering "Marina", she brought Italian language hit to French public, but the "Ne joue pas" was already a French song originally recorded by Colette Deréal the same year. "J'ai rêvé" is a cover of Rock and roll US hit "Dream lover" and "La chanson d'Orpheé" is the

theme song of

Orfeu Negro ''Black Orpheus'' (Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play '' Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Mora ...

. The first such in Dalida's repertoire, she expressed her own admiration of the song including it in several compilation albums in future decades. She also recorded an Italian version that peaked at number ten in Italy. The title song " Love in Portofino" was released prior to the album. It was immediately covered by several French and Italian artists under the same name or as "A San Cristina". In hope of attracting more sales, "A San Cristina" was included in the album's name. The song wasn't big sales success, but nevertheless in future it became iconized as hymn of

Portofino Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...

and well remembered by the local public, also being covered by

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

. On the album, "Elle, lui et l'autre" was issued for the first time and went on to become Canadian number one hit and produced the eponymous album. The album was completely recorded in Studio Hoche in Paris, under orchestra conduction of

Raymond Lefèvre Raymond Lefèvre (20 November 1929 – 27 June 2008) was a French easy listening orchestra leader, arranger and composer. Biography and career Born on 20 November 1929 in Calais, France, Raymond Lefèvre is best known for his interpretation of ...

, and was released in early December 1959 in 25 cm (10 inch) format under catalog number 80 115. In 2004,

, then as part of

Universal Music France Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here. According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...

, reissued the album in original vinyl format and a digitally remastered version in CD, both with original cover art and track list. The first issue sold over 20 000 copies and reissue in 1960 additional 10 000. The retrospective reissue of 2004 sold all 8,500 numbered copies, adding up to total sales that surpass 40,000 units, making the album one of best selling French albums of 1950s.

Track listing

References

External links

*

' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love In Portofino (A San Cristina) Dalida albums 1959 albums Barclay (record label) albums French-language albums

Background

Track listing

See also

References

External links