"Core 'ngrato" (; "Ungrateful Heart"), also known by the first words "Catarì, Catarì" (short and dialectal form for ''Caterina'', a female first name), is a 1911 Neapolitan song by emigrant American composer Salvatore Cardillo with lyrics by Riccardo Cordiferro (real name Alessandro Sisca). It was adopted by

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

but it is not known whether he commissioned Cardillo and Sisca to write it. It is the only well-known standard Neapolitan song to have been written in America.Mary J. Phillips-Matz Rosa Ponselle: American diva 1997 - Page 54 "Marziale's brother wrote the lyrics to the classic Neapolitan song «Core 'ngrato» with its passionate plea to «Catarì, Catarì»". In the song, Catarì's lover reproaches the girl for thoughtlessly and heartlessly rejecting his abiding love for her; he implores her not to forget that he has given her his heart and that his soul is in torment; and he says he has confessed his feelings to a priest, who advised him to let her go. The song's title comes from the heartfelt passage, ''Core, core 'ngrato, te haie pigliato 'a vita mia! Tutt' è passato, e nun nce pienze cchiù!'', which approximates in English to "Ungrateful heart, you have stolen my life! It's all over and you don't think about it any more!". The song was sung in the season three finale of ''The Sopranos'' by Dominic Chianese in character as Corrado "Junior" Soprano Jr.

Covers

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(78 rpm) ( Disco "Grammofono" – D.B. 142); 1960 album ''Addio mia bella Napoli'' (Goodbye my beautiful Naples) (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

– LM 20080) *1937 - Tino Rossi (78 rpm) with the title ''Catarì! Catarì!'' (

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

– BF 39); 1963 album ''Chansons de mes films'' (Songs from my movies) (

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

– FSX 146) *1943 - Carlo Buti (78 rpm) (Columbia Records - D 13001); album ''A life for the song vol. 1'' (TIMA Club) *1951 - Claudio Villa (78 rpm) ( Parlophon – TT 9513); album ''Claudio Villa'' ( Parlophon – PMDQ. 8008) *1952 - Roberto Murolo (78 rpm) ( durium, AI 9908); 1963 album ''Napoletana from 1909 to 1915'' ( durium, ms AI 77074) *1953 - Giuseppe Di Stefano (78 rpm) (

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

– D.A.2043); album ''Neapolitan Songs'' (

– BLP 1052) *1955 - Mario Del Monaco (78 rpm) (

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

– P.18214); album ''Italian Song Recital'' (

– LM 20080) *1955 - Tito Schipa album ''Chansons napolitaines'' (Neapolitan songs) ( Vogue Durium – DVM 90005) *1957 - Beniamino Gigli album na sera 'e maggio'' (One evening in May) ( La voce del padrone - QALP 10186) *1958 - Rinus Van Essen (single) with the title ''Catari, Catari'' text by De Vos, (CNR – UH 9773) *1959 - Franco Corelli (EP) (

Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in European classical music, classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark ...

- AA-4014); album ''Neapolitan Songs'' (

- ANG. 35852) *1961 - Luciano Tajoli (

Odeon Records Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus a ...

- MSOQ 5290); 1963 album ''Luciano Tajoli'' (

- MOCQ 5010) *1965 - Burt Blanca (single) (Hebra Records - 329); album ''Burt Blanca and The King Creole's – Vol. 3'' (Epn – EPN 3220) *1967 - The Maze (single) in English with title ''Catari Catari'' text by G. Fields (

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

– MGM 1368) *1985 -

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

album ''Napoli: Tre voci un'anima Vol. 1'' (Naples: Three voices one soul) (G & G Records – TGGK 72) *1977 - Giancarlo Pica (single) (Dig-It International Records – DG 1147) *1978 -

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Catalan operatic tenor from Spain who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, ...

(single) (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

– 422 936-2); album ''José Carreras'' (

– 95 00 584) *1996 - Mina ''Naples'' (PDU – PMA 790) *2005 -

Renata Tebaldi Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian spinto soprano, lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-World War II, war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, San ...

''Arie da opere-III e canzone'' (Arias from operas-III and song) (Hobby & Work Hobby & Work Publishing – ORT004) *2006 -

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

album ''Italia, ti amo'' (Italy, I love you) (

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

– 00289 477 6086), released in Germany and Ukraine *2016 -

Il Volo Il Volo (; ) is an Italians, Italian operatic pop Trio (music), trio, consisting of Gianluca Ginoble, Piero Barone, and Ignazio Boschetto. They describe their music as "popera". Having won the Sanremo Music Festival 2015, they represented Italy ...

with

''Notte magica'' (Magic night) ( Sony Masterworks – 0889853519620) *2016 - Jonas Kaufmann with the title ''Catarì, Catarì'' in the double album ''Dolce vita'' (Sweet life) (

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired ...

– 88875183631) *xxxx - Sam Le Cuisinier Troubadour with Pierre Spiers Trio (EP) with the title ''Catari'' (Century – 6934)

References

{{authority control 1911 songs Neapolitan songs